Welcome to our new partner group: Lewes Refugee Support Group
Lewes Climate Hub’s newest partner group is Lewes Refugee Support Group. With climate change likely to increase the numbers of people seeking to come to the UK to escape drought, famine and other crises, this partnership is especially timely.
Lewes Refugee Support Group was established in 2002 (as Lewes Organisation in Support of Refugees and Asylum Seekers – LOSRAS) to promote the rights and welfare of people seeking asylum and refugees in Lewes District and beyond.
Its three principal objectives are to:
- Campaign for the humane and fair treatment of people seeking safety such as: a limit to immigration detention which can be indefinite in this country; the right for people seeking asylum to work and the need for safe and legal routes to seek asylum in the UK.
- Raise awareness by holding public meetings, running information stalls and doing workshops in local schools
- Provide practical help – the group welcomes new families and individuals to the area, helping them settle into their houses and access English language support, and helping children with school and homework. It also organises volunteers to visit foreign national prisoners in Lewes prison.
The group recently shortened its name to Lewes Refugee Support Group to make it clearer what it does. Its website address currently remains www.losras.org
Marking Refugee Week
Refugee Week this year runs from Monday 16 June to Sunday 22 June. The theme is ‘Community as a Super Power’. Lewes Refugee Support Group will be in local schools hosting assemblies and story-telling. Also look out for its public information stall in Cliffe Precinct in Lewes on Saturday 21 June, 10am-12 noon. They will also be joining The Launchpad Collective on Sunday 22 June at The Depot, where local artists from a refugee background will be showcasing their work and poetry.
Learn more here: www.losras.org
See all Lewes Climate Hub’s Partner Groups here: www.lewesclimatehub.org/partner-groups