Refugee Crisis Newsletter Summer 2017 can be viewed here.

Bishop Richard Says: “Welcome to the Third Edition of our Refugee Crisis Newsletter. The last edition was very well received and this newsletter provides me with an opportunity to say a very big THANK YOU for the wonderful response to date in offering support to the refugee communities in our Diocese.

The global refugee crisis is the most significant humanitarian crisis of our age. The numbers of people living as refugees in so many places across the world is truly shocking and, at present, shows no sign of reducing. Our Diocesan project continues to support suitable organisations to support and enable the work they do. In using the Migrant Fund, we continue to prioritise the needs of destitute migrants and, this year, we are also supporting projects that provide more accommodation for the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (SVPRS). Local Councils are looking to work with private landlords who have properties to let.

Our Diocesan Refugee Response Co-ordinator is keen to work with parishes with residential properties that are currently commercially let. When existing tenancies are coming to an end, please consider whether such properties might be suitable for a refugee family. Thus far, one house in one of our parishes has been made available to the local council to accommodate a family through the SVPRS.

Since our Diocesan response began, we have witnessed positive outcomes for the integration of refugee families – but there is so much more to be done to enable the most vulnerable people in our world to find a safe place to live in a welcoming community.
May I encourage you to read Misericordia et Misera – Pope Francis’ message at the end of the Year of Mercy. He writes: “It is the road of mercy on which we meet so many of our brothers and sisters who reach out for someone to take their hand and become a companion on the way” (n.16).

Please continue to pray for and support this project, that we may all become ‘companions on the way’ for those who so sorely need our help.

With every Blessing,”

 

Refugee Crisis Newsletter Autumn 2016 can be viewed here.

Refugee Crisis Newsletter Spring 2016 can be viewed here.