As our wonderful Bike Scheme co-ordinator Chris is leaving the area and we have not been able to find a volunteer to replace him, we are not able to find homes for donated bikes at the moment.

However, we are still getting requests from Refugees and Asylum Seekers so will put out occasional appeals.

Importantly any donated bikes will need to be Ready to Ride as we have no repair facilities - and the donor will need to be able to deliver to the recipient - socially distanced, of course.
This is a tall order we realise!

​At present we are looking for a bike for a young man in Hatfield. He is slightly built and is 5'2".
If anyone can help please contact Vicky - woodcraftvicky@gmail.com

We've just updated our bank details, effective 1 January 2021. If you currently have a standing order with us, could you please update the details as follows: 

Account name: Herts Welcomes Refugees
Account number 80585378
Sort code 20-05-73

On behalf of everyone at Herts Welcomes Refugees, we wish you a very happy and safe New Year. This past year has required great changes for our charity as well as for the refugee families in our area. We want to thank our volunteers and supporters who continue to amaze us with their generosity and dedication - supporting others through these difficult times and coming up with new ways of assisting them. We look forward to a time when the refugee families and our volunteers can again meet up in person, sharing a traditional meal and a welcoming embrace. ​

Herts Welcomes Refugees is pleased to announce an exciting Christmas Project for 2020.
 
We plan to give each of our 57 partner families a £50 food voucher to ensure that no one goes hungry and, hopefully, to help them buy a few extra treats over the festive period.


In addition we will be sending a brand new, age-appropriate book to every child we work with: 124 in all. These will be selected by a local, online, independent book retailer and offered to us at a discount price to inspire and encourage the children to read more.


This will cost £2,850 for the food vouchers and £719 for the books - £50 per family and £5.80 per child - a grand total of £3,569.
 
We would love to have your help in raising this money.
 
If you are able to donate, our bank account details are:-
Herts Welcomes Refugees
Account Number 43149080
Sort Code 20-03-18
Reference: HWR Christmas.
(Should you like to gift aid your donation, please fill in the form below)
​
 
Please note that it is important that you add the reference ‘HWR Christmas’ so that we can ring fence your kind donation for this appeal.
 
Thank you so much for all your support and for helping us to reach our goal, which we hope​will brighten the end of this very gloomy year!
 
Best wishes from everyone at Herts Welcomes Refugees

​

St Albans Masorti Synagogue (SAMS) went online this year for their annual family tea with Herts Welcomes Refugees which was replaced by a recipe swap, virtual tea and Q & A session.
 
Before the virtual tea, attendees had been able to follow YouTube recipe videos supplied by Nadia Alomar making delicious Syrian qatayef pancakes and SAMS member Victoria Prever making scones. Victoria and Nadia also met outside to swap scones and qatayef to taste each other’s teatime treats.  
 
You can see the videos and recipes at https://bit.ly/nadiaqatayef and https://bit.ly/Victoriascones
 
On Sunday, members of both groups sat down to scones and/or qatayef in their own homes, while they took part in a zoom discussion chaired by SAMS member Helen Singer about the different food customs around afternoon tea.  
 
Helen said, “This was a lovely way to share and swap recipes. SAMS are so grateful to Nadia, her son Amr for filming her and HWR volunteer Kate for helping Nadia explain the recipe and prepare to answer questions in English.  Thanks also to the other HWR members who took part.”
 
Victoria said, “The qatayef were delicious and so pretty. It was very interesting to hear about Syrian food customs and to meet the lovely Syrian bakers.”

Herts Welcomes Refugees is pleased to announce the launch of our Children’s Library Project. Starting this month, we will be distributing a bundle of specially selected books to each of the 122 children supported by Herts Welcomes Refugees, ranging in age from infant to 18 years. Books will be sent out at least three times a year, and children will be free to keep any of the books that they enjoy.
​

The idea for this project was developed by the daughter of our volunteer incoming treasurer. Ten-year-old Roma is a book lover and wanted to make sure that refugee children in our area have access to great books at home. She and another volunteer’s daughter will be writing a library newsletter that will go out to all of the children receiving books. So far, over five hundred books have been distributed through this project.


Incoming Treasurer Mala Mulholland is running the library and has been collecting book donations in her home over the past few months. Along with fiction and non-fiction titles, she is currently collecting GCSE Maths and English books, as well as any A-Level Study guides. The library will not draw money from our charity’s funds unless a donation is specifically marked for this purpose (Reference: Library Fund). Mala will be working to raise money for this project through grants, donations, and sponsorships. She intends to learn more about each child’s reading tastes and to send out books that will best meet their needs.


At the moment, with Covid-19 making libraries more difficult to access and creating financial and emotional hardships for some families, we believe that the gift of books can offer multiple benefits: widening perspectives, offering comfort and relief, as well as improving vocabulary and literacy.


Mala continues to collect used children’s books in very good condition, so if you’d like to donate books, please contact her directly at Mala.Mulholland@hwsf.org.uk