​We were excited to hear that our new volunteer Simon has started music sessions at one of the hotels for asylum seekers.  So we asked him some questions and were delighted to hear about Simon's background, his reasons for volunteering, his reflections on the first music session and what he would say to potential volunteers:

HS: I see from your website that you are a University lecturer in English Literature and poetry writing as well as a musician and a poet, with a PhD in sonic poetics! Can you tell us a little bit about your background and your different interests? 

SP: Yes of course. I have played and made music since I was 5. I have played music for years in London, and collaborate with many beautiful humans, release music, play live. Poetry came later: as I kid I listened to tapes my mother and father bought for me; one of my favourite memories of ‘techno’ as not only a music, but a way of life, was the function on our tape cassette machine that, when switched, would mean side 2 of the cassette would be played straight after side 1. This created for me and in me a concept of eternal music, of the sound of infinities. In one of my current roles, I teach a university poetry course online, one for which I recently re-wrote the new course, which has been delightful. It’s been 6 years teaching that, so I have by now taught a few hundred adult poets who come from all over the world. I am fortunate to do so. I have published my poetry, but these days I put everything I am into my music. I made the term ‘Sonic Poetics’ to describe a way of thinking about how sound is presented in poetry, and for how we listen in life, and for how we might attune our inner ears in ways that know no borders. For 20 years, on and off, I have taught English as a Foreign Language, so I assisted in some classes being taught at the hotel, and the quality of teaching was just excellent. At the moment, as there are several excellent teachers of English at the hotel, I was encouraged to start the music sessions. Thank you one and all so far.    
 
HS: What led you to volunteer with Herts Welcomes Refugees?  Is there a particular motivating factor? 

SP: I am motivated to be self-aware about any fortunate circumstance in which I find myself. And so, I came back to the UK last summer after a holiday in Greece, the moment when hate crimes spiked. In order to respond, I took affirmative action to help, in any way I could, my contemporaries, those humans who have come to the UK. I searched for the nearest refugee volunteer charity to where I am currently living, and made contact. I was born in Ireland, my mother is Irish, and my English father spent his 20’s living with my mother in Ireland. And so, I too am a colonial subject. I believe in the right for human beings to move around the world. I believe in the human right of safety and to seek and find safety. These are some of the most basic things that do exist and must exist: like quietness, or a cloud. I will do what I can and when I can to be of use to those who are moving, or have moved, to the UK. I am motivated because I am a citizen of the world. I am motivated because I believe in more love, not less: and I wish my Other all the safety, happiness and joy in which to live. In socio-economic terms, until only this Spring, I have spent my entire adult life on zero hours contracts. So I know a bit about precarity, and about precarious living, something that effects millions now living. I refuse to let precarity harm those who I might be able to help, even if I just do a bit, with music and fun. There are so many people in London alone who devote their entire lives to affirmative charitable action. My partner is one who works for a charity: I am in awe of their work; I am grateful every day that I know them. As my own work hours are changeable, it’s about my going with the changes and being of use when it is possible.    
 
HS: This week you ran your first music session with asylum seeker children at the hotel and I hear it went very well. Some of the young people have been in the hotel for a long time and I am sure they really appreciated the freedom of being able to express themselves through music. How did the young people respond and what effect do you think being able to participate had on them?

SP: This is a very beautiful thing to read, thank you so much! I had no idea how long some of the young people have been staying in the hotel. I am delighted I could bring them instruments with which they could express themselves. At this stage, we still don’t really know what music is nor where it comes from: but we know that music is our energy! The young people were energetic: they were all eager to play; some were shy and benefitted from encouragement, some too shy and if they come again they are always welcome to play anything I have. Last night I saw: a 5-year-old boy with a heavy downstroke talent for a clear tone on the guitar; his sister who danced and liked the ‘bird’ painting on my guitar; an exceptional flautist who can read music (something I cannot do since I just play by ear!); children organising their own singing to songs they like. The parents were supportive and open. The session inspired me: when I left, I was beaming. I mean, this is just the same as an Irish family party!
 
HS: What are you planning for future sessions?    
 
