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Local Christian Charity PARCHE, who help coordinate church visits to local care homes, need to find new office space, preferably shared so their office manager is not isolated. They would appreciate donated space as the effect of Covid has reduced their income. They have a Desk, PC printer, and storage cupboard. If anyone can help please email parcheenquiries@hotmail.co.uk

Gather Community Garden, an expression of the Gather Collective, an Eastbourne community church, is hosting an art exhibition around the themes of ‘edible’  and ‘the natural enviroment.’ The Delights of the Garden exhibit has been curated by Tempo Arts and Compass Community Arts with input from Amberstone Artists and Blackberry Buzzard. The works will be spread throughout the 7 plot allotment, which is open 6 mornings a week and includes a quiet garden around the theme of Psalm 23.

The 9 day event will launch on Friday 10th of September at 6pm with special guests including MP Caroline Ansell and Deputy Mayor Helen Burton. Refreshments are included.

The exhibition can be viewed from 11am – 4pm on the following days

Friday 10th – Sunday 12th
Friday 17th – Sunday 19th
Friday 24th – Sunday 26th

The Gather Community Garden is part of the Churchdale Allotments, which can be found on the footpath between Churchdale Road and Hammonds Drive. (The path is famous for its chickens – which are part of the Gather Community Garden. Google Maps will take you to the exact place if you search for Gather Community Garden.)

Entrance is Free

A toolkit, including prayer and theological resources, has been produced by the Church of England in response to churches and individuals concerned by the situation in Afghanistan asking what they can do to help.

Staff in the Church of England’s national Mission and Public Affairs team say they have been overwhelmed with messages from those asking how they can practically and spiritually support those fleeing the Taliban takeover.

The material, available online, brings together links and information on how churches can help through giving, community sponsorship, prayer and advocacy.

Read More Here

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