Please and thank you!
Thank you from Restore
Thank you very much for your generous cheque for £834 towards Restore’s work from the Christmas collections at St John’s. We remain hugely grateful to St John’s for your faithful financial support for many years, not only from the Christmas collections but also through GPS grants.
During the past 12 months, the number of people seeking asylum in the UK has risen and we also continue to see newly resettled Syrian refugees. So the need for our services continues, and presumably will do so until the world becomes more just and persecution free! During the past year, we’ve been working on strategic planning and have a new vision statement: Restore’s vision is for a society into which all refugees and asylum seekers are welcomed, valued and integrated. We continue to work towards that and know to achieve it we need to partner with many others.
“Being a befriender helps me to enjoy the diversity of Birmingham, to see life from another perspective and to feel that I am playing a tiny part in making my city more welcoming.”
Two weeks ago, one man, who has been befriended by one of our volunteers, phoned the office to let us know that he had been granted refugee status. Always a point of great joy! He thanked us for Restore’s support and went on to say that having his befriender was “one of the best things that’s ever happened to me!”
In 2019, we made 63 new befriending matches to offer befriending support to a refugee or asylum seeker and have made six more new matches since the new year started. A befriender recently wrote, “Being a befriender helps me to enjoy the diversity of Birmingham, to see life from another perspective and to feel that I am playing a tiny part in making my city more welcoming.”
Restore Family Party
Could you help us welcome refugees? Every year Restore holds a family party for refugee families in February half term. Although the event isn't in St John's building this year, we would still love for you to be involved! We are looking for volunteers to bake cakes and to deliver them to Christ Church, Selly Park (on Pershore Road) after 09.30 (before 12.00) on Wed 19 Feb.
If you can bake cakes or would like to join our e-mailing list to keep updated with our work, please let me know at befriend@restore-uk.org
Thank you again for your donation and your ongoing partnership with Restore.
Jeremy Thompson
Restore Manager