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We continue to work with Herts County Council to support the Afghan refugees currently in Hertfordshire. Over the past two weeks, we’ve had a daily presence at one of the hotels where we are supporting the Red Cross. We’ve been meeting with the families and the other involved organisations to figure out how best to offer support. We’ve also been helping to distribute various goods, and assisting with logistics and activities.
We have now distributed most of the Smart Phones donated by our supporters — and will soon be distributing more. These phones are so important, particularly as one of the refugees’ main concerns is for the people they’ve left behind in Afghanistan. Our partners, Herts for Refugees, collected pushchairs, and we helped with the distribution of these which open up greater opportunities for families to go out and explore the area. We are supporting Community Action Dacorum who are providing activities for the children which include regular craft/messy play sessions and trips to a local park. One of our volunteers supported Herts Sports Partnership with football matches for the children, which both the boys and girls enjoyed immensely. We’re pleased that the educational department is providing family learning sessions and is addressing the needs of children whose English is at a higher level. We are working with Community Action Dacorum who will be providing ESOL (English for Speakers of Foreign Languages) for adults who want to learn or improve their English. We are relieved that the government has announced that both the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme will receive funding for three years rather than one. This funding will make a big difference to councils, who will be more likely to offer places to families. Many of the families currently in Hertfordshire are only here temporarily, until housing can be found for them, but we expect to offer long-term support to at least 20 Afghan families who will settle permanently in Hertfordshire. We really want to thank all of our supporters who have made donations or offered mobile phones. We’re also grateful to our volunteers who’ve been putting in so much effort and time. A number of new volunteers have recently come forward and we’re looking forward to working with them. Our volunteer coordinator Caroline has been very busy speaking to new volunteers, holding inductions, and organising DBS checks. Over the past few weeks, we’ve also been occupied with responding to close to a hundred messages on our website, some offering help and others requiring it. We will continue supporting Hertfordshire County Council, the Red Cross and other aid organisations by working with them to improve the process of identifying and responding to a range of wider needs. We appreciate your support and good wishes at this time, and again thank you for your generous donations! You can make a donation via Virgin Giving or directly to our bank account: Herts Welcomes Refugees Sort code 20 05 73 Account number 80585378 Comments are closed.
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