Hastings Independent Press

The Hastings & St Leonards non-profit community newspaper

Refugee Week 2024 HIP March 27, 2024 Refugee Week 2024 2024-03-27T12:58:39+00:00Community No Comment

The Refugee Buddy project announces that it has been awarded a Small Project Grant from Arts Council England to support Refugee Week 2024 and what this means. This year Refugee Week will take place from 17-23 June, when hundreds of large and small national and international events will be held, initiated by Counterpoints Arts.

HASTING PEOPLE

The Hastings Refugee Buddy Project

Rossana LEAL A refugee who arrived in the UK in the 1970s has recently founded a Buddy project for the Syrian families arriving in Hastings through the Government’s Syrian Resettlement Project (SRP). A team of Buddies is now working closely with the council SRP caseworker. Rossana Leal’s inspiration comes from her own experience as a refugee child and she tells us about why it is a project so close to her heart.

Social Media Campaign offering Alternative Narrative of Welcome and Solidarity

On Thursday 30th April 2020, a social media campaign will be launched by the Refugee Buddy Project in Hastings/St Leonards.Proclaiming a narrative of welcome and solidarity to all those seeking refuge on our shores, this initiative, directed by Alex Kempton from the Refugee Buddy Project Organising committee, seeks – in her words – to “push back against the misinformation being spread online about refugees, why they come here, and what their lives are like.” In recent weeks, several hundred desperate people have landed on the South East coast of the UK, at beaches from Hastings to Dover

Culture and community

The Buddy Project is taking shape and growing every day. Volunteers have been carrying out ad hoc buddying activities with the newly arriving Syrian families, and in doing so, forming close and friendly relationships.

The refugees usually arrive directly from refugee camps and arrive here with nothing. The Buddies help to prepare a new home for them and provide a warm welcome that will help them start a new life in a peaceful country safe from fear, bombs and loss.

We work closely with the Local Authorities who deliver the Syrian Vulnerable People Resettlement Project in East Sussex. Full-time, paid case officers deal with all education, health, housing, financial and other official matters. The adult refugees normally attend English classes five mornings a week and the children go to local schools.

Refugee Week 2023HIP May 30, 2023 Refugee Week 20232023-05-30T17:18:25+01:00Community No Comment

GARETH STEVENS

This year’s Refugee Week in Hastings, Rother and Wealden will launch on Sunday 18 June at 18.00 at the Hastings Contemporary. The sheer span of the events and activities in the week (18-25 June) is so impressive and comprehensive – the programme stands testament to the commitment of its organisers and the drive of all those volunteers involved. More than that, having an emphasis on promoting leadership from the refugee community itself demonstrates the wonderful value that newly settled refugees bring to the culture of our borough. The week will raise the visibility of diversity in our creative community and support emerging talent.

Project overview

The Refugee Buddy Project (RBP) are requesting �20500 over 3 years to support their core offer of refugee support and integration in Hastings Rother and Wealden areas of East Sussex on the South Coast. RBP are a lived experience organisation set up by and for the community of refugees and newly arrived or settled individuals and families and local volunteers wishing to welcome them.

Published 03/06/2024

Refugee week image

Hastings Museum & Art Gallery is working with Hastings Community of Sanctuary, The Refugee Buddy Project, and Hastings Supports Refugees to support Refugee Week (17 to 23 June).

On Monday 17 June, The Refugee Buddy Project (TRBP) will launch the Refugee Week programme with a private film preview, object display and Palestinian buffet celebrating the collaborative project, Flavours Without Borders, at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery. The exhibition will open to the public on Tuesday 18 June and run until 7 July 2024

IN CONVERSATION : Marc Bauer, Rosanna Leal of the Hastings & Rother Refugee Buddy Project & DLWP assistant curator Canan Batur

By Alex Kempton Contributor Published 30th Jan 2023, 10:33 BST Updated 30th Jan 2023, 10:33 BST

The Refugee Buddy project is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a Small Project Grant from Arts Council England to support Refugee Week 2023.

This funding will allow volunteers to build on the creative relationships in the community developed during the Refugee Week 2022 Together programme, and promote a culture of welcome.

NEWS By Hedi Mehrez Race and News reporter

Asylum seekers often arrive on British shores with little to nothing after leaving their lives behind while fleeing war or persecution in their home countries. With some being housed in hotels in Hastings, local charities launched their winter clothing appeal to help them get through the freezing temperatures.

Hastings Community of Sanctuary, along with The Refugee Buddy Project, is running the appeal after seeing many people arriving in small boats “only wearing flip flops”. Co-chair of HCoS Jane Grimshaw said they are helping around 80 people in hotels in Hastings and another 60 outside the town.

Monday 23 August, 2021 Text by Sabrina Huck

No one is illegal — Despite politicians whipping up resentment and fear, locals in coastal towns are resisting the narrative of hostility by showing solidarity and support towards refugees appearing on UK shores.

Mussadiq Mahmoodi’s introduction to UK culture included a wake, that unique British tradition in which mourners gather after a funeral to celebrate the life of a deceased loved one.

The Afghan refugee and his friend David Shewry arrived at a venue where Shewry was due to play music in the afternoon to find it packed with mourners dancing to Abba long after the funeral was over. To Mahmoodi, the Swedish pop quartet known for upbeat hits such as Take a Chance on Me and Thank You for the Music seemed a strange choice.

Rossana Leal, Founder of Hastings & Rother Refugee Buddy Project

Since its inception just over a year ago, Hastings Refugee Buddy Project has been growing and expanding at an incredible pace. We now have over 30 buddies providing different types of support to 13 families, from regular weekly contact, to providing ad hoc assistance such as accompanying them to hospital appointments and providing transport.

How community members in Hastings formed lasting relationships with refugee families during lockdown

ByFatima Esayli and Leigh Malaiholloin collaboration with

Refugee Buddy Project