Stop the cuts: Save The Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants!

#SAVEIC4RM

"I think that language is a door between the person and the community, so Islington centre is our door" (Anwar Elsamani, student of the Islington Centre)

"When I'm here I forget all my problems..the centre is like a family home because when I come everyday I feel relaxed" (Fatima, student of the Islington Centre)

"As I'm under immigration control I cannot work, so I don't have any income to pay for my English courses. This organization is very helpful for me...in summer I successfully passed all my exams!" (Yura, student of the Islington Centre) 

Here's our story: 

Overview:

- We are The Islington Centre For Refugees and Migrants, an independent charity based in North London.

 - We aim to help people who have sought sanctuary in Britain- having faced persecution, torture and poverty in their own countries- gain the skills they need to make a new life,  to integrate into society and make a contribution.

-  We provide support, hospitality and training to around 150 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants from over 25 different countries.

 - We are one of the only remaining charities in England that offer free ESOL English and Maths classes and are the only centre of its kind in London that offers daily language classes, support service, enrichment ­opportunities, food packages and hot meals to refugees.

-  Having run for over 15 years we now face closure in January 2015 because of government cuts.

More Detail:

We are The Islington Centre For Refugees and Migrants, an independent charity based in Islington, North London run by 6 professional long-serving staff and over 50 volunteers. The charity is overseen by a board of trustees which is led by Victor de Waal, a Jew who escaped Nazi Germany and came to the UK with his family in 1939. We provide support, hospitality and training to around 150 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants from over 25 different countries who are trying to participate more in the country where they have been forced to find sanctuary having faced persecution, torture and extreme poverty in their own countries. Our aim is to help people gain the skills they need to make a new life and to integrate and contribute to society whilst simultaneously celebrating the cultural diversity within the centre. We also seek to make the local community aware of the issues faced by refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in everyday life through the volunteer programme and events.

We do this by providing asylum seekers and refugees with free ESOL English and Maths classes as well as enrichment classes such as art and sport therapy. We are one of the only surviving charities in England which offers free ESOL Classes to asylum seekers, refugees and migrants and are therefore the only hope most of our students have at learning English and other general skills needed to integrate into British society. We are the only charity of its kind in London that offers free daily language classes, support services, enrichment ­opportunities and food packages and hot meals to refugees. Our support services work to ensure that people are aware of the rights they are entitled to as asylum seekers- who have often been forced to leave their homes and flee to Britain after having been persecuted and tortured in their own countries- and work to ensure that these rights are being granted by the government (85 per cent of those we see receive no benefits at all. That is no housing, no money, no vouchers, nothing). As many of the students struggle with English, are unaware of the British legal system and are suffering from post traumatic stress, the support service helps them use what is available to them such as child tax benefits and free NHS (the forms are long and complicated). As you can imagine the centre is therefore so important for the asylum seekers who, having been forbidden from working by the government, spend four days a week here. 

The charity has been running for over 15 years and up until now has been funded by Waltham Forest College. However because of government's cuts to the education sector their funding has been cut by £1.5 million and subsequently the college can no longer afford to fund us. Unfortunately we were only notified of the cuts in September so have been desperately trying to get funding since then but it seems that with the governments withdrawal of funding no one has enough money or is willing to fund the charity anymore. As it stands the charity is going to have to close its doors in January 2015.

We therefore ask you to join us in demanding that the slashing of funding to the voluntary sector, the education sector and more specifically the refugee charity sector be stopped to prevent the closure of  the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants and other organisations like it which work to support and enrich all members of our society. 

Facts and Figures: Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants:   

- Started in 1997 working with asylum seekers

- ESOL classes started with one class in 2000 welcoming all refugees as well as asylum seekers

- Huge demand led to 3 classes by end of 2001

- In 2007 the Community Class was introduced to teach asylum seekers only due to demand.

- Became a registered charity in 2009.

- In 2011 we formalised our previously volunteer led Support Service.

- Welcomed all migrants to attend the classes in 2012 and changed our name to reflect this to the current name: Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants.

-  Annual turnover £220k

- Funding we are losing in December 2014: £200k per year.

Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants is a registered charity in England and Wales - Number: 1135205

For more information visit these links:

https://www.facebook.com/IslingtonCentre​

https://twitter.com/IslingtonCentre​

http://www.islingtoncentre.co.uk/ ​ 

http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/centre_for_islington_refugees_could_shut_as_funding_withdrawn_1_3809705​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLx5XhgZ0t0

 https://www.causes.com/campaigns/85136-save-the-islington-centre-for-refugees-and-migrants