It's Spring - so let us tell you what we've been up to - and the difference we've made over the last 3 or 4 months As always, thank you to every one of our friends for your kindness, support and inspiration from Everyone at LASSN
This year we cannot bring everyone together face-to-face as we usually would, so instead we invite you to take part in a week of fun activities that will hopefully help us to all feel more connected during these strange times. You can sign up to as many sessions with ‘unlimited’ spaces as you like, and you can choose one session that has ‘limited’ spaces. Some of the activities require ingredients or materials or the costs of putting the cooker on, so please tell us so we can help pay for them. We never ever want money to be a barrier to people coming together and having a good time - so please don't be embarrassed. Please tell us if some money towards the cost of ingredients or materials or cooking costs or phone credit would be helpful. We really really want to see you! Monday 15th March, 12 – 12.45pm Have Fun through Dance with Nikki If you miss dancing with friends to some happy music and having a little bit of exercise then this session is for you. You don't need any skills, just need a little bit of space to move around and some comfortable clothing, anyone that enjoys dancing is very welcome. Nikki is a qualified dance fitness instructor and a former Zumba® instructor. She will demonstrate the dance move for each song so that everyone can follow along. Places available: unlimited Tuesday 16th March, 11am - 12pm Cooking with Hala Hala will be cooking the Palestinian dish Mujadara which is made up of lentils, rice (and/or bulgur) and caramelized onions. You can get the ingredients in advance to cook along with her or just join the session and watch! We will send out a list of ingredients a week before the session, and a supermarket voucher to buy ingredients, or volunteers can claim back through their expenses. Places available: unlimited Tuesday 16th March, 6 – 7.30pm Wellbeing Workshop for Adults (by Impact North) Jane Kenington is an Art Psychotherapist working with families in schools and the community. She will be running a creative workshop for adults focusing on wellbeing. She will be using breathing and mindfulness techniques combined with creativity and movement that you can go on to incorporate into your daily lives. You will need paper and pens /pencils /crayons plus any other creative materials you wish to use – scissors, glue, collage, sequins, glitter etc. If you are buying stuff for you, or someone who is coming to the session, please claim up to £5 for each of you, by contacting the Volunteers Manager Places available: limited Wednesday 17th March, 2 - 3pm Baking with Naglaa Jjoin this session to watch how Nagla bakes baklava and learn some tips to try it at home yourself! We will send out a list of ingredients a week before the session, and a supermarket voucher to buy ingredients, or volunteers can claim back through their expenses. Places available: unlimited Thursday 18th March, 11am – 12pm [...]
Since the Pandemic - and the importance of keeping socially distant - we've been trying to get as many of our resources as we can online. You may have seen the huge library of ESOL resources English at Home have produced for teachers and learners of English (we can never thank our volunteers Julie and Clive enough for this.) We've also been busy trying to support our (learners) and volunteer tutors to get online, embrace Zoom, and learn how to unmute and share screens. It's not been easy. A lot of trial and error, and a lot of frustration - but we're getting there, we think. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we now have a small stack of laptops and smartphones we can loan or give away to folks who need them., and we can provide a modest amount of wireless broadband each month to people without. We've tried to capture some of our learning in this new resource - designed for new English at Home Volunteers - but we think - useful to anyone trying to teach English online right now. Have a look and see what you make of it. If you think it's any good, please use it, or forward it on to someone you know. As ever, we're proud to share what we have with anyone who might find it useful. David is responsible for this excellent piece of work btw (although he's far too modest to say so himself.)
A full list of all the Training we are offering to volunteers in 2020 is now up and running here https://lassn.org.uk/training - from basic Induction through to ongoing skills development around mental health, universal credit, advocacy and safeguarding.
