Jump to content

Recommended Posts

And don't forget that we have one of the three UK refugee reception hostels in southern England in the former church at southern end of Barry Road - beside junction with Etherow Street. All sorts of nationalities but there here and need your help.
Hi Been, I've been in touch with the German site, it's at www.refugees-welcome.net. A fair few people are trying to set up something similar in the UK, there is a facebook group under the same name to do so (sorry, on tablet, linking seems to be beyond me). I should point out, even though the press calls it "airbnb for refugees", the organisation itself says they're about something quite different. The aim of the organisation (as far as I can tell) is to practice a culture of welcoming, matching refugees with flat/accomodation share opportunities and helping with the practicalities as well as providing support. It seems to be more about long-term-ish relationships than very short, airbnb-style visits. Not sure what shape the UK version will be like, but great idea and sentiment.

If anyone has a spare room and is interested in helping out you could consider volunteering for London Nightstop. It's a charity supporting young people facing homelessness; they place people aged 16-25 with hosts for one night only while they find them a more sustainable solution for them. The young person might stay with different hosts for a couple of weeks, but it keeps them off the streets. It's not for people who have been homeless for a long time. I have been a volunteer for around 3 years and have certainly had refugees and asylum seekers as well as other young people who are in need staying with me. I know that there have been some Syrian young people being placed in the past few months. There is a very good process of vetting volunteers and young people too and I have never felt threatened - I really love it. You just need a spare room and the ability to cook a hot meal. And some love and flexibility :-)

It is also a very flexible and quite robust system - you just sign up for the nights you know you're free; I only have young women staying with me, and there is 24 hour support provided in case you need it (I never have).

If anyone wants more information feel free to get in touch with me.

The website is here: http://www.depauluk.org/projects/nightstop-london/

Whilst not wishing to detract in the slightest from any initiatives to help those in Calais, as we have seen on the news over the past week, there are by far much greater numbers of refugees requiring help further east in Europe on the trail from Turkey to Germany and beyond. The Red Cross has launched an appeal to help what is estimated to be the hundreds of thousands affected. Donations can be made at http://www.redcross.org.uk/About-us/News/2015/September/British-Red-Cross-launches-urgent-appeal-for-Europe-refugee-crisis
On Wednesday I'll bring canned goods like the ones you have listed Bluerevolution to the Dulwich Hamlets Football. I'll help sort. Please post here if anything changes. I've read that for space reasons they have to be very careful to get only things that they need.
or tomorrow, we're home to Leatherhead. People will be there on Wednesday 6pm (volunteers to help sift through everything welcome but please let me know so it's not pandemonium, can live with organised chaos though !!)

Please, no more donations at the present time-we can't move people have been so generous. If you can off er time this evening that would be great.


http://dhst.org.uk/calais-refugee-appeal-another-thank-you-and-a-call-for-volunteers/

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • I've never got Christmas pudding. The only times I've managed to make it vaguely acceptable to people is thus: Buy a really tiny one when it's remaindered in Tesco's. They confound carbon dating, so the yellow labelled stuff at 75% off on Boxing Day will keep you going for years. Chop it up and soak it in Stones Ginger Wine and left over Scotch. Mix it in with a decent vanilla ice cream. It's like a festive Rum 'n' Raisin. Or: Stick a couple in a demijohn of Aldi vodka and serve it to guests, accompanied by 'The Party's Over' by Johnny Mathis when people simply won't leave your flat.
    • Not miserable at all! I feel the same and also want to complain to the council but not sure who or where best to aim it at? I have flagged it with our local MP and one Southwark councillor previously but only verbally when discussing other things and didn’t get anywhere other than them agreeing it was very frustrating etc. but would love to do something on paper. I think they’ve been pretty much every night for the last couple of weeks and my cat is hating it! As am I !
    • That is also a Young's pub, like The Cherry Tree. However fantastic the menu looks, you might want to ask exactly who will cook the food on the day, and how. Also, if  there is Christmas pudding on the menu, you might want to ask how that will be cooked, and whether it will look and/or taste anything like the Christmas puddings you have had in the past.
    • This reminds me of a situation a few years ago when a mate's Dad was coming down and fancied Franklin's for Christmas Day. He'd been there once, in September, and loved it. Obviously, they're far too tuned in to do it, so having looked around, £100 per head was pretty standard for fairly average pubs around here. That is ridiculous. I'd go with Penguin's idea; one of the best Christmas Day lunches I've ever had was at the Lahore Kebab House in Whitechapel. And it was BYO. After a couple of Guinness outside Franklin's, we decided £100 for four people was the absolute maximum, but it had to be done in the style of Franklin's and sourced within walking distance of The Gowlett. All the supermarkets knock themselves out on veg as a loss leader - particularly anything festive - and the Afghani lads on Rye Lane are brilliant for more esoteric stuff and spices, so it really doesn't need to be pricey. Here's what we came up with. It was considerably less than £100 for four. Bread & Butter (Lidl & Lurpak on offer at Iceland) Mersea Oysters (Sopers) Parsnip & Potato Soup ( I think they were both less than 20 pence a kilo at Morrisons) Smoked mackerel, Jerseys, watercress & radish (Sopers) Rolled turkey breast joint (£7.95 from Iceland) Roast Duck (two for £12 at Lidl) Mash  Carrots, star anise, butter emulsion. Stir-fried Brussels, bacon, chestnuts and Worcestershire sauce.(Lidl) Clementine and limoncello granita (all from Lidl) Stollen (Lidl) Stichelton, Cornish Cruncher, Stinking Bishop. (Marks & Sparks) There was a couple of lessons to learn: Don't freeze mash. It breaks down the cellular structure and ends up more like a French pomme purée. I renamed it 'Pomme Mikael Silvestre' after my favourite French centre-half cum left back and got away with it, but if you're not amongst football fans you may not be so lucky. Tasted great, looked like shit. Don't take the clementine granita out of the freezer too early, particularly if you've overdone it on the limoncello. It melts quickly and someone will suggest snorting it. The sugar really sticks your nostrils together on Boxing Day. Speaking of 'lost' Christmases past, John Lewis have hijacked Alison Limerick's 'Where Love Lives' for their new advert. Bastards. But not a bad ad.   Beansprout, I have a massive steel pot I bought from a Nigerian place on Choumert Road many years ago. It could do with a work out. I'm quite prepared to make a huge, spicy parsnip soup for anyone who fancies it and a few carols.  
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...