SP: For next time I would like to try two things: firstly, a mix between karaoke and a ‘listening session’: I’m bringing a loud speaker so everyone there can play their favourite songs, and then maybe people might like to sing them.  Secondly, one of my students at the session told me his favourites: The Eagles and Pink Floyd. So, I have invited my father to play a set next time: he is a gifted guitarist, proficient in classical, blues, Flamenco. My own guitar style is a bit more made up, as everyone saw when I played a tune of my own. I call what I play ‘Blood Music’.  

HS: What would you say to anyone thinking of volunteering with Herts Welcomes Refugees?

SP: Come and offer what you can, when you can. It will augment your ideas of what constitutes ‘home’, ‘life’, ‘family’, ‘work’. Volunteering can fulfil your wellbeing in ways that paid work cannot. I am consistently amazed at the levels of care and inspiration in the volunteers: everyone has been so welcoming to me, and they are committed, organised, open, pro-active, generous. The volunteers inspire me. About working with refugees in Hertfordshire, I must say: it is my honour.

Thank you Simon for giving your time and talent so generously, we are sure the sessions will light up the lives of those living in the hotel in difficult circumstances.

At our AGM we were delighted to show this pre-recorded video of Steph talking about bringing her professional experience of monitoring and evaluating projects to demonstrate impact to her work with Herts Welcomes Refugees. Click on the photo to watch the video:

We were delighted to have volunteer and ESOL teacher Sue interview our volunteer Henry at the AGM.  Sue started by giving two definitions of the term volunteer:
"Work for an organisation for free” / "Doing something to benefit others”

Sue said these were true but bland and that hearing from Henry would show that there is so much more to volunteering than these 2 definitions.
She also quoted:  “Volunteering is at the core of being human. No-one has made it through life without someone's help.”  (Heather French Henry)

She said that talking to Henry would show the impact of volunteering. He has skills and talents, and also a young family and full time job.

Henry said that he became involved with HWR as he was helping his daughter look for volunteering roles for her Duke of Edinburgh Award; he thought "why not me too?" as he works from home and has time.  The aims and values of HWR resonated with him, from the belief that we're all just products of environment and circumstance, and many in the world end up with significantly worse life chances and quality of life simply because of where and when they were born.

He was interested in teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) as that felt like something he could do by joining HWR and contributing something.
After many months of watching and learning, and supporting classes, an extra class was set up. Paulina Clarke was brought in to teach, but could only do alternate weeks for a while so she suggested Henry could cover the alternate weeks.
Henry found it daunting at first, but he did have a little bit of experience (albeit from 20 years earlier) and went with the theory  that it was good to push yourself outside your comfort zone. He has been been taking classes on and off as secondary or cover ever since and enjoys it immensely.

When Sue asked about the challenges and rewards, Henry said that the main challenge was putting together lesson content that is worthwhile and useful, as it's important to him that the students have gained and learned something from the lesson.
The rewards are being around students who are so polite, positive, enthusiastic and thankful, despite the circumstances they find themselves in. He finds this inspiring, and feels privileged to be involved.

Sue concluded by saying that the benefits of volunteering are not only what we give, but also people we have met, and growth & development in ourselves.
She ended with two more quotations: “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world -  it's the only thing that ever has " (Margaret Mead)
and finally:  “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do!"  (Steve Jobs)
​
Thank you so much Sue and Henry for these inspiring words which show how much impact volunteering can have on those who are helped and on the volunteers themselves.

We were thrilled that our volunteer Kate shared her experiences so eloquently at our AGM.  Here you can read what Kate said:

We all come into HWR in slightly different ways – often like me through a friend already volunteering. Back in early 2019 my friend Frances, whose husband Simon died suddenly last month (or she would have been here tonight), knew my career had been in English language teaching and writing, and also that I had run a food programme for schoolchildren in Uganda for 15 years, when we built kitchens, water butts and funded a daily mug of maize porridge for two large schools.  This was different, but my arm was twisted, I’m happy to say, and I duly signed up. I was originally asked to befriend a Syrian “mother-in-law who doesn’t go out much”.  It turned out she had spent time in Egypt before coming here and had never had the opportunity to learn any English.  More about her in a second. 
Then in May that year, I was asked to give ESOL support to Enas, a young woman recently arrived with her mother from Syria, also via Egypt where she and her parents had fled to 5 years before. All these people came on the Government Resettlement Scheme, though sadly in Enas’s case, without her father who died unexpectedly in Egypt. 

