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Keeping local people informed on local action on the refugee crisis. Thanks for all you do!
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Our Christmas festivities

Many thanks to everyone who joined us for our Festive Concert on 17th December! We celebrated with carols, mince pies and hot drinks and raised over £100 for CWR.

We’re very grateful to Fiona Brown and her chorists for making the evening so special, and we’d like to say a big thank you to all the supporters who came, the volunteers who made the evening possible and St Thomas More Church for hosting us.

Digital Poverty fundraiser

In December we relaunched our crowdfunding campaign to address digital poverty among our friends seeking asylum in Cheltenham. Last year’s funding paid for laptops and domestic Wi-Fi, allowing asylum seekers and their children to connect with loved ones, access educational material and receive English help. The current campaign has already raised over £1,000, so thank you to everyone who has already donated! Your funding will help us to continue this important support. 

The fundraiser remains open, with the goal of raising enough money to equip all houses with Wi-Fi for the year: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/fighting-digital-poverty-in-cheltenham 

Thank you to all our supporters!

We are so very grateful to the many people who have chosen to raise money or support us in other ways.

Year 5 pupils at Highnam Church of England Primary Academy raised money at their Nativity play and provided Tesco vouchers and thoughtful hampers for people seeking asylum, really brightening their Christmas.

You may notice updates to our design this year. Pink Sky reached out to us in light of the Afghan crisis and offered a brand refresh – look out for new designs on Instagram and our other platforms. Many thanks to Erin and Naomi!

In addition to supporting us in many other ways, the Everyman Theatre generously donated forty tickets to the Syrian families and thirteen asylum seekers to view the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk. Camille Cowe, the Everyman Theatre’s community engagement worker, offered a “panto” workshop beforehand for some community members. The pantomime was enjoyed by all!

CWR / Lives of Colour Book Group

Our next CWR & Lives of Colour book club is meeting on 1 February 2022 at 7:30pm on Zoom.

The book this month is a children’s literature pick – Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah. It’s the story of ten-year-old Leonard who journeys from Jamaica with his mother to join his father in England, persuaded by the UK government to help rebuild England after the Second World War. The story follows Leonard all the way from growing up in the 1960s to 2018 when he is denied citizenship by the country he has lived in all his life. A book about our history, racism, fairness, politics, bravery and unsung heroes.

Join us on Zoom to discuss it, 7:30pm on 1 February!

Zoom Meeting ID: 890 5700 6414 / Passcode: 42
In The News:

"Home Office set up fake website to deter asylum seekers from crossing Channel with ‘misleading’ claims"
 
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