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Refugees and Asylum Seekers

This is a very exciting campaign as there is a lot of things the whole movement can really sink their teeth into, from small simple actions, to massive national campaigns-if that is what rocks YOUR boat.

I really feel like this campaign can become part of day to day life and not only part of your Woodcraft-ing activities! The campaign is massive, so here are a few little things to think about..

Education: One of the big problems facing Refugees and Asylum Seekers in this country is the negative attitudes they receive from residents of the UK. These attitudes seem to spring from a lack of education, or understanding the facts. So one really important way to help Refugee’s is to help educate others around you let them know that refugees are not “stealing our taxes”-in fact Asylum Seekers are not allowed to work whilst waiting to get approval, and the income they do get is 30% less than job seekers allowance. A great thing about education is there are a lot of exciting ways to do it, for example, holding stalls at fairs or baking fortune cookies with facts about refuge hidden inside. Go Bananas people. It is also very easy and beneficial to educate people wherever you are, even if there isn’t a big community of Refugees and Asylum Seekers nearby it is still important and very relevant! Teaching yourself is just as helpful as teaching other people, maybe you could start off just by cooking a meal from a foreign country..

Another fabulous way to get involved with this campaign is through Volunteering. This is a really good way to get involved directly with Refugees, help out at a homework club, helping, throwing a party for the locals, help families or individuals to get used to the area or just inviting some refugees to your DF meetings or round for a cup! (mmm tea).

Refugees and Asylum seekers often feel excluded by society, so include them! This is also an excellent way for DFs to get involved with their Woodcraft District, in their local area to support this campaigns and to make a positive difference to people’s lives. For some great ideas look out for the work student organisation STAR do yet, if your at university, check out the society’s see if there is a STAR group, then join!

Then theres Child Detention, the new coalition declared they would end child detention for illegal refugees, but you may have noticed this has not happened. In fact reports have shown that absolutely nothing has changed, so even if steps to prevent it have happened, they have not been evident. The problems with Child Detention are undeniable with over 700 children being locked up last year and survey’s showing over 70% of Children in detention are suffering from severe depression. We can campaign to change this and could really make a difference, so watch this space.
There are a lot of ways to get involved, so do!

The Woodcraft Folk is a registered charity in England and Wales (1073665) and in Scotland (SC039791). Woodcraft Folk, Units 9/10, 83 Crampton Street, London, SE17 3BQ