So where did my path take me? 
Back to my mother-in-law partner. For several months we had fun looking at, cutting up, pasting and playing games from Rosemary Picking and Margarete Prudden’s book First Resort, which I’m sure many of you know and use.  
Then came the pandemic in March 2020.  My relationship with her changed completely.  In fact it marked the end of our weekly contact.  She struggled too much with remote learning, and the family asked me to move on to teaching her son and daughter-in-law instead.  We all had to realise fast that life was now utterly different and that we would have to adapt to a new normal, including the fact that the word zoom had taken on a new meaning. Suddenly it didn’t mean whizzing about to different places, it meant doing something in the same place.  So once we’d figured out how to mute, unmute, chat and screenshare the family and I set out together on our new virtual journey.  The next turning came in the form of their 13 year old daughter.  A bit of zoom schooling started!  She was always very well prepared with her materials and instructions – I was the one who wasn’t prepared.  I never knew if we were about to study Martin Luther King, volcanoes, French, music theory or the mysteries of Greek myths.  But we got there, or at least somewhere, and she was able to send off her completed work to her teachers, with a little more confidence than might otherwise have been the case.  
Meanwhile my own path then took another turning.  Enas wanted to go to Middlesex University to study Interior Design.  Would I (or anyone) be willing to prepare her for the IELTS test – the English test that most universities require from international students.  I agreed to meet her – of course by zoom.  What I found was someone whose motivation was phenomenal.  Some had said that it might be better to study English for another year before trying the IELTS.  On the face of it, this seemed a good idea, but she was nothing if not determined and in a hurry.
She soon discovered that she would be allowed to take the DUOLINGO test instead of the more difficult IELTS.  Not long after that, she passed and became an undergraduate – all by zoom, never having set foot in a British university.  So began our next 3 years together, meeting some 4 hours a week, including in the vacations, she from her home, me from my home, and later from Dublin and Seattle too, where my children live, until she gained her degree.  Her graduation was a ceremony I’ll never forget. I don’t know anyone who deserved it more.  We are still in touch and regularly see each other, for real now.  And there are her lovely paintings.  Please take a moment to have a good look at them. 
 
So what have I learnt and not learnt? 
Firstly I’ve learnt a good deal about interior design! 
I’ve also developed deep admiration for both the Syrian families I have been lucky enough to be involved with. I admire them for simply coping, accepting, adapting, facing health problems with courage and patience, their learning capacity, for their hospitality, their skills and talents and their forbearance and resilience in the face of frustrating circumstances not of their own making.  Would I be as strong as this?  I often wonder… 
What haven’t I learnt?  Apart from Arabic, to my shame, I haven’t learnt enough about the bureaucracy many of our partners face, in obtaining Leave to Remain or becoming a British citizen. It’s a complicated business, expensive, time-consuming and stressful.  Of course, if unqualified, we are not entitled to offer official advice, any more than we should do the job of a social worker or an immigration lawyer, or a medic – although my friend Frances did find herself delivering a baby in a taxi some years ago I believe.  Fortunately she was a nurse, but it did give me a momentary pause for thought about volunteering.  My point is that informing ourselves about the likely steps they have to take, and about the changes that regularly come into force, puts us in a stronger position to be able to help when called upon, and to learn where the boundaries of our expertise lie. In my experience, my partners negotiate the maze of red tape extraordinarily well.  What they have needed most from me has been help with the B1 English language oral test – which changed its format a year or two ago - and the building of confidence to assess if/when they were ready to pass. 
​
So what next?
What about when our partners are at last settled in terms of accommodation, schools, language and other courses, and hopefully jobs? In my case, one person is keen to continue with some English language lessons, others like to keep in touch socially. Our relationships remain strong, and even though we meet less often, it is interesting and fun to allow our conversations to wander down whatever winding path they might take us!
So, my motto is expect the unexpected – and go with the flow!  There is always something round the corner, waiting to steer our energy and skills in unanticipated directions. 
So let me wish you all, the very best in your own winding path.