SWVG Latest news
February 2012
Generous friends
We have been fortunate to receive £1,746 gift-aided from the parish of St Peter's and Hampshire Downs, and donations of £500 from St Clare and St Francis Trust and Sheba Trust. Two anonymous donors have given £400 and £100. It is generosity like this which makes our work possible.
Two thousand visit exhibition
 Over two thousand people visited the This is my home now exhibition at the City Space in Winchester's Discovery Centre, where it was on show for 3 weeks, leaving donations of £600 for the two sponsoring organisations, SWVG and CLEAR. BBC Radio Solent ran two interviews with SWVG members about the show. Many of the visitors said they were moved by the refugees' stories of courage and resilience. You can read some of their comments on the website www.myhomenow.org. The exhibition will go to the Westbury Manor Museum in April.
January 2012
Holocaust memorial event
Former SWVG client, Mina Reynolds, spoke movingly about her experience as an asylum seeker at the Holocaust Memorial Event at Sir James Matthews Building in Southampton on January 26th. Mina, who is from Azerbaijan, described the frustration and loneliness she felt when she first arrived, not knowing any English. She was befriended by SWVG, eventually gained refugee status and is now working as a child support assistant for Sure Start in Southampton.
December 2011
Justice at risk
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The guest speaker at this year's AGM was Maurice Wren, Director of Asylum Aid, who spoke about the future of legal representation for asylum seekers. Although he raised concerns about proposed cuts to legal aid which will severely diminish asylum seekers' access to justice, he praised the UKBA's pilot project offering early legal advice and expressed hope that it would be taken up nationally.
A record number of clients as well as friends and visitors attended the meeting on Monday, December 5th, at Avenue St. Andrew's Church in Southampton.
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Our thanks
The Lankelly Chase Foundation, an independent charitable founder, has given SWVG a further grant of £10,000. We have also received a donation of £1,000 from the Bunty Newport Trust, set up in memory of a key member of the group who visited asylum seekers in Winchester Prison. Southampton Quaker meeting has donated £465 and St Lawrence Church in Winchester has given £320. We have also received anonymous donations of £100 and £50. We are extremely grateful to all these donors who make our work possible.
November 2011
An evening with the actress Celia Imrie on the 27th of November at Winchester College's QEII Theatre, raised £2,000. Celia, who is now starring in the acclaimed "Noises Off" at the Old Vic, was interviewed by her fellow performer Fidelis Morgan. The event was sponsored by Miff Kayum.
Running for SWVG
Former SWVG member James Thomas is running a marathon for SWVG. You can sponsor him by clicking onto: http://www.justgiving.com/JamesThomasMarathon
October 2011
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they made it!
On Sunday October 16th, 2011, a group of 8 members, friends and asylum seeker clients walked 24 miles over the South Downs Way - from Petersfield to Winchester - in an attempt to raise £6,000.
The long walk involved nine hours of steep and challenging hiking, and was tough going. Fortunately, the sun shone all day and all the walkers made it to the end. A further 12 walkers managed a shorter version of the route.
We should be very pleased if you could provide sponsorship so that we meet our target -via www.justgiving.com/swvg-walk2011. |
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Support from Friends
Southampton Quakers are again making SWVG their special charity. An appeal will be made every Sunday throughout November.
Meeting UKBA
 Representatives of SWVG were very pleased to have the opportunity, arranged by Steve Brine, to meet with senior officials from the UK Border Agency and the Ministry of Justice to talk about our work locally with asylum seekers, and especially, to discuss how the asylum process and legal aid can be improved for the benefit of all of us.
September 2011
Christine Knight receives a cheque to SWVG from the Winchester Community Choir at St Lawrence's Church.
Gift from IBM
The Hursley-based IT company has given us a grant of £325, its second gift to SWVG. We also received an anonymous donation of £250.
10th Anniversary
SWVG members and clients celebrated our tenth anniversary with a party on September 16th at Sam's Bar in Southampton.
