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22 Refugee week
THE WOMEN OF FAITH NOTTINGHAM AND REFUGEE WEEK
Community Event at All Saints’ Church on 16 th June 2018 (2.30 pm to 7 pm )
By Courtney Smith & Salani Mutseyami
This article describes how The
Women of Faith Nottingham
plan to contribute to this year’s
Nottingham Refugee Week. First,
we describe the work of The
Women of Faith Nottingham,
including its mission and
objectives. Next, we outline the
programme of activities which
will be held at All Saints’ Church
on Saturday, 16 th June 2018 (2.30
pm to 7 pm) to showcase how
asylum-seekers and refugees
contribute to the life of our city.
The Women of Faith Nottingham
is a community group set up by
All Saints’ Church, Raleigh Street,
in January 2016 to provide a safe
place of welcome to people who
are seeking sanctuary. Members of
the group are all women who are
fleeing from persecution, torture
and other forms of human rights
abuse in their home countries.
The group hails from different
parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle
East. Currently, we have members
from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Malawi,
Uganda, Cameroon, Ivory Coast,
Gambia, Eritrea, Sudan, Pakistan,
Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia,
China and India.
The Group meets at All Saints’
Church on the first Thursday of
each month for a wide range
of recreational and personal
development activities. Activities
include cooking and sharing
cultural dishes, a Birthday Club,
prayer and spiritual discussion,
music, dance, group bonding
exercises, local excursions, and
information sharing. From time to
time, we invite community partners
to give talks on topics of interest to
the women. For example, in recent
months, we have had talks from
Radford Police on Hate Crime and
Domestic Violence. Nottingham
Trent
University
have
also
spoken on the subject of human
rights law and its implications
for asylum-seekers. We do not
duplicate services offered by other
organisations. Instead, we sign-post
the women to other stakeholder
organisations for services such as
English as a Second Language,
legal and specialist services.
Mission and Objectives - The
Group’s mission is to promote
mutual respect and cultural
understanding,
as
well
as
celebrating diversity through
fellowship.
Through our shared activities and
code of conduct, we aim to:
Foster friendship and build
stronger social networks;
Provide mutual support while
nurturing a shared vision of
social justice;
Promote community cohesion
and reduce social isolation;
Create opportunities for our
members to develop their
understanding of British values,
laws and cultural norms; and
Build the confidence and
resilience of our members.
Governance - The Group’s work
is overseen by a small Steering
Group made up representatives
from the women themselves,
All Saints’ Church and external
volunteers. The Group is currently
chaired by Reverend Christopher
Harrison – Rector of St Peter and
All Saints’ Churches, Nottingham.
Courtney Smith provides project
management and fund-raising
support.
Refugee Week Event on 16 th June
2018, 2.30pm to 7pm
We are looking forward to
contributing
to
this
year’s
Nottingham Refugee Week One
World Cultural Celebration. We have
an exciting programme of activities
on offer, and we hope that people
from across the city and surrounding
areas will attend in large numbers
to celebrate with us and make this
a memorable event. All activities are
free and suitable to everyone.
The planned activities include food
tasting from around the world,
world music, dancing, fashion
show, story-telling through drama
and poetry, entertainment for
children (including outdoors disco),
and bouncy castle suitable for all
age groups. See page 23 for more
details.
The Women of Faith Nottingham
and their host, All Saints’ Church,
look forward to welcoming
everyone to this event. We are
expecting a number of community
leaders and dignitaries to be in
attendance, including the new Lord
Mayor and our sponsors from ASDA
and Nottingham City Transport.
If you are unfamiliar with All Saints’
Church, our address is Raleigh
Street, Nottingham, NG7 4DP. The
nearest Tram stop is Nottingham
High School on Waverley Street.
Our Community Event at All Saints’
Church on 16 th June 2018 will be an
opportunity for cultural celebration
and
developing
community
cohesion.
It
will
increase
understanding of why people flee
their countries and the wide range
of gifts they bring with them. As
the poem, Home, by Warsan Shire
notes, no one flees from their home
and family unless they are subject
to grave human rights abuse and
threats on their life:
Her poem is, indeed, a powerful
rebuttal to the myth that asylum
seekers leave their homes for
economic reasons such as the
prospect of better employment
opportunities or access to welfare
benefits.