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Many people are asking about Afghan resettlement in Eastbourne and what they can do. At times like these our hearts shout loudest; then the brains click in and we realise this is not a simple matter. If we bring refugees here where do we house them? I’ve written an update for the many people who are asking and thought it helpful to pass this information on to the Churches.

Dear All

So many people are asking about what’s happening locally regarding Afghan refugees, I think it best to write to you all.

It is indeed a tragic situation and a massive one. The interpreters and their families have been arriving in the UK  since May 2021. The Afghan relocations and Assistance Policy ARAP was launched on 1^st April.  2,000 interpreters and their families have already arrived in the UK.  Since then local councils have been looking for properties to house these families. The families, are in general, large so the councils are mostly looking for 4-5 bedroom houses.  Houses are very few and far between, as we already know from the five [ actually 7 ] years of Syrian Resettlement. [ Since 2016 the Eastbourne Council was only able to house 9 families, 45 individuals, because of the lack of housing. However, it was good to manage that many]. Most of these 2,000 Afghan interpreters already here are being housed in large hotels in poor conditions across the UK, in cities and towns which are, historically, dispersal centres, rather like the conditions that all asylum seekers live in.  In fact the conditions in which asylum seekers in Eastbourne live, are quite good in comparison to many parts of England. However, these are generally small rooms designed for one person. The intention is to house 5,000 in the UK by the end of the year. Unless anything miraculously changes ‘housed’ means in hotel/ hostel accommodation. Currently there are no Afghan families in Eastbourne.

You may have seen the awful tragedy in Sheffield, where a 5 year old Afghan boy fell to his death from the 9^th floor. Rescued from Afghanistan and died due to poor health and safety management in the ‘hotel’. So, these people are in poor conditions because of lack of available homes.

The second  Afghan resettlement programme, is the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme [ ACRS ].  There are some slight variations on the Resettlement of Syrians and Sudanese, but in principle very similar. The plan is to house about 5,000 a year over the next 5 or so years. Aiming at rehousing 20,000. We can all say it should be more people, but the truth is, we bring these people here and then don’t have homes for them to live in.

Homes and housing, already set aside for social rehousing of local people, cannot be used, as it must remain for the needs of a locality, and as we know there is a vast shortage in housing in our town anyway. The local council has been searching and asking for homes, since the Spring. The project is only going to be successful if homes are found.

So, in fact, the best way forward is to put our energy into asking anybody we know about a second home sitting empty; or perhaps somebody inheriting a house – the rental payments are secure because they come direct via the council. Families will be supported by the council in terms of paperwork and finances, and Networx befrienders will support the families in terms of friendship, language, homework etc.

Refugee families want to blend into the locality, as we would. They want to settle, and be safe and be useful, in the community. The last thing they want is to be in the press and made a fuss of. Sadly whilst most of us will welcome them, there are plenty who would prefer to be rude to them. For this reason our work is confidential. If they arrive here because we have found homes, there will be plenty of opportunities to help them. At this stage the focus is on finding homes. Until we have houses the council cannot resettle families

All the best to you all,

Anna Reid

Founder & Chair of Eastbourne NetworX

(based at Victoria Baptist Church)

Supporting Refugees , Asylum Seekers and Migrants

in Eastbourne, with no or little recourse to public funds

Telephone 07790256783

Email networxeb@gmail.com

Website; www.eastbournenetworx.org

Charity number 1170393

Church of England elects new synod

Anglicans are in the process of nominating and electing new members for the General Synod of the Church of England. This is the legislative body of the Church of England and elections are held every five years.

Find out more about the elections here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=96&v=i5OT7vC7mo0&feature=emb_logo

And watch a video about the General Synod  here: https://youtu.be/CWspnvrc270

Nominations for the General Synod elections close at 5pm on 8 September.

Gabrielle Higgins the Chichester diocesan secretary, is encouraging people to seriously consider this important role.

She said: “Our diocese has eight lay places and five clergy (proctor) places to fill on General Synod for the next five-year term and it is vital that our diocese is appropriately represented in General Synod by a full complement of members, of all ages and backgrounds, who represent the rich diversity of our communities and church traditions.

“Please do seriously consider standing yourself or approaching someone you think would have the right kind of gifts and asking them to offer themselves for election.

