Refugee Council Training

• An introduction to child protection issues in working with children from abroad- Wednesday 14th September, London
• An introduction to working with unaccompanied children- Tuesday 20th September, London
• Key Issues in Asylum- Wednesday 21st September, London

Introduction to Asylum Support- Thursday 22nd September, London

• End of process: Support for asylum seekers who have been refused asylum- Wednesday 28th September, London

Age assessment awareness and working with age-disputed young people- Tuesday 4th October, London

• The Refugee Council Therapeutic Casework model: Supporting clients with mental wellbeing needs – Wednesday 5th October, London
• Supporting women affected by sexual violence- Wednesday 12th October, London
• Refugees and migrants: Entitlement to housing and other services – Wednesday 19th October, London

To book email [email protected]For a complete list of their current training courses, please visit their website, to make an enquiry contact them.

Highfields Festival

27th June 2011

Dear Friends and Colleagues

HIGHFIELDS FESTIVAL: Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th July 2011

It gives us great pleasure to invite you to the very first Highfields Festival which will be taking place next month at the Highfields Centre and in the adjacent car park over the weekend of 23rd & 24th July.

The Festival is for all the local communities in the area and we would like in particular, to attract families from the newer communities who have arrived in Highfields. The Festival will consist of a Community Fair and a Jobs Fair (being organised by Highfields Multi-Access Centre), children’s activities and taster workshops in arts & sports activities, as well as a large scale youth event and an adult and families concert. The daytime activities will be free and there will be a charge for the evening activities as follows:

Celebration of Diversity & Unity in the Community & Mango Studios Showcase youth event on Saturday 23rd July 6-9pm admission £2 which includes free food and a CD Adult & Families concert with local Asian & African-Caribbean artists & special guests on Sunday 24th July 7-10pm admission £5 which includes a 3 course meal

As part of the Community Fair which will be in the adjacent car park, we are offering groups and individuals an opportunity to hire a stall. All bookings will be on a first come, first served basis and get a booking form, containing all the relevant details and this needs to be completed and returned to the Centre by 15th July – all stalls will have to be booked by this date, as we have a limited number of spaces in the car park.

We have a number of partners who have been helping to plan the event over the last few months, including Leicester Print Shop, Highfields Library, Moat Community College, Highfields Multi-Access Centre, Bethany Hostel, Akwaaba Ayeh, Police, Shama Women’s Centre and many others.

If you or your organisation wish to be involved in helping to organise the event, please attend our next meeting which is on Tuesday 5th July at 6pm at this Centre. If you wish to volunteer in a personal capacity, I enclose a volunteer application form which needs to be returned to Jay Patel at the Centre by the above meeting date, after which we will call a meeting with the volunteers who will form part of that weekend’s festival team.

With your support we hope to make this a successful first event and are looking ahead to have the festival in Spinney Hills Park next year. Please get involved – a flyer is enclosed and a programme for the event will be shortly available. If you require any further information, please contact Saqib Deshmukh at Highfields Centre.

Yours sincerely

Priya Thamotheram

on behalf of Highfields Festival Planning Group
Highfields Community Association
Highfields Centre
96 Melbourne Road
Leicester, LE2 0DS

Tel: 0116 253 1053

Refugee Week 2011

No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF)

NRPF training meetings scheduled for:

London Weds 9^th March 2011, 10am – 4.30pm

Manchester Weds 23^rd March 2011, 10am – 4.30pm

The NRPF Network will be delivering a No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) Training session on Wednesday 9th March 2011 (10am – 4.30pm) in London and Wednesday 23rd March 2011 (10am – 4.30pm) in Manchester for Local Authority representatives with responsibilities for people with NRPF.

The cost of the training is £125 per person. Limited places are available.

This course covers key issues, legislation and assessments, for adults, children and families, and in regards to human rights obligations. The programme is organised as follows:

• No recourse to public funds – introduction and overview
• Key legislation
• Assessing eligibility for support
• General considerations in assessments of need – adults, children and families, human rights
• Community care and community mental health assessments
• Child in need and human rights assessments
• Good practice in assessing and supporting people with NRPF
• National NRPF Network and the policy context of NRPF
• Case studies

For more information on the training programme, please see: http://www.islington.gov.uk/Health/ServicesForAdults/nrpf_network/Training/training_la.asp

Link to booking form:

http://www.islington.gov.uk/DownloadableDocuments/CommunityandLiving/Pdf/nrpf_openaccess_training.pdf

For further information, contact:

Tel: 020 7527 7107/7121

Fax: 020 7527 7110

Email: [email protected]

Terms and Conditions: http://www.islington.gov.uk/DownloadableDocuments/CommunityandLiving/Pdf/nrpf_training_terms_conditions.pdf

Level of an Annual Limit on Economic Migration to the UK

Date: 26^th August 2010
Time: 11am – 1pm
Venue:  East Midlands Councils, Phoenix House, Nottingham Road, Melton Mowbray, LE13 0UL

On 20 May 2010 the Coalition Government said “We will introduce an annual limit on the number of non-EU economic migrants admitted into the UK to live and work. We will consider jointly the mechanism for implementing the limit.”

