Where did the Money Go? - Run4Refugees 2016
Refugees in Turkey
We are extremely grateful to all those who organised, sought sponsorship and ran in the Run4Refugees event on 19 March 2016. A remarkable sum of money has been raised, which we are putting towards the costs of Restore’s Social Activities for lone asylum seeker men and women.
A snapshot follows of recent activities for men and women:
Men’s events
We have now held 14 events in 2016. A new befriender who has links with a charity that has a canal barge took men out for a trip from Brindley Place to Selly Oak. The slow pace of the journey helped everyone to relax. It was a memorable experience. There have also been trips to two Celebrating Sanctuary music concerts, first Maya Youssef from Syria and more recently Didier Kisala from Congo. At the latter event 29 asylum seeking men attended!
Women’s events
We have organised 15 events for women in 2016. These include concerts, swimming and watching ‘The Jungle Book’ at the cinema. At one of the concerts a woman who had not attended events for a few months told the staff member how she had been struggling with being an asylum seeker for so many years and described the impact it was having on her physical and mental health. Ten minutes later she was dancing to the music and laughing with the other women! It is a joy to see what a difference the activities can make.
A recent activity has involved boating on a lake in Handsworth Park.
Syrian Refugee houses, in Yalova Turkey. Some of the money raised at Run4Refugees has gone to support families living in these houses and others like these.
The other half of the money raised at Run4Refugees 2016 went to supporting refugees and asylum seekers living in Turkey. Money was used to buy basic resources such as food, matresses and heaters.
Some money also wento to support the Bereket Project - which empowers refugees and emboldens women by providing an income through the sale of handmade items, made by refugees living in a place near Istanbul.
