By Helen Fay
Meeting Point is a charity based at Christ Church in Armley working with and providing practical support to refugees and asylum seekers.
On Monday the project celebrated Refugee Week, which this year runs from 15 to 21 June. This year’s theme of Refugee Week is ‘courage’ – more information can be found here.
Project Manager Asiyeh Soork said “We have a Drop In session on Monday and an activities session for women on Wednesday. On Monday, in partnership with supermarkets, we receive food donations. Based on the donations we receive every week, our volunteers make up food parcels and cook a meal for our beneficiaries (people using the service).
“We also get clothes and household items, sometimes bedding, donated by our partners.”
The project also runs a ‘help desk’ which provides some advocacy and offers referral and signposting to relevant services. Pro Bono Community, a registered charity, works with Meeting Point by providing placements for law students who support beneficiaries with welfare queries and other legal issues.
Asiyeh told WLD that other partner agencies come along to the Drop In, including Advonet, migrant support services and caseworkers from the MP’s office.
“Our beneficiaries can get access to these services in a familiar space,” Asiyeh added. “What we have is a safe space, where people can see each other, they may not be able to afford to go to a restaurant, so they come here. People may not have a community, so they get to know others here. We have a lot of things happening on Mondays and we just do our best to be a welcoming place for all our beneficiaries.”
The project also holds free English classes on Monday at 1pm and Wednesday at 10.15am, which are run by three qualified volunteers.
Asiyeh said: “At the moment we are looking for qualified volunteer English teachers, or retired English teachers. We always need more volunteers for other roles as well. Sometimes we have waiting lists for volunteers, other times we are short of volunteers, it’s always a challenge for us. I think permanent volunteers, or at least volunteers who can commit to volunteering for at least six months is very useful.
“Another of the things that people really benefit from is volunteer opportunities. There are three part-time staff and around fifty volunteers.
“For the Monday Drop In, preparation starts from 10am but the Drop In session starts at 2.30pm so everyone is getting everything ready (making up the food parcels and cooking the meals). A lot of our beneficiaries are becoming volunteers and just want to ‘give something back’ and boost their confidence, improve their English, make friends and integrate within the community.”
To use the service, people need to register the first time they visit and can then attend the Monday Drop In without an appointment. Food and drinks are provided for free and beneficiaries can find what they need from the donated food and other items made to Meeting Point.
Helen Radelaar has been volunteering at Meeting Point for around ten years and is also co-chair of the board of trustees alongside Christ Church vicar, Reverend Phil Arnold.
Helen said: “I just wanted somewhere I could come and just roll up my sleeves and do something useful. There’s a few of us who are retired, there’s students, local people, we’ve had nursing students, we get all sorts of people coming to volunteer.”
Helen added: “As a volunteer you gradually get to know people and their families, watching the children grow and come back, it’s just really very rewarding. Normally we would be having English lessons but this week because it’s a party and celebration week, we’ve got something laid out for the kids as well as the adults.”
Beneficiaries of Meeting Point travel to the Drop In from all areas of Leeds, with a number living locally in Armley.
Helen told WLD: “A lot of people are based locally, they have a lot of positive things to say about living in Armley. They do feel generally quite welcomed in the community, which is nice to hear.”
For more information about Meeting Point and its services, or for anyone interested in volunteering as an English teacher or in other roles, please click here.
More information about Refugee Week events can be found here.
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