Ongoing Change and Thanksgiving
Like everyone, we continue to deal with ongoing change. For Restore that’s on three key fronts: the Covid pandemic, staffing changes and the Government’s proposed New Plan for Immigration.
The positive news is that more of our volunteer befrienders are meeting their befriendee outdoors or in cafes. We are all enjoying that face-to-face contact. In June, we started a process of moving our men’s group activities from Zoom to ‘real’ meetings outdoors. For my colleague Andy Ferrari, it was the first time he had met most of the men attending face-to-face. Simple activities like walks along the city centre canals and to some of the historic buildings in the city centre have had a major impact. One man wrote: “I found myself connecting pretty well with fellow asylum seekers and our esteemed volunteers. I found myself opening up and regaining more confidence. Keep shining Restore you are our beacon of hope.” During Refugee Week, Restore joined a walk around Edgbaston Reservoir with Councillors from Birmingham City Council and City Council staff. The refugees who attended appreciated the opportunity to share their stories of life in Birmingham with those in power.
“I found myself connecting pretty well with fellow asylum seekers and our esteemed volunteers. I found myself opening up and regaining more confidence. Keep shining Restore you are our beacon of hope.”
We will take skills and services developed during the pandemic into the future. We will continue to use WhatsApp video calls as it gives a much better personal connection especially with those who have developing English skills. Zoom will continue to feature in our repertoire of meetings. It saves travelling out on dark winter nights and has expanded our catchment for training as we’ve been joined by people from Northampton, Bristol, Hounslow, Manchester and Scotland wanting to tap into our resources and learn from our experience. We will also continue to offer remote befriending for refugees for whom travel is challenging and for potential volunteers who live beyond the West Midlands.
There were challenges in remote recruitment processes but we are delighted to introduce our two new staff appointments: Joshua Smith (part-time Admin Assistant) and Catherine Bridgwood (Befriending Co-ordinator). They have brought new energy, additional skills and youth to our team. They have settled in well and we’ve been running a training course together for new befrienders on Zoom. (They both have Harborne church connections: Josh with Harborne Baptist and Catherine with St Mary’s) We are currently recruiting for a part-time Befriending Women’s Worker to increase capacity for our women’s work. We have started a phased return to the office, but the only time we’ve all been together in person is when we did 100 minutes of singing in the St John’s car park as part of the Captain Tom 100 Challenge.
And then we come to the Government’s New Plan for Immigration. It has been described as the most far reaching and draconian changes in decades and indicates that we did not leave the hostile environment towards migrants behind after the Windrush scandal. If implemented it could have a very negative impact on those seeking asylum. Restore works from the starting point that we are called to welcome the stranger, to stand against oppression and offer justice. Offering sanctuary to those who have fled persecution is vital. How we treat the most vulnerable says a lot about who we are as a nation. One key objection that refugee charities have is that the proposals will treat people differently depending how they travelled to the UK. Yet the UN Convention on refugees, of which the UK is a signatory, clearly states that: “refugees shall not be penalised solely by reason of unlawful entry”. This recognises that when refugees flee their country due to persecution they may not have access to documents for international travel, especially if persecution has been at the hands of the authorities. There are also concerns that the public consultation on the document was only six weeks rather than the usual 12 weeks and that the measures were included in the Queen’s speech although that was only five days after the consultation closed. The focus seems to be on protecting our borders rather than protecting the persecuted. Restore responded to the consultation, signed a letter from over 70 faith groups to the Home Secretary expressing concerns from a faith perspective and has joined the new Together with Refugees coalition that will challenge the current Government approach and work for a kinder and fairer approach to refugees. In this challenging context it is important to hold onto verses like: “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed”, Psalm 103:6.
On a personal level, I’d love more hours in the working day or the ability to squeeze more into them. Like many in small organisations, work often feels like spinning the proverbial plates and leading the response to changes that arise. So, when we need to recruit and induct new staff, I become the HR department and that has meant far less time for fundraising this year. It remains a privilege to be involved in work to welcome the stranger – and meet some amazing, resilient people - which is part of God’s heart for the broken world he loves.
For prayer:
Give thanks that we have been able to offer relational support through befriending to combat isolation and loneliness and that we are able to start small-scale group activities again
Give thanks that during the pandemic we have seen funding sustained and new sources of income. (More evidence of a word spoken during prayer ministry at St John’s in 2019, ‘you will receive funding from unexpected places’.)
Give thanks for Josh and Catherine joining the teaming and fitting in so well.
Please pray for wisdom as we seek to ease out of lockdown safely especially that we would be able to organise some small-scale outdoor activities for families in the school holidays.
Please pray for that the new team will continue to work well together and for the current process of recruiting for a part-time Women’s Befriending Worker with interviews on 23 July
Pray for ongoing financial provision, ideally, we would like to see some longer-term multi-year grants to increase our sustainability
Please pray that the Government will take a kinder and more compassionate approach to asylum seekers and modify its New Plan for Immigration accordingly.
Pray for Restore – staff and volunteers - as we continue to works towards our calling and vision for a society into which all refugees and asylum seekers are welcomed, valued and integrated.
Thank you, St John’s, for your ongoing partnership with Restore, it is greatly appreciated.
Jeremy Thompson
Restore
Jeremy is supported by his home group and the year 12 youth small group.
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