Your invitation: BWR’s Supporters Evening 21st September

We would like to invite you to Bath Welcomes Refugees’ Supporters evening on Thursday 21st September from 7pm-8pm, at The Bubble, St John’s Foundation, 4-5 Chapel Court, Bath, BA1 1SQ.

This is your chance to hear about all the amazing work BWR has been up to over the past year. We will share updates on the charity and highlights from our volunteer teams supporting refugees of different nationalities in Bath and the surrounding area.

Two recent arrivals in the UK will also share their experiences of settling in Bath and volunteering with BWR to help their local communities.

The speakers will be:

  • Charlotte MacDiarmid, Chair of the Trustee Board
  • Sara Barna, Chair of the Management Committee
  • Kurda Yar, BWR Operations Officer
  • Mir Miri, volunteer coordinator for Afghans
  • Vira Navalihina, volunteer coordinator for Ukrainians

Light refreshments will be provided.

The supporters evening will be followed by the AGM from 8pm-8.30pm.

We look forward to seeing many of you there!

UPDATE – Picnic has been cancelled

Due to the wet weather forecast it has been decided to cancel the picnic.

Saturday 22nd July 2023
From 12 -2 PM
Royal Victoria Park (BA1 2NQ) – above the duck pond area

Please bring your food, drinks and something to sit on
Looking forward to seeing you all
Please note children should always be under the supervision
of their parents and guardians. Thank you.

Thank You to our Volunteers

On the occasion of Volunteer Week, everyone at BWR would like to take a moment to express our appreciation for your commitment to volunteering with us.

We are grateful to have over 200 active volunteers, doing everything from teaching English, organising social events, and befriending, to preparing houses for new arrivals, helping people navigate the welfare system, and employment support… not to mention managing our social media, raising funds, and making decisions on our Management Committee and Trustee Board, among other things. Without volunteers, BWR simply wouldn’t exist!

The past year has been particularly busy as we have welcomed Ukrainians fleeing war in their home country. We’ve been amazed at how the local community has stepped up to offer support. Many new volunteers have come on board, and its thanks to you that we have been able to start up new English classes in the areas surrounding Bath, offer a variety of social events including monthly social gatherings to connect people and reduce social isolation, and provide more support to people to help them
navigate life in the UK.

Without the time, energy and dedication of our volunteers, we wouldn’t be able to offer all the services to refugees that we currently do.


With warmest thanks,

Charlotte MacDiarmid
Chair of the Board of Trustees

BWR Refugee Week Event!

In celebration of the start of Refugee Week we’re doing a Great Walk Together

10:00am, Sunday, 18 June 2023 

Where:  Lansdown Park and Ride, BA1 9BJ  A five-and-a-half-mile circular walk from Lansdown, with spectacular views of Bath and towards the Severn Estuary. The walk takes about three hours.

Why: Walking together is one of Refugee Week’s Simple Acts; an opportunity to extend our hands to someone new and to reflect on our different journeys to Bath. 

How to get there: Take the Park and Ride bus at 9:45am from Milsom St, opposite Jollys, or drive to Lansdown Park and Ride (and remember to pay for parking) 

Practical stuff: Wear sensible footwear, sunscreen and bring water and as many snacks as you will need to keep you going. Well behaved dogs on leads are also welcome.

Important stuff!:  Please let us know you’re coming Click here to RSVP  so we know how many will attend.  We can then send you some more details about the route we will take. 

We hope you can come and look forward to hearing from you!

Boutique Jumble Sale…10th May

The fantastic BWR Boutique Jumble is back. We’d love for you to come along, find a bargain and contribute to a fantastic cause.

We’re also still looking for more donations of pre-loved women’s clothes and accessories. Full details, to both donate and join us on the day, are as follows:

Wednesday 10th May 2023
8:30am-7pm

137 Bradford Road

Bath

BA2 5BS

You can also deliver donations of pre-loved women’s clothes and accessories to this same address, any time from now until 9th May: There is a fully enclosed porch where you can safely leave them

For more information:

Email or call Amanda: [email protected], 07805 459760

Or email: [email protected] or [email protected]

We are looking for new Trustees!

This is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in the lives of refugees and asylum seekers living in Bath.

The charity is at an exciting stage of its development. If you are passionate about welcoming people seeking safety in the UK and have lived experience as a refugee or asylum seeker or experience in fundraising, comms, IT or charity governance and management, we’d love to hear from you! We are looking to recruit Trustees with the skills, experience, energy and time to commit to our vital work.