Food was provided by the International Cookery Exchange, music by Still-Moving DJs, and some guests took part in an exuberant drumming session. Among the guests were the Revd. John Alleyne, one of our earliest supporters, and our patron, the Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt.
SWVG meets UK Border Agency
The Director of Asylum at UK Border Agency, Emma Churchill, has agreed to meet members of SWVG to discuss the likely impact of proposed cuts in legal aid. She will also give a report on progress in the Early Legal Advice Project, a pilot project to improve decision making in asylum cases.
August 2011
Website visitors
This month, our website attracted 534 new visitors from around the world. Nearly 3,000 pages were viewed in the UK but over 300 of those were viewed in the USA. We also had visitors from Ireland, Germany and other European countries, the Russian Federation, Australia, and Canada.
Donations
SWVG has received several generous donations this month. A retiring member has given £3,000 and an anonymous donor has given £5,000. We were the special charity for the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Portswood, which gave us £5,352.
Singing for SWVG
Winchester Community Choir has donated £1,000 to the SWVG following the success of its Community Choirs Festival held earlier in the summer. The choir, which holds concerts in Winchester twice a year, has raised over £9,000 for charity since its formation 7 years ago. Its members nominate their favourite charities to receive the funds raised and it is wonderful news that SWVG will be a recipient of the choir’s largest single donation to date.
Grants
For the first time we have received a grant from A B Charitable Trust (ABCT) - an independent charity concerned with promoting and defending human dignity. The Allen Lane Foundation has continued its support with a £4,000 grant.
July 2011
Meeting Winchester MP
Members of the Campaign Group met Steve Brine MP and urged him to lobby against cuts to English language classes for refugees, ESOL, and to support the Early Legal Advice Project, a pilot project designed to improve UK BA decision making.
Bishop Michael launches book about refugees
SWVG patron, the Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt joined the Mayor of Southampton, Cllr Terry Matthews, in launching 'This is my home now', a book and exhibition about asylum seekers and refugees in Southampton. To find out more about the project, visit www.myhomenow.org.uk
Queen’s Award for Mina
On July 12th Mina, a former client from Azerbaijan, went to Buckingham Palace to receive the Queen’s Award for her work with the Southampton International Cookery Exchange. Mina has also been elected as Chair of the Southampton Women’s Forum. She has a paid job with Sure Start while training in child care at City College.
Returned
A client has been removed to Sri Lanka where he is in great danger and having to live in hiding.
Another client, having exhausted all legal possibilities, has returned to Zimbabwe on the Voluntary Return Scheme.
June 2011
New donor for SWVG
The French Huguenot Charitable Trust has joined our list of donors with a grant of £5,000.
May 2011
SWVG Legal Adviser gives Workshop on New Issues for Asylum Seekers, covering Legal Aid and Zimbabweans.
Jo Renshaw, our very experienced Legal Adviser, gave this Workshop for around 20 SWVG members on 23 May, covering particularly the following:.
 The government is making major cuts to Legal Aid. Asylum cases will still qualify for legal aid. However Legal Aid will no longer be available for immigration, employment, debt and welfare benefits cases, and Legal Aid fees will be reduced by 10%. Most firms of solicitors who will handle asylum cases also work on immigration cases so the consequent loss of income will make it much more difficult for them to continue working on asylum cases.
Jo also gave us the latest advice on forcible returns of refused asylum seekers to Zimbabwe. Previously the government was not returning people there because of the risks to those associated with the opposition. UKBA will soon be returning many people according to new guidelines on those for whom UKBA consider it is safe to force returns. People are more likely to be returned if their home was in a city rather than in a rural area.
(SWVG members can access full details on the Member Pages – Legal Issues)
British citizens
Esther was formally welcomed as a British citizen at a ceremony on May 12th. Another long-standing client from Ethiopia also received a certificate of citizenship from the Mayor of Southampton, Councillor Terence Matthews, on May 26th.
