Refugees in Derby
Expect a big welcome when you arrive at Derbyshire Refugee Solidarity (DRS) in the church hall of St Anne’s , an amazing Victorian church surrounded by modern flats in the West End of Derby.
DRS (Charity no. 1179384) began in September 2015 in response to the pictures of a young Syrian boy called Alan Kurdi whose body was washed ashore in Turkey. He drowned with his brother and mother crossing the Aegean sea. Since then its estimated around 22,000 people have lost their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea in small boats.
Three Derby women started collecting clothes and food to send to asylum seekers living in the Calais ‘Jungle’ and DRS was born.
Eight years on and we still collect clothes and blankets, sleeping bags, tents and anything else needed by other charities working in northern France.
As more asylum seekers cross the English channel in conditions equally dangerous to those in the Mediterranean , some are relocated to hotels and a hostel in Derby. When they hear about DRS they gravitate towards St Annes where stories are shared, languages learned and friendship formed.
No one is turned away and everyone is welcomed with a smile and a cup of tea.
Our friends are from around the world particularly , Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Palestine, Eritrea and Ethiopia , Sudan and Sth Sudan, Namibia and Nigeria.
Our most popular and arguably most important activity is our English lessons, where there are opportunities to expand vocabularies and build confidence in English speaking.
Our volunteers can also be found making music, digging and eating at the allotment, playing sports, mending bikes and voluneering in the community.
We now see more than 100 people twice a week from across the Derbyshire and sometimes surrounding counties. We are all volunteers and rely on donations of funding and supplies in order to provide our welcome to Derby.
Occasionally surplus cash is sent to other grassroots charities helping refugees in France, Greece, Palestine and Bangladesh as well as a sea rescue boat in the Mediterranean.
We’ve also contributed to the legal fees to challenge the Home Office plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
DRS operates from St Anne’s every Thursday and Saturday morning. If you’d be interested in donating, fundraising or volunteering with us, please contact julie@derbyshirerefugeesolidarity.org or steve@derbyshirerefugeesolidarity.org. or visit our website, http://derbyshirerefugeesolidarity.org/