“Please think widely about who to approach and bear in mind that, unlike electors, lay candidates to be nominated to stand for election need not be members of a deanery synod but do need to be on an electoral roll of a parish in the diocese or similar.

“Those clergy who are not deanery synod members but have Permission to Officiate in the diocese may stand for election as well as clergy representatives on deanery synod.”

The closing date for nominations is 5pm on 8 Sept 2021.

All you need to know for nominations can be found on the diocesan website is here  

Renault Master 2006 15 Seater Minibus. White. 108175 miles. 2463cc, Tow bar with electrics. Minibus has been totally overhauled. Speed limiter installed 62mph. Seats removable. Seat numbers can be reduced or vehicle suitable for conversion (outreach, etc) plus limiter can then be disabled. Now surplus to the charities needs and enquiries welcome.

Also used Panasonic PT-DZ10K projectors 10600ANSI lumens DLP WUXGA (1920×1200) with ET-D75LE10 lens. Current list price for this projector is £28,000 & lens £3000. Please note these projectors are powerful and suitable for large building, auditorium, etc. Enquiries welcome.

Call Simon 01323 848588 or email: admin@computersforcharities.org

Items are located in Eastbourne

The rebranded Gideons would like to invite you to a coffee morning and inspirational service.

Sussex FareShare was pioneered by several people including local Christians. Ian Chisnall was one of those and he is urging people to petition the government to give more financial support to charities active in this area of activity.

In April the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee called on the Government to provide ongoing funding to redistribute surplus food from the farmgate and across the supply chain to food aid providers. In June the Government said there were no plans for further grants. This should change

A Minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affair told the Committee “that the Government takes food waste very seriously” and that she expects “this to be an area in which we continue to work as Government”. We need the Government to provide public funding to enable the many agencies to carry out the work necessary to prevent food waste and improve food security.

You can sign the petition here

Are you part of a diverse ethnic community in Sussex? Do you want to make a difference to your community? Are you interested in health and social care? Would you like to meet new people, learn new skills and get valuable work experience?

Sussex Health and Care Partnership are looking for volunteers to be Community Ambassadors for Diverse Ethnic Communities and help change future NHS and social care services in Sussex. Find out more and apply here, the deadline is 12th August 2021:

https://www.sussexhealthandcare.uk/get-involved/community-ambassadors/

To church leaders in Eastbourne.

As we have all been aware , the pandemic has taken its toll on many sectors and none more so than the vulnerable living in Care homes. For well over a year strict restrictions have been placed on visits and items into all homes throughout the country.

PARCHE is a local Christian Charity and has for over 20 years been sending small teams into Eastbourne homes to share the Christian message and run short services for residents who are unable to go to a local church or who are not currently linked to them. Volunteers form teams from one or several churches working together ..

We are so grateful that many church fellowships have shared in our work both financially over the years..

We are now beginning to receive requests from homes enquiring about re commencing visits but unfortunately the circumstances for many volunteers over the last 18 months have changed and some have felt that they are unable to continue with this aspect of Christian service for a variety of reasons.

We are, therefore, making contact with churches in Eastbourne to share our vision of reaching to care homes as they beginn to emerge from the lockdown.
We have produced a short video sketch highlighting our work and are asking for this to be shown to congregations with the hope that that individuals may feel led to help with this aspect of Christian Service. We would ask if you could show it during your main service or at church home or house groups.

We would be happy to discuss this further or meet anyone who might wish to be involved. The commitment would be for one regular service a month at a local care home.

Members of a team would between them read a bible passage, say a short prayer, sing one or two familiar hymns or share short message and bring a friendly welcome into the home.

Here is the link to the short presentation. ( you don’t need to sign into Dropbox to review and download.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v50fzwm3ubdmzjf/Parche%20with%20Talk%20at%20end.mov?dl=0

We invite you to come and join us as we celebrate 150 years of work and witness in Eastbourne at:

3pm on Sunday 19th September

New Hope, Beach Road, BN22 7EU

PREACHER

Gavin Calver

CEO of The Evangelical Alliance

We trust there will be no Covid regulations in September but just in case, and to help in the catering, please let us know if you are able come by 31st August

E-mail colinmarchant@newhopeeastbourne.onmicrosoft.com
or leave a message on the church phone 01323 325735

WE ESPECIALLY LOOK FORWARD TO WELCOMING THOSE WITH A PERSONAL LINK TO THE CHURCH