This is a great resource for anyone wanting to explore ways of responding to the lack of housing for destitute asylum seekers and other migrants without recourse to public funds. You'll see LASSN and Katrina Burton, former Volunteers Manager of Grace Hosting Credited as a contributor in the back.
An amazing poem by one of our friends, Margaret The 'Brown' Envelope. Hopelessly and anxiously Waiting for the brown envelope To be delivered through the mail box Dug open in the belly of the front room Like an open mouth of the lion lurking to attack and slit Waiting uncertainty Waiting without any indication, When it will drop nor what it will contain I have waited over seven years Checking the front door each morning For the delivery of brown envelope I know it carries the verdict The decision that will change my life For better for worse The silent battle of waiting, Full of anxiety and fear Each individual affected differently Defenceless like sheep, being led to a slaughter house, Waiting for the delivery, of the brown envelope Arrived young and agile With dreams of a better safer life, It was life of no choice basis, Where it was a crime to touch money Never able to work No documents to do so No choice of supermarket The voucher and swipe card came with conditionalities Clothes from PAFRAS and volunteers Belongings remained packed, ready for next move Anytime, anywhere, anyhow As the law commands or dictates, fear sleepless nights, confusion, depression, Characterised in all the veterans in struggle And when it arrives Body tremors and hand shaking Picking the envelope born from the front door With nowhere to hold on to Just like a drowning man grabbing a piece of grass Cannot find courage and strength To open the contents, of the infamous brown envelope. Alone and consumed with confusion, Fidgeting to understand the contents Reading the words upside down, like a hanging bat trying to swallow He rushes straight to church. The pastor too had sleepless nights Praying for the contents, His the only solace of his predicaments Of the contents of the brown envelope Holding onto the envelope, dropping it and picking it up, The news was too good to bear The young man suffocates and collapses, No amount of resuscitation could bring him back Drops dead out of excitement He is now another statistic of the verdict in the brown envelope As a mate waits for the brown envelope The young college administrator turns down the application to pursue her Teaching dream Cynical and in the a voice of inherent despise she explains "You asylum seekers" use such opportunities To claim your status I'm sorry, the class is full Try next year. The irretrievable time in the trash! The uncalculated energy in the garbage! Unavoidable In the position of asylum seeker. We are human with feelings. In the name of Jesus Margaret East
Early in 2014, we were approached to create a piece of artwork for Leeds University's School of Medicine. The brief was to create a piece of collaborative art that would help explain to students the health priorities of refugees and asylum seekers. LASSN approached the Women's Health Befriending Project - which is run on the principles of mutual aid and self-help - where women support and advocate for one another by attending health appointments, helping to interpret for one another and understand the treatments they are offered as well as providing practical and emotional support. The resulting collaboration between LASSN, Women's Health Befriending Project and artist Carol Sohaindo produced this amazing tree of health, a banner weaving together the different words and perspectives of women from many backgrounds to produce a single arresting image. At its heart lies a personalised notion of health, although we are reminded that "[you]...can't put down roots until you know what's going to happen next" Seeking refuge and asylum is a difficult and complex process, with high levels of uncertainty. In this image the women captured the importance of care, compassion and kindness in the way healthcare is delivered, especially to people struggling to make a new home in a strange place. "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." The Banner created by the Women's Health Befriending Project and Carol Sohaindo
The Winter 2014 Edition of One World Leeds is out - our first one since the launch of the www.oneworldleeds.org website - featuring prize winning entries to the "Bringing the World to Leeds" Photo competition. It collects the very best articles from the website, including Are politicians scared to debate immigration? No Laughing Matter – LASSN and the Daily Mail Speaking Out in a Kingdom of Silence: Syria Missing my Friend From Leeds to Syria Reaching out to LGBTi Asylum seekers Taking Refugees to the Opera Is love a Human Right? Cross examined and intimidated As usual, copies of the magazine will be distributed across the City . Let us know if you would like copies of your school, church, work or shop
If you're here, you probably already know something about LASSN. But here's a quick presentation (written for a presentation at Allerton Deanery Synod) that links what we do to the wider local, national and international context of people seeking refuge and asylum An Introduction to Leeds Asylum Seeker Support Network,September 2014 from Jon Beech
I've written a short blog at >www.oneworldleeds.org, describing what happened after the Daily Mail approached LASSN, asking if we'd like to place an advertisement on their website. Be sure to leave a comment...