First of all, an enormous thanks to all who all who took part and supported our Open House Event in April, and to Bentham Methodist Church for use of the Chapel. It was an amazing evening with songs, poems and stories of migration and refugees. We raised over £850 all of which has been sent to the charity Help Refugees. https://helprefugees.org/

On 13 May 2018 we supported Matthew Crampton’s Show ‘Human Cargo’ at Settle Victoria Hall by staffing a stall to promote the plight of asylum seekers and trafficked people, and the activities of our group. It was an epic night of story and song and a new adaptation of his acclaimed book ‘Human Cargo: Stories & Songs of Emigration, Slavery and Transportation’. 

Our next event is a coffee morning in the Town Hall on 9 June 2018, where we shall be raising funds for the Red Cross Refugee Services in Bradford and our Hosting Weekend at the end of June, during which asylum seekers and refugees from the Red Cross Drop In visit us for the weekend. We will have a display and information as well.  Please come and support us: and any donations of cakes, raffle prizes, tombola, and plants would be very welcome.

On 20 June 2018 at 7.30pm, at the Methodist Church, Bentham to celebrate Refugee Week, Maggie Bruno will be giving a talk ‘THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE….’. Illustrated by power point and case examples, she will be talking about how she became involved with working with refugees, an overview of the Asylum Process, her work as a caseworker at the Bradford Red Cross Drop In Centre and the activities of our local Bentham Area Refugee Support Group.  Do come and support her and enjoy a cuppa and chat afterwards.

Our next hosting weekend is 29 June –1 July 2018, and follows from Maggie’s talk, where we shall be again welcoming guests from the Red Cross for a wonderful weekend of Yorkshire hospitality. We have very generous offers of help, some new hosts, and a full programme of activity, including a Celidih at Burton Village Hall on Saturday evening. If you would like to be involved it is not too late: please contact Maggie Bruno or Annie Neligan, and if you would like to make a donation to help us meet the cost of the weekend, this can be dropped off at Maggie Bruno (5 Twine Walk, Burton in Lonsdale LA6 3LR), or at Temptations Haberdashery in Bentham.

To round off our summer activities, we will also be having our usual stall at Clapham Street Market at the end of July. More on this next month, so watch out for our June News!