On 28 June the Government launched a consultation on how an annual limit for Tiers 1 (highly skilled migrants) and 2 (skilled migrants) of the Points Based System for migration from outside the EEA will work in practice, and the mechanism through which it should be achieved.

At the same time the Government commissioned the MAC to consult and provide advice on the level at which the first annual limit should be set (2011/12). In doing so the Government asked the Committee to:

• take into account their overall objective of reducing net migration to the tens of thousands by the end of the Parliament;
• balance economic, social and public service impacts of migration; and
• report by the end of September.

The MAC issued a consultation on 30 June which can be accessed here:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/workingwithus/mac/mac-consultation-annual-limit/

The deadline for the consultation is 7 September 2010.

As you may know the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) are currently consulting on the level that the first year limit on non-EEA immigrants coming to the UK for work should be set at. In doing so the Committee have been asked to take into account economic, public service and social impacts. We would very much like to come to the East Midlands and talk through our consultation with relevant representatives and hear some initial reactions.

Our interests are quite broad around economic, public service and social impacts and are not limited to, but include the following:

Education

• What role do migrants (particularly Tier 1 and Tier 2 migrants and their dependants) play in consuming and providing these services? To what extent can you measure and balance these impacts?
• Do corporate partners have any information on T1/T2 migrants (+ dependants) being employed in the education sector? It would be particularly helpful to get this information from several regions to enable us to bring out any regional variation in this impact in our report.
• How much do local authorities have to spend to accommodate EAL students in their classrooms? What effect, if any, is this having on the education of other students? (we appreciate some EAL students will not be migrants and some migrants will not be EAL students).

Healthcare and social services

• What role do migrants (particularly Tier 1 and Tier 2 migrants and their dependants) play in consuming and providing these services? To what extent can you measure and balance these impacts?
• Again, can partners provide us with evidence (at regional level if possible) of T1/T2 migrants and dependants being employed in the health and social service sectors and their importance to these sectors?
• Do employers offer private healthcare to migrants (and their families) as part of their overall benefits package?
• Can health workers comment on whether non-EEA migrants (pref. T1/T2 + dependants) have particular medical needs (illnesses (hereditary or otherwise) or increased likelihood to abuse alcohol/drugs/etc that could place increased burden on health services?)

Housing

• On housing we are interested in the extent to which migrants deny current residents access to social housing, and the impact of migration in influencing housing availability, rent levels, and house prices.

Crime

• On crime, we want to know the extent to which migrants commit crime (relative to the resident population), and what types of crime, and how much police and prison resource they “consume” as criminals.

Social cohesion

Not an easy area to consult on but we would be interested to hear views on:

• Are there any regional public opinion polls on migration that we could use?
• Can employers comment on the rate of change of the proportion of their workforce that are migrants? Do migrants integrate well into the workforce/local community? Have there been any tensions/disputes among employees?

Economic

• Other than the areas mentioned above are there other economic impacts that should be taken into account (e.g. harder to recruit non-EU workers into hard to fill jobs such as chefs, engineering etc…).

In a nutshell, in recommending a first annual limit for non-EU immigration, we need to understand what impact this may have on your region.

Please indicate your attendance at this event by emailing kirsty.lowe@emcouncils.gov.uk

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

Kirsty

Kirsty Lowe
Learning & Development Adviser
East Midlands Councils

Tel. 01664 502 637 Fax. 01664 502659

Please note the new email address, which is now kirsty.[email protected].

The East Midlands Councils is the consultative forum for all 46 authorities in the region. It provides support to Councils to improve their services and is a strong voice for the East Midlands.

Forthcoming Events

Refugee Week 2010 Leicester Events Guide

By Elisha Shamba

Refugee Week is a UK-wide programme of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK, and encourages a better understanding between communities.

Every year, hundreds of events are organised aiming to counter fear, ignorance and negative stereotypes, exploring the contributions that refugees give to the UK and the reasons why they seek sanctuary in the first place.

Events this year, taking place between 14-20 June, include a British Citizenship Test Competition, the World Refugee Day Umbrella Parade and the Alternative World Cup Football Tournament, a five-a-side tournament bringing together players of refugee and non-refugee backgrounds.

