Lunchtime Meeting - 12.45pm - Business Meeting

The Syrian refugees were very well pleased with the Club's gift of TV sets and President Ian has arranged for Jools Payne from the Oswestry Welcomes Refugees committee to attend our business meetingtoday to talk to us about her work.  Jayne Middleton tells us all about it.

©Stonehouse Photographic/Refugee Action

"MARHABA" means "Hello" in Arabic - this was the first piece of information Jools Payne gave to members of Oswestry Rotary Club when she came to talk to us this Monday lunchtime.  Very useful if you want to greet any of the 5 Syrian families who have come to Oswestry to find refuge here in our lovely, welcoming town.  Jools was speaking to us on behalf of Oswestry Welcomes Refugees and she explained that many of the Syrians who are fleeing their devastated country come from Homs, formerly a beautiful town but now all but obliterated into a pile of rubble from which its people are forced to flee or perish; this is where 'our' families come from, and before relocating to Oswestry they were in an informal camp in Lebanon.  Many Syrians have fled to their neighbours; Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan all border on Syria.  This is a humanitarian tragedy on an epic scale, with 65 million people fleeing for their lives.

Then there are those who flee by sea - prey to the people-traffickers who provide unseaworthy boats for desperate families who give everything they have for a chance at freedom.  We know what risks they take - it was almost exactly a year ago that 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi was washed ashore in Turkey and the heart-breaking photo of him lying dead on the sand became "the image that finally mobilised the world" in Jools's words.  We have just commemorated another tragic event - 9/11 - and it is sobering to think that as many refugees were drowned LAST WEEK (3000) as died when the World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorists in 2001.

But back to our 5 families - they were identified by the UNHCR (the United Nations Humanitarian Commission for Refugees created in 1950, during the aftermath of WW2, to help millions of Europeans who had fled or lost their homes) as being in great need; this could mean they have been subjected to torture, have pressing medical needs etc.  but certainly does mean they have suffered deep trauma and great loss.  The UNHCR works closely with the International Organisation for Migration and a strict security assessment has been done on the families in conjunction with the Home Office.  Local Councils, in our case Shropshire, are then asked "can you house Syrian refugee families?" and luckily for them Keith Barrow was very instrumental in smoothing the way for the Refugee Action resettlement programme in association with the Red Cross.

They only arrived 10 weeks ago, on the 30th July, but before they arrived much organisation had to be done; an information meeting was held last September in Red Square which Chalk had helped organise at which ordinary people made pledges which included offers of English lessons, art therapy, befriending etc.  The Police, Health and Education services were informed and private landlords were sought to provide affordable homes.  The funding is initially for 12 months, after which the families should be self-sustaining, and the adults are expected to sign on at the Job Centre and get involved with voluntary work in the meantime as well as attending English language courses.

Oswestry Welcomes Refugees supporters took part in a Syrian Cultural Awareness talk at The Centre in Oak Street on Saturday 11th June

Oswestry Welcomes Refugees has around 140 members, from faith groups such as the Quakers, who have a long history of supporting the vulnerable as well as individuals. Jools' role is to support familiarisation, which includes sourcing halal meat for the families, helping organise hospital appointments with interpreters, getting toys for the children, getting clothes, bedding etc because the families arrived with just the clothes they stood up in and a rucksack each.  Oswestry Rotary Club's representative at the information event at the Willow Gallery, John Neave, organised television sets paid for by the club, one for each family, and these have been very gratefully received and each family has bought a licence out of their allowance.  With 8 young children between them the TVs are much appreciated and have made a massive difference to the families.

Chalk have been very helpful in sourcing and providing items like furniture, soft furnishings, household goods and electrical appliances and Jools told us "they have been superb - they deserve an award!"  There are also officially  trained Refugee Advocates and the families have key-workers and resettlement workers to help them integrate into their new community.

Last weekend Jools attended a conference called a Welcome Summit in Birmingham organised by Citizens UK in association with Refugee Action and Christian Aid; 500 people from the 4 corners of the country, Rabbis, Muslim clerics, Bishops, other faith groups, and hundreds of ordinary folk got together to talk about mobilising their communities to play their part in helping the victims of the biggest humanitarian crisis of our generation.

Asked why she had got involved with Oswestry Welcomes Refugees Jools described her experience in 3 words: "inspiring, humbling, rewarding ".

If you would like to help, lobby your MP, write to Theresa May or donate your unwanted toasters, kettles, irons, furniture etc via Chalk in Leg Street and do your bit to help people who have left everything behind.

"SHUKRAN", which means "Thank you" in Arabic.

Jayne Middleton