This event has already happened, but we've left the post up, as a reminder of what we've done. What? LASSN is holding a party for everyone - refugees, volunteers, friends, allies, supporters, adults and children When? Thursday January 16th 2020, from 18:00 til late Where? The Holbeck Working Men's Club, Jenkinson Lawn, Leeds LS11 9QX What else do I need to know? Booking is essential There will be food, and drinks, and music. Food will be served from 18:30 and when it's gone, it's gone. It will be family friendly, so bring everyone along It's a "pay as you feel, free is fine" event. The venue is up a flight of stairs, although there is a chair lift If you or someone you know is struggling with transport, please text 07845298047 with "I need transport" at least 24 hours before the event
As of August 5th 2019 our new address will be Malmarc House, 116 Dewsbury Road, Leeds LS11 6XD We'll be shutting the office for a couple of days on Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd, and then reopening on Monday August 5th. If you need to contact us urgently during this time, please email us or call our mobiles Oak House is being sold by the Landlord who is ending all the tenancies of organisations based there. We really hoped we'd be there for at least another couple of years, but such is the life of a small org who rents cheapish property. We'll be sad to leave - but on the plus side our mates at City of Sanctuary and Asylum Matters are also moving with us. What is Malmarc House like? Grade 2 listed building Accessible ground floor offices Shared meeting and training spaces off the main lobby WiFi On a main Bus route in/out of town Loads of free parking nearby Malmarc House, on the corner of Hunslet Hall Road and Dewsbury Road Our bit is in the Old Library The entrance lobby is still in tact Will LASSN's telephone number stay the same? Yes. But it will defnitely be out of action on 1st and 2nd August 2019, so please use the mobiles. Parking/how do I get there? We don't have a dedicated car park space any more but the good news is there's loads of on street and free car parking nearby (marked in orange). I use a bus, or a bike The buses from town are every 5 minutes - Numbers 1/2/3 Ask to be dropped off at Hunslet Hall Road/Dewsbury Road. You can use this planner to plan your journey [link]. You can lock your bike in the secure courtyard at the rear of the building.
Please can you help us raise funds at no cost and very little effort to yourselves? We know how hard you work, and how much effort you put into supporting asylum seekers and other migrants from across the world. And generally LASSN make a point of not asking our volunteers for any more than they already offer. However, as we look ahead into the period 2019 to 2021, we see some funding gaps opening up, and we're trying to plan for these. So, with these in mind, we wanted to ask you to consider the following very simple and not-labour intensive possibilities:- Do you know of any small, local, or specialised grant awarding bodies or Trust Funds who maybe don't have an internet presence? If you do, then please let us have their contact details. We're always on the look out for possible sources of income - but we rely heavily on the internet for our research. One of our supporters introduced us to a specialist grant giver called Sharegift after they got talking to someone at a party. Sharegift's generous sponsorship of LASSN has been a real help over the last 3 years, and has ensured we've kept sufficient admin to process volunteer expenses and basic background checks. Do you know of any businesses or organisations that you think may be sympathetic to our cause? It would be great if you could help us to establish a link with them. We love supporting local businesses and we have established some great connections with excellent caterers. They provide us with excellent food at a reasonable - sometimes discounted price - and we make sure we tell people all about them. Oronaise, and Kerala are just two. LUSH cosmetics regularly donate some of their surplus stock to Guests in Grace Hosting. Do you shop in supermarkets or drink in local pubs? Local branches sometimes donate to charities on the basis of a request from customers. Eg. Co-op members and customers can nominate local charities. Similarly Asda Foundation, Waitrose , even Greggs offer support to local groups, based on recommendations. The Chemic Tavern held a Star-Wars themed quiz night in aid of LASSN, and raised several hundred pounds for us. We were extremely grateful, and sent them a certificate of appreciation. Do you work for a large business which offers to match funds raised by employees for good causes? HSBC run a scheme where they offer support to employees who also volunteer or fundraise for charities. If this appeals to you, then please go to https://lassn.org.uk/fundraise/ to find out more about how we might support you in your efforts. Do you occasionally do fundraisers at work? Leeds Beckett University ran a cake stall that raised £300, and was split across two Leeds charities. We were delighted when they emailed us to tell us. If we'd known in advance we would have promoted the sale on social media and sent them some of our lovely posters and badges ;o) If you are thinking of holding such an event - please let us [...]
A well run Charity needs great Trustees, so we thought we'd ask if you'd be interested in helping us out, and join the Board. The Board of Trustees meet every couple of months to oversee the work of LASSN, and to make sure everything we do is in line with our vision and values. You don't need previous experience, but you will need to share our desire to make LASSN the very best it can be, and a commitment to providing the best support possible to asylum seekers, refugees, and our volunteers and staff. Click here to see a Trustee role description which goes into a bit more detail and explains what we're looking for. At the moment LASSN's Board could really use people with legal, financial and IT expertise, and people with personal experience of migration - but if these aren't your strengths, we'd still love you to apply. Enthusiasm and a willingness to get involved go a long way. If you'd like an informal discussion of the role, please call Jon Beech, our Director on 07845 298047 or email him on [email protected] If you'd like to be considered, please tell us a little more about yourself, and what you have to offer the Board using this online form. There are seven questions in total. Please scroll down and press the blue "Done" button when you've finished.
David and Riley - our Volunteers Managers at English at Home - have put together an excellent resource, explaining how you might use board games to help someone learn English. So far we've found 7 excellent examples, from Banagrams to Who Am I? but we are sure there are more - so we'd love to know if you have any more suggestions - drop us a line with your favourites, and we'll add them to the list . Click on the graphic below to see what's beein included so far...
