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.

pdf file Restore Newsletter

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Please see new contact details

Please join us for
Restore’s next Open Meeting

to be held at:

St John’s Church
High Street
Harborne
B17 9PT

Please use entrance on Vivian Road side of the building.
Parking is limited so please find a space on a near-by side street.

Wednesday 15 September 2010
from 7.30pm to 9.30pm

‘Destitution’

Our keynote speaker will be Andy Jolly Destitution Project Co-ordinator of the Children’s Society Andy will speak about their work in supporting families who are destitute.

We will also have some feedback from the summer holiday programme for families.

The meeting is open to befrienders, refugees, those seeking sanctuary and supporters.

Who is
fleeing persecution and seeking sanctuary?

Please join Restore, a project of Birmingham Churches Together supporting refugees and asylum seekers, for information sessions on asylum issues and training for befriending refugees and asylum seekers.

AFTERNOON COURSE
on Thursdays 23rd and 30th September 2010

from 1.30pm - 4.30pm
at BMS: International Mission Centre
24 Weoley Park Road
Selly Oak
Birmingham
B29 6QX

EVENING COURSE
on Thursdays 7, 14 & 21 October 2010

from 7.30pm - 9.30pm
at St John’s Church
Vivian Road entrance
Harborne
B17 9PT

Restore’s training is offered to all those who are interested in becoming volunteer befrienders of asylum seekers and refugees. Anyone wishing to gather further information on asylum and refugee issues is also welcome. (NB There is no obligation to volunteer with Restore at the end of the course.)

Topics covered include: An introduction to Restore and an overview of asylum issues, exposing some of the media myths about asylum, introduction to befriending and hearing the personal experience of a befriender. An introduction to the asylum application process and hearing the first-hand experience of a refugee or asylum seeker. The practicalities of befriending including guidelines, qualities, boundaries, cross cultural issues and the support offered to volunteers.

“Befrienders are excellent at providing the invisible things like just showing you around, being a friend, providing company, giving you a feeling of normal life.” - Quote from someone seeking sanctuary

Further details are available from Jeremy Thompson (Befriending Co-ordinator of RESTORE) — 0121 236 0069 or befriend@restore-uk.org http://www.restore-uk.org

September 2010

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.