Help for Refugees

Sat 19 Sep 2015, 10:51

Thanks to James Whitehead, there is now an online survey where you can register your interest in helping. No commitment at this stage!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JYWZ3GN

Charlbury Refugee Action Group now has its own Facebook page. Please sign up to Facebook if you are not already on, and 'like' us

Fri 18 Sep 2015, 15:10

The Guardian has published an article by a woman who took in a refugee. See www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/08/hosting-refugees-in-my-home-migration-crisis?CMP=ema_1364

Fri 18 Sep 2015, 12:23

www.facebook.com/sergey.ponomarev.photo Is a freelance photographer worth following too.

Fri 18 Sep 2015, 11:05 (last edited on Fri 18 Sep 2015, 15:07)

Anyone contemplating offering a home to a refugee might like to read this guide, produced by Oxford: City of Sanctuary:
oxford.cityofsanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2015/04/1.-OXFORD-City-of-Sanctuary-Hosting-Guidebook-2015-Final-0422151.pdf

WODC are putting links to various activities and charitable agencies on their website. Go to www.westoxon.gov.uk/refugees

Relevant groups to follow on Facebook for up to date reports and information include CalAid, Crying out for Calais, Planet Syria, The Syria Campaign, L'auberge des Migrants ... Channel 4 News is posting excellent video reports from the 'frontline' on Facebook too, and a few of them appear on their page on YouTube as well.

I think that if you really want to know what is going on in the world, Facebook is an excellent place to start. You don't have to 'share' much information about yourself if you want to remain private (a pity, because you will make fewer contacts), but you can pick and choose people and organisations to 'follow'.

Thu 17 Sep 2015, 23:50 (last edited on Fri 18 Sep 2015, 09:26)

Local residents may be interested to know that the Charlbury Debating Society convened on Thursday evening in the Memorial Hall with around 90 participants to discuss how the town might respond to the current refugee crisis.
The event, filmed by Sky News and chaired by Jonathan Luxmoore and Liz Leffman, was addressed by Andy Graham on behalf of his newly formed Children of Calais charity, as well as by Hannah and Andy Bailey from the Witney-based Crying out for Calais, and by Heather McCullock, refugee co-ordinator with the West Oxfordshire District Council. Several local groups, including Churches Together in Charlbury, the UN Association and Peace in a Pub, also sent representatives.
Numerous offers of help and accommodation for refugees were received by people from Charlbury and surrounding villages. Among many ideas, it was suggested that foreign currency should be collected for refugees, and the government lobbied to support calls for a European Union quota system and to lift the sanctions currently facing train companies and airlines which bring refugees into the country without visas.
A Charlbury Refugee Action Group (CRAG) has now been formed (http://www.charlbury.info/community/88?category=128), which will draft an open letter to David Cameron MP explaining the readiness of members of the local community to lend shelter and support. This will be available for signing during the Charlbury Street Fair on 19th September. A similar letter may also be sent to MEPs. This is an initiative by like-minded residents, who are sympathetic to refugees but do not claim to represent the town as a whole.