What will you be doing?

Our Board is responsible for the governance of Bath Welcomes Refugees. The Board does not directly manage the day-to-day work, but provides oversight, shaping organisational strategy and supporting our staff and volunteers. We are more hands-on than most charity boards. Please see the attached role descriptions for full details. Specific activities will include monthly trustee meetings, biannual meetings with the Management Committee, the Annual General Meeting, and ad hoc attendance at fundraising/promotional events. As a small charity, there will be times when the trustees will need to be actively involved beyond Board meetings.

What difference will you make?

Bath Welcomes Refugees is a small, dynamic local organisation that continues to grow and develop. Particularly in the last year, the scope and volume of our work has expanded considerably and we have taken on our first paid staff members. The new trustee(s) will support us to ensure we have a strong strategy and robust governance to continue to grow and develop to meet our mission. Trustees will bring crucial insights and guidance from their own backgrounds, as we continue to refine our strategy, strengthen our structure and fundraising, and manage risk. This is your opportunity to be part of a respectful, inclusive and friendly team, and make a difference in the lives of people living in your local area.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for people willing to bring energy, enthusiasm and commitment to the role, and who will broaden the diversity of thinking on our board.

Please see the attached role descriptions for full details

We are particularly looking for people with experience in the following:
• Financial management, income generation and enterprise
• Experience of the UK charity sector, especially management and/or governance
• Fundraising
• Communications, public relations and social media
• IT and data security
• Lived experience as a refugee or asylum seeker

What we can offer you

• Experience of strategy and leadership in the charity sector, supporting your professional development and boosting your CV
• The opportunity to be part of a friendly passionate team, applying your unique skills and experience while learning from others
• Access to training, on charity governance, safeguarding, refugee welfare and rights, and other relevant topics
• Reimbursement of reasonable expenses

How to apply

If you would like an informal chat about the role, we can arrange an informal chat with one of our Trustees.
Please send your CV with a one-page covering letter to
[email protected] by 19th March 2023.
We welcome applications from people with characteristics that are often underrepresented on charity boards, including disabled people, women, people of colour, those who identify as LGBTQ+, and young people.
If you are passionate about welcoming refugees and asylum seekers and want to be involved in growing a small charity, we welcome your application. If you don’t meet the above criteria, but still want to be a trustee or get involved in another capacity, we would still love to hear from you.

We are hiring!

Since BWR was founded in 2015 we have expanded considerably, especially over the last eighteen months or so, and we have now reached a stage where we are looking to recruit a part time Operations Officer to oversee the wide range of our work. It is an exciting stage of development and this is an opportunity to take on a new role within the organisation. 
Please see the attachments for more details of the post and forward to anyone you know within your own networks who you think might be interested. The closing date is 30th January.


Job vacancy: Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Coordinator

BWR are recruiting for a Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Coordinator. Please find attached the job description for this paid role along with information on BWR activities. The closing date for applications is 14 December 2022 – please do share with anyone you think may be suitable for the position and email [email protected] if you have any questions.

A personal account of becoming a refugee

One of the people we support, Mr Mir Abdullah, has produced two podcasts which he would like to share. One is about the death of his cousin while trying to escape and the other is about his own journey. They are very powerful and moving personal accounts which demonstrate the desperation of people seeking safety and the dangers and difficulties they face along the way

Migration is a difficult decision. Many uncertainties await the traveller. The journey becomes even harder when you start from a war-torn country like Afghanistan, at a moment when power is shifting, when many people are terrified and running for the exits.

Becoming a refugee doesn’t get easier every time you are displaced. Like our parents before us, we’ve had to start from scratch. The past year has been filled with the logistics of survival: Where would we live? How would we provide for ourselves and our families? How would we get our stranded relatives to safety, reunite our families, and create new lives in languages we didn’t speak?

https://theintercept.com/2022/09/14/no-way-home-podcast-desert-death/
http://freshedpodcast.com/miri/

Boutique Jumble Sale!

We have another fantastic Jumble next Friday 30th September in aid of BWR, which will exclusively feature women’s clothes and accessories. All details are below for the day – one you won’t want to miss!

The team are also still accepting donations for this event, please email [email protected] or call one of the team on the numbers below if you have anything you would like to donate. Thank you as always for your continued support!

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