Monthly Archives: April 2018

Free course: Working Supportingly with Refugees

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A new online course, Working Supportingly with Refugees: Principles, Skills and Perspectives, commences on Monday 21 May.  The course will run for three weeks and is free to access. Attendance is flexible and self-paced, participants can enrol any time before or after starting date to complete the course.

You can access it here – https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/cultural-mediation/1

What topics will you cover?

  • The basics about human migration, refugees and legal framework
  • Cultural diversity and interethnic relations
  • Socialisation, conflict resolution and social inclusion
  • Principles on psychological well-being and socio-emotional health in refugee cases. Strategies for the mediator to support the target group and their own self-care
  • Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation
  • The practice of cultural mediation in the reality of refugees

The course has been developed by the GRAMNet academics and practitioners  at the University of Glasgow with the support of EU Erasmus + funding for the ReCULM project led by an international team of partners from Greece – National Centre for Social Research, Italy –University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Spain – University of Almeria  and the UK – University of Glasgow.

Syrian Mothers’ Day Event in Liverpool 25 March 2018

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Written by Mayya Al Safadi Diab.

With the help of Refugee Action, an event was organised by members of the Syrian refugee community for Syrian ladies and children in Liverpool on the 25th of March 2018. Thanks to the active ladies and in co-ordination with Refugee Action, the event was a great success, it involved traditional Syrian food that was cooked by the participant ladies themselves.

It was so lovely to see the pride each lady has represented her dish with, as in Syrian culture expressing love and dedication get represented by the Syrian food that takes a long time to be made most of the times.
Some ladies shared with hand made products and presented one of their creations to the winner of one of the competitions, which was great joy to the ladies, there were some games and presents as well to give to the winners with one of the Syrian ladies doing Henna for the young children and the women which was received with great joy.
Everything was free as thanks to refugee action support the hire of the hall was covered by them which made it more enjoyable to all ladies.
Some ladies travelled from Huyton to attend the event and they felt that it made them feel much better as lots of them were worried about families and relatives in Syria but being surrounded by their friends made the nostalgia a bit easier to manage. The kids were running and laughing, as the language barrier still a big part of these womens lives it made them relax and enjoy the event by being able to express themselves in their mother tongue with people around them. The event was a success by all measures.

Young asylum seekers ‘face blanket study ban’ The Guardian 8 April 2018

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This article by  highlights an important issue affecting the education of young asylum seekers. Colleagues in the FE sector have expressed great concern for the well-being and prospects for success of asylum seekers who access their adult provision.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/08/young-asylum-seekers-education-ban 

Prof John Diamond supports Action for Refugees

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Mike Stoddart writes….

Mike Stoddart

Action for Refugees was formed as a grouping of academics, support staff and students at Edge Hill University who felt a common need to respond to the plight of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK and abroad.

The initial spark was created by a presentation given by members of staff in the Faculty of Education on their work as volunteers in the Calais Jungle. This prompted a multi-faceted response that included fund-raising, volunteering, curriculum developments and knowledge sharing and transfer events. Perhaps most importantly, the group engaged on a number of levels with refugees, asylum seekers and organisations working to support them.

We aim to promote a multi-faceted, positive, response to the refugee crisis that results in a greater understanding of and practical support for those involved.

Our intended outcomes are to:

  1. Share relevant research.
  2. Increase knowledge and understanding of the refugee crisis.
  3. Provide practical support to refugees, asylum seekers and those agencies working with them.
  4. Ensure that all teacher-training graduates from the Faculty of Education are better able to meet the learning requirements of refugees.
  5. To learn from the experiences, skills and knowledge of refugees and asylum seekers.

We are very keen to ensure that the development of the group is led by the priorities of those directly involved. It is important to us that the group is open to refugees and asylum seekers as well as representatives from the wide range of organisations working to support them.

Prof John Diamond writes…

Prof John Diamond

The work colleagues  – staff and students  – are undertaking across both the Faculty of Education and the wider University to support refugee and asylum seekers and the various NGO support groups that exist here in the North West of England are a very real and practical example of how skills, knowledge and ideas can be shared and the effect of which can be transformative.

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