RESTORE - Support for refugees and asylum seekers in Birmingham UK

About RESTORE

Restore is a project of Birmingham Churches Together which seeks to help, welcome, and support refugees and asylum seekers.

NEW! - Restore on Facebook

Climbing the Mountain of Integration

Churches' Refugee Network Conference 2012

Saturday 19th May 2012
11.00am to 3.30pm (Registration from 10.30am)

Carrs Lane Church Centre, Birmingham B4 7SX

Cost: £10, £5 unemployed, free for asylum seekers

Speakers:
Revd Professor Nicholas Sagovsky, University of Roehampton Julian Prior, Chief Executive of Action Foundation

Workshops on:
Housing, Education, Employment and Equipping Volunteers

Refugee Network Conference (flyer)

Conference booking form

Jeremy Thompson, Befriending Coordinator
email: befriend@restore-uk.org

RESTORE acts in response to the Biblical teaching to welcome the stranger and to provide justice for the oppressed. One of the most marginalised, misunderstood and misrepresented groups in our society today is asylum seekers. These people are claiming asylum due to fear of persecution in their home countries..

Since October 2000 RESTORE has been part of 'Birmingham Churches Together' and thus an instrument for the churches across the city in their concern for these marginalised people.

RESTORE's mission is:

to encourage friendship and build resources, primarily through the church network in Birmingham and Solihull, to support asylum seekers and refugees;
to enable refugees and asylum seekers to make a valued contribution to society;
to work to raise awareness, change attitudes and challenge prejudice in the host community.

What does RESTORE do?

RESTORE’s key areas of activity are:

befriending by local volunteers on a one-to-one basis
hosting social activities for families and adults
raising awareness within the host community, especially through the church network
working together with other refugee agencies
advocating on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers.
All these activities are explored further on other web pages.

How did RESTORE begin?

RESTORE was started in 1999, when churches in the Ladywood and Edgbaston area saw a need and were motivated to take action. Up to that point, most asylum seekers had been accommodated in London and the South East, but a new government policy of dispersal sought to house them more evenly across the country. This led to a significant increase in new arrivals in Birmingham.

Since October 2000, RESTORE has been a project of Birmingham Churches Together and thus an instrument for the churches across the city to act to support these marginalised people.