On 23 June, forty members gathered on Zoom for our fourth Annual General Meeting. 

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Our patron, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire Robert Voss CBE, began by expressing his gratitude to the UK for taking in his parents when they were refugees. He stated that Hertfordshire’s diversity is its strength, noting the enormous amount of culture that refugees bring into this country. Voss, praising our charity’s continuing efforts throughout the Covid-19 crisis, stated: “The work, effort and engagement of Herts Welcomes Refugees is absolutely vital. Never more than at this time.” 


Herts Welcomes Refugees’ chair, Irene Austin, thanked the volunteers for their continuing work and support, stating that they are the core of our organisation. “This epidemic when it hit came as such a shock,” she said, “but we considered how to keep engaging and responding to [refugee] needs.” Throughout the lockdown volunteers have been working with the families using Zoom, WhatsApp, e-mail, and old fashioned letters. Irene also added that HWR has become more involved in helping children, organising support for young people with their schoolwork.


Treasurer Mick Hayter announced that we have used the money raised from our Laptop Appeal to provide thirty-six Chromebooks to families with schoolchildren. An Ocado Foundation grant has been used as a hardship fund for families affected by Covid-19 and will be used for other emerging needs.  


Looking to the future, Herts Welcomes Refugees will be starting an IT project to help families to become more confident with different technologies. One member asked about the psychological impact of Covid-19 on families, and Irene explained that families would hopefully soon have access to therapists through a new project working across the East of England. She noted that, crucially, ongoing contact between our volunteer befrienders and the families has helped to reduce some of the strain of worrying.

Since November 2019, when Chris Rigby joined HWR to run our bike scheme, he’s delivered sixteen bikes to refugees and asylum seekers across Hertfordshire. Chris does everything from pumping and repairing tires to making sure that the recipients know how to change gears. At times, he’s struggled with garage space, keeping up to twenty bikes at once.
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Chris, who is a cycling enthusiast and also volunteers with Sustrans, collects the bikes donated by our supporters and makes sure that they’re road-worthy before delivering them to refugees who need them. These bikes can be crucial, particularly for young people who live in isolated locations. Chris described a group of unaccompanied minors living in a remote youth hostel who are now able to ride to the shops or go out on excursions. “They can now all go out together,” Chris said. “Everybody’s been very grateful and welcoming.”  


Chris is keen to teach interested refugees some basic bike skills, from fixing a tire to repairing brakes. He will attend a bike repair training session at the end of this month and plans to use his new knowledge to improve the donated bikes as well as to teach others new skills.  

We're currently in need of men's bikes, so if you have one to donate please do get in touch chris.s.rigby@outlook.com

Our annual general meeting will be held on Tuesday 23 June. 

This meeting will be for Herts Welcomes Refugees members only as it will be conducted remotely using Zoom. We look forward to sharing the outcome of our AGM on the website following this meeting. 

We're trying to help a group of six young asylum seekers in Stevenage by providing them with bikes. 

Please contact chris.s.rigby@outlook.com if you're able to donate a bike suitable for a sixteen or seventeen year old male. We are able to pick up the donation.

الإرشادات الثلاثة الجديدة  الصادرة عن الحكومة  بتاريخ ٢٣ مارس 

١- يجب البقاء في البيت وعدم الخروج الا في حالات خاصة
٢- إغلاق العديد من المحلات الغير ضرورية  
٣- منع التجمعات المتكونة من اكثر من شخصين في الأماكن العمومية   

يجب على كل مواطن الالتزام بهذه التعليمات. السلطات المحلية  والشرطة لديهما السلطة لتفريق الجماعات وإلزام غرامات لكل من يخالف هذه التعليمات.

بداً تنفيذ هذه الإجراءات يوم ٢٣ مارس. ستنظر الحكومة في هذه الإجراءات بعد ثلاثة أسابيع وستغيرها حسب الضرورة.

البقاء في البيت 

يجب البقاء في البيت وعدم الخروج الا في هذه الحلات الأربعة: 

⁃ التسوق لشراء الأشياء الأساسية فقط مثل الطعام والأدوية وذلك في حالات نادرة 
⁃ الخروج لممارسة الرياضة، مثل الركض أو المشي أو ركوب الدراجات، وذلك وحدك أو مع أفراد اسرتك فقط و مرة واحدة فقط في اليوم
⁃ الخروج في حالة طبية أو لمساعدة شخص ضعيف 
⁃ الذهاب  إلى العمل وذلك فقط عندما لا يمكن القيام بذلك على الإطلاق في البيت

هذه هي الأسباب الأربعة فقط التي يمكنك الخروج من البيت بسببها - حتى عند القيام بهذه الأنشطة، يجب قضاء اقل وقت ممكن خارج البيت والابتعاد عن أشخاص اخرين بالتزام مسافة مترين بينك و بينهم. 

