What can I do to help refugees fleeing across Europe?
- There is a list of suggestions here: https://www.qarn.org.uk/homepage/category/what-can-you-do/
I want to offer a room to a refugee. Who can I contact?
Spare Room for Destitute Forced Migrants http://www.spare-room.org/ [mostly London];
Boaz Trust, http://www.boaztrust.org.uk or info@boaztrust.org.uk, tel: 0161 202 1056 [Manchester]; or ask for details of organisations in your area.
NACCCOM– a national informal network http://naccom.org.uk/ which has a map of all the locations of hosting schemes.
- There are a number of organisations collecting offers of help however the situation is changing quickly, and there is no centrally co-ordinated list.
- Local Councils are going to be co-ordinating the response and so at this time, we suggest you contact your own Council to make an offer.
- There are many asylum seekers (not refugees with status) who are destitute and therefore in need of this kind of support, coming from various parts of the world.
This is a useful list from the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/11/how-do-i-offer-a-room-to-a-refugee
We want to take some clothes etc to Calais. How do we go about it?
- Problems have arisen when people have turned up with supplies, and so we recommend that people go through organisations that have people in Calais who can distribute supplies
- The Cal Aid group urges Britons not to drive to Calais after convoy situation: Cal Aid – you can donate money to them
- On Calais some local organisations have reached saturation point on goods – storage space is limited – and are asking for cash and for volunteers who can stay and help.
- Independent: As the convoys of vans taking unwanted clothes to Calais show, drives to deliver second-hand goods are a popular way of showing charity. But research from a high-level panel of experts suggests that simply giving cash directly to those suffering in humanitarian crises could be the most effective form of assistance.http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/refugee-crisis-giving-cash–not-clothes–is-the-most-effective-way-to-help-research-says-10499289.html?utm_source=change_org&utm_medium=petition
- Support Doctors of the World Refugee Crisis Appeal: https://www.doctorsoftheworld.org.uk/pages/calais-appeal
If I make a donation to QARN how might it be used?
- We are all volunteers but we have core expenses mostly for travelling to meetings of QARN, and when we attend meetings with other organisations. The core funding also pays for the website.These expenses are on-going and essential to our work.
- We hope to organise a trip to Calais later in 2015 so that we can witness from personal experience. This will incur expense.
- QARN is beginning to plan a Conference in 2017.
How can I make a donation to QARN?
We want advice about which organisation to donate to. Can you help?
- QARN members live around the UK and are involved in a wide variety of work. We would usually be able to give you some ideas.
Can you help us find an asylum seeker to speak at an event?
- QARN members may be able to help with this, or contact RAPAR: http://www.rapar.org.uk/
I have an idea about what QARN could do, Who do I contact?
- We welcome ideas. Please bear in mind that the work we undertake is done in our personal time. QARN has a list of Aims here: https://www.qarn.org.uk/homepage/about/. Discussion takes place through our email group, but decisions about new strands of activity are usually made during our quarterly meetings. Feel free to join us on the email group or at our meetings. You can contact us through info@qarn.org.uk
- The Network is useful for those who want to contact other Quakers so that they can organise as individuals working together independently of QARN.
- QARN’s activities are broader than responding to the current crisis, often involved detailed paperwork. Taking on any new work is subject to discernment in a gathered meeting and an expansion of this depends on the number of people available to take on the work. An increase in our work would only be possible if more people become actively involved in the long term and would be prepared to support this broader work long-term.
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‘They need and deserve our help’: introducing the Refugees Crossing art project
Tucked away in bus stops, on trains and at pedestrian crossings across UK cities and towns, Bern O’Donoghue’s paper boat art project is challenging the use of derogatory language and misinformation about refugees, migrants and immigrants