Donations and grants
SWVG has received grants from two existing funders, The Hilden Trust and the Observer Trust, as well as a grant of £5,000 from the Norda Trust. We are also grateful for donations from St Mary’s Church in Kingsworthy and individual well-wishers.
Abu Bakri Mosque in Southampton has sponsored the travel costs of a young client wishing to continue his mechanical engineering course at Highbury College.
April 2011
Farewell to the Bishop
Bishop Michael and Lou Scott-Joynt are retiring soon,although Bishop Michael will remain a Patron of SWVG. There will be a Farewell Service at Winchester Cathedral starting at 11am on Saturday 7th May followed by a reception.
Success for our clients
Several clients who have recently got leave to remain in the UK have now managed to get jobs – mainly in caring, waitressing or factory work. A Zimbabwean client is about to be reunited with her daughter after 9 years.
Telling her story to the Hampshire Federation
Mina, an SWVG client from Azerbaijan who got leave to remain in the UK last year, recently gave a 40-minute talk to the Hampshire Federation of Women's Institutes. Speaking for 40 minutes, she told them about the difficulties facing asylum seekers and about the help she had been given by SWVG. Mina, who is a keen member of the International Cookery Group in Southampton, now plans to introduce some of its members to the Multicultural Centre which meets every Friday at Avenue St Andrews.
For more about Mina's story click here.
March 2011
UKBA statistics
The number of applications for asylum, excluding dependants, was 27% lower in 2010 (17,790) than in 2009 (24,485). Asylum applications were at their lowest in 2010, since a peak in 2002 (84,130). The number of Fresh Claims for asylum, excluding dependants, was 1,555. The top countries of origin for those seeking asylum were: Iran (1,870), Afghanistan (1,605), Zimbabwe (1,410), Pakistan (1,400), Sri Lanka (1,360) and Eritrea (710).
SWVG statistics (Sep 2010 – Feb 2011)
SWVG have been befriending 76 clients of which 45 have been visited regularly. 34 have been on ASSIST, 21 of those have been on full ASSIST for some of the time.
The clients are from 22 different countries, the largest proportion from Zimbabwe, Eritrea and Iran. Half the clients are women, that's 38 men and 38 women. 17 have been granted Leave to Remain since last September.
Shoppers help SWVG
A charity for dogs won the majority vote, but SWVG attracted a healthy number of tokens from shoppers to the Weeke branch of Waitrose, raising £250 from its Community Matters scheme.
Oscar winning curry
A curry named after the Oscar winner Colin Firth and served at Bangkok Brasserie in Winchester
has raised £500 for SWVG. The actor agreed that the restaurant could use his name for its Thai mango curry if it donated 85p of the price to our charity.
We join their chef and staff in congratulating him.
Filling the gap in service
SWVG, CLEAR and the Red Cross met to discuss a replacement for the service provided by Refugee Action, which has been forced to close its advice desk in Southampton at the end of the month. Some SWVG members have been trained by Refugee Action to help clients fill in UKBA forms etc. They will supported by Refugee Action.
February 2011
Bad news for Southampton asylum seekers
Refugee Action will be closing its services in Portsmouth and Southampton at the end of March. The decision, which will have a serious effect on SWVG clients, was taken after the Government announced that it was cutting funding for refugee and asylum advice by over 60%.
Putting heads together
At their monthly general meeting, SWVG members discussed some of the practical and emotional challenges faced by clients granted refugee status.
A growing number of clients have recently been given leave to remain in the UK after years of waiting for a Home Office decision on their asylum applications. Visitors shared their experience of assisting clients to find jobs and housing and prepare for reunion with family members.
Charity of the month
SWVG is one of the Waitrose Community Matters charities of the month at its Winchester store. The store is given £1,000 to share out between three local good causes each month. Customers vote for their preferred cause using a green token and the money is divided up according to the proportion of tokens each charity receives.
Buttercross vigil
The Winchester Quaker Peace and Justice Group held an hour-long vigil at the Buttercross on Winchester High Street on Saturday, 5th February in support of SWVG.
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