يجب على كل شخص ان يتتبع هذه التعليمات الجديدة. هناك تعليمات أخرى خاصة بالأسر التي قررت ان تنعزل و كذلك الأشخاص الذين هم في خطر متزايد بسبب السن أو حالاتهم الطبية ويحتاجون حماية اكثر.

The Government introduced three new measures on 23 March 
1. Requiring people to stay at home, except for very limited purposes.
2. Closing non-essential shops and community spaces.
3. Stopping all gatherings of more than two people in public.
Every citizen must comply with these new measures. The relevant authorities, including the police, will be given the powers to enforce them – including through fines and dispersing gatherings.
These measures came into effect on Monday 23 March. The Government will look again at these measures after three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows this is possible.
Staying at home
You should only leave the house for one of four reasons:

• shopping for basic things you really need, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible.
  
• one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household.
  
• any medical need, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.
  
• travelling to and from work, but only where this absolutely cannot be done from home.
  

These are the only four reasons you can go out - even when doing these activities, you should spend as little time as possible outside of the home and make sure you are 2 metres apart from anyone outside of your household.
These measures must be followed by everyone. Separate advice is available for individuals or households who are isolating, and for the most vulnerable who need to be shielded.

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To our refugee partners: 

With regards to the Covid 19 outbreak, Herts Welcomes Refugees'  priority is the safety and wellbeing of our refugee partners and our volunteers. We wish to do all we can to prevent the spread of Coronavirus and, with this in mind, and in line with advice from the Refugee Council and DBC, we have decided to suspend face to face meetings between you and volunteers until further notice.

This may sound a little drastic but we hope you will understand. We encourage you to keep in touch with your volunteers via WhatsApp, Skype or Facetime,  email or phone contact so that you can continue to practise your English. 

Please follow the advice on Coronavirus that you have been given by the Refugee Council or Dacorum Borough Council if you live in Hemel Hempstead 

Volunteers may be able to offer practical support such as shopping or collecting medicines if you cannot do this yourself but will be taking  sensible, recommended precautions to avoid physical or close contact if they do so. 

Best wishes 
Herts Welcomes Refugees


نشور  يتعلق بانتشار فايروس كورونا (Covid19) 


من أولويات منظمة الترحيب باللاجئين  سلامة اللاجئين والمتطوعين لدينا. 
نحن نود أن نفعل كل ما في وسعنا لمنع انتشار فيروس كورونا ، ومع أخذ ذلك في الاعتبار ، وتماشياً مع نصيحة مجلس اللاجئين ودي بي سي ، قررنا تعليق الاجتماعات وجهاً لوجه 
بينكم وبين  المتطوعين حتى إشعار آخر.


قد يبدو هذا القرار  قاسٍ بعض الشيء ولكننا 
نأمل  منكم تفهم الموضوع  كما انه يمكنكم  
التواصل مع  المتطوعين عبر WhatsApp أو skype أو facetime أو البريد الإلكتروني أو الاتصال الهاتفيحتى تتمكن من الاستمرار في ممارسة اللغة الإنكليزية.


يرجى اتباع النصائح حول فيروس الكورونا 
الذي تم إعطاؤه لك من قبل مجلس اللاجئين أو مجلس Dacorum Borough إذا كنت تعيش في Hemel Hempstead


قد يتمكن المتطوعون من تقديم دعم عملي مثل 
التسوق أو جمع الأدوية إذا لم تتمكن من القيامبذلك بنفسك ولكنك ستتخذ الاحتياطات اللازمة و الموصى بها لتجنب التواصل الجسدي
 والقريب  إذا قاموا بذلك.


مع أطيب الأماني
ودمتم سالمين

Due to continuing uncertainty surrounding Coronavirus, the trustees have reluctantly decided to postpone the AGM that was planned for Wednesday 25 March.

We hope to arrange a date later in the year and will keep you all informed.
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With thanks for all your support.