The main theme this year is ‘Simple Acts’, consisting of twenty everyday actions that can be done by anyone, such as cooking a dish from another country, giving someone a book about refugees and fact-finding about refugees.

These ‘Simple Acts’ may sound insignificant, but the campaign hopes they will encourage greater understanding of refugees and the breaking down of barriers within communities.

Every year, hundreds of events are organised aiming to counter fear, ignorance and negative stereotypes, exploring the contributions that refugees give to the UK and the reasons why they seek sanctuary in the first place.

Events this year, taking place between 14-20 June, include a British Citizenship Test Competition, the World Refugee Day Umbrella Parade and the Alternative World Cup Football Tournament, a five-a-side tournament bringing together players of refugee and non-refugee backgrounds.

The main theme this year is ‘Simple Acts’, consisting of twenty everyday actions that can be done by anyone, such as cooking a dish from another country, giving someone a book about refugees and fact-finding about refugees.

These ‘Simple Acts’ may sound insignificant, but the campaign hopes they will encourage greater understanding of refugees and the breaking down of barriers within communities.

Refugee Week is a multi-agency project, including the Refugee Council, Amnesty International and the Children’s Society, amongst others.

See the leaflet below with a breakdown of events taking place in Leicester throughout Refugee Week 2010:

Refugee_Week_Leaflet_2010_Web_Download_Version_3

Policy Update Conference

The Refugee Council

Challenge yourself and help rebuild lives

Sign up to sponsored events and raise funds to support refugees

Are you a keen runner or a cycling enthusiast? A series of runs and bike ride challenges are shortly taking place. Looking for pure adrenaline? Skydiving might be the right thing for you.

The Refugee Council has a range of sponsored events for you to take part in. Sign up to a challenge today and help raise vital funds and local awareness to support refugees across the country.

Places are now available in the Great Yorkshire run in Sheffield, the Great Capital run in London and a 5k run in Birmingham – all taking place in September 2009. Get more information from our events calendar and register today at http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/supportourwork/sponsoredevents/

Cycling addicts can contact us now to book a place on the popular London to Paris bike ride in June 2010. For those who enjoy the English countryside, why not sign up to the ‘Just Bike’ challenge in Wiltshire on 3 October 2009?

Up for an extreme challenge? Then register today for a parachute jump!

Supporting us through a sponsored event is fun and easy. All you need to do is to choose your challenge and get in touch. We will show you how to sign up and send you our fundraising pack with awareness materials and plenty of fundraising tips to help you every step of the way.

Read on about the challenges some of our supporters have recently completed with great determination and enthusiasm at http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/supportourwork/sponsoredevents/recentevents

Want to join the team? Do not hesitate to contact us on 020 7346 1205 or email [email protected].

We look forward to hearing from you!

ARRIVED! Using the arts and creative approaches event

As part of the series of events set to take place during Refugee Week, Soft Touch Arts will be holding an event on Thursday 18 June 2009 at The Guildhall, Guildhall Lane in the city from 12:30 to 4:30pm. The event, dubbed ‘ARRIVED’, focuses on using the arts and creative approaches with young refugees, asylum seekers and other new arrivals. Representatives from refugee community organisations, agencies and public services, including schools are all invited.

The aim of the day is to show the value of using the arts and creative processes with young people who have recently arrived in the city, whatever their background.  Along with participants from some of Soft Touch’s recent projects they will be looking at:

·      What you can you get out of using a creative approach
·      What barriers there are to doing this
·      How we can collectively make future opportunities

Delegates will have an opportunity to see a selection of work made by young people: Streetdreamz:The Movie; the installation A Special Place, the Arrived!; Centre Project Days and Shoot! Magazines; and a photo exhibition. There will also be some creative activities to get people’s ideas and input – and a chance to have a go on a graffiti wall and at an animation station.

The format of the day will be:

12:30 – 1:30            Lunch (vegetarian/vegan/halal selection) and view artwork
1:30 – 16:30            Film, activities and discussion

The event celebrates and showcases the work Soft Touch have been doing over the last two years through their Creative Skillshare programme, funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, and the Arrived! Project, funded by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

To book a place email Helen Pearson at [email protected]
Tel 0116 270 2706

State your name, organisation, email address or other contact details.Closing date is Friday 12 June 2009.

Soft Touch works with groups of under-represented people to enable them to express themselves using a range of arts based media. Their projects focus on confidence building, community development, community consultations, performance, graphics, multi-media, street performances, music and drama.

More information on other events during Refugee Week is available here

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