Category Archives: Charity Appeal

Charity Appeal

Monthly Appeal March 2022

Healing and Rebuilding our Communities (HROC)
Musanze and Karongi districts, Rwanda

Glen Williams

Healing and Rebuilding our Communities (HROC) is a Quaker initiative developed in Rwanda and Burundi, based on principles such as:

  • In every person there is something good.
  • Both victims and perpetrators of violence can experience trauma and its after-effects.
  • Healing from trauma requires that a person’s inner good and wisdom is sought and shared with others. It is through this effort that trust begins to be restored.

For several years now, Oxford Friends have provided financial support to enable Rwandan Quakers to organise training workshops addressing issues such as HIV/AIDS and supporting women and girls who have suffered mistreatment by their male sexual partners and discrimination within their communities. At the root of these issues, however, are the attitudes, values and behaviour of men.

Role Play Training Session, HROC Rwanda.
Photo provided by Glen Williams

HROC Rwanda now hopes to organise three training workshops for men, focussing on their harmful attitudes and behaviour towards women. Two three-day workshops would involve a total of 36 adult married men, and one one-day workshop would involve 18 young, unmarried men. Specific attention would be paid to enabling the participants to examine their attitudes and behaviour with regard to women, and supporting them in changing these for the better. Some of the topics to be addressed, for example, are “What wives wish their husbands understood about women”, “Forgiveness, second chances and free choice”, “Consequences of sexual relations outside of marriage”, “Violence within the family”, and “Harmony and peace within the family”.

To support this project of Healing and Rebuilding our Communities (HROC) in Rwanda, please make a BACS payment to:

G and A Williams Partners,
a/c 50323628,
Sort Code 607003,
Natwest Bank.

Alternatively, please send a cheque to:

G and A Williams Partners,
93 Divinity Road,
Oxford OX4 1LN.

Your donation will be acknowledged, and no charges will be made to cover administrative costs. You will also receive a report on the work of the Hope Institute.

Previous Article Next Article

Back to March 2022 Newsletter Main Page

Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 515 • March 2022
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW

newsletter@oxfordquakers.org

Copyright 2022, Oxford Quakers

2023 05 May, Charity Appeal

Monthly Appeal May 2023 – Refugee Resource

 

Charles Worth

From the Refugee Resource Website

Each year, thousands of people arrive in the UK seeking asylum from war, famine and persecution, or as survivors of modern slavery or trafficking. Having experienced
multiple and complex trauma, these people are often in need of therapeutic
support to enable them to heal and start to build new lives.

Refugee Resource provides psychological, social and practical support for refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants to help them heal from trauma, bereavement and suffering, and to become valued members of our diverse community. (From their Website)

The staff team has expertise in female genital mutilation (FGM), domestic violence and modern slavery, as well as complex trauma. This expertise is shared among other organisations working with this group, by providing training on working with clients suffering complex emotional and mental health issues, and supervision services, to enable these agencies to work more compassionately, safely and effectively.

Unlike other agencies, RR does not put a time-limit on their services – they are there for people until they feel ready to move forward to build new lives in the UK.

Refugee Resource works closely with its bigger sister organisation in Oxford, Asylum Welcome. A number of Oxford Friends have worked with RR clients as volunteer mentors.

For further information contact Charles Worth, ccworth@blueyonder.co.uk

 

From the Refugee Resource Website

 

How to Donate

Donations can be made via the website at

www.refugeeresource.org

By setting up a regular gift by standing order or donate via bank transfer to:

Account number: 04253100

Sort code: 16-58-10

By sending a cheque made payable to Refugee Resource to the address below.

Refugee Resource
The Old Music Hall
106-108 Cowley Road
Oxford
OX4 1JE

Tel: 01865 403280
info@refugeeresource.org

This Month’s Forty-Three Newsletter Contents

Back to May 2023 Newsletter Main Page

Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 529 • May 2023
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW

newsletter@oxfordquakers.org

Copyright 2023, Oxford Quakers

Charity Appeal

Monthly Appeal August 2022

Judith Atkinson

This month’s special collection is for Oxford Local Meeting. We are part of Oxford and Swindon Area Meeting (OSAM), which has charitable status.

Photo by SL Granum

Our Local Meeting does need additional contributions to enable us to fulfil our many commitments. Although it is reassuring to know that income from lettings is increasing again after the reduction during COVID, we still have many calls on our funds. Salaries, both full and part-time must be paid; utility bills have to be met; the work of Oxford Friends Action on Poverty (OxFAP) is underwritten; and there is always a need for maintenance work. We also make an annual contribution to Britain Yearly Meeting proportionate to the total number of our members and attenders.

Please give as much as you can manage, to help us fulfil our responsibilities to each other and to the population of Oxford and beyond.

The best means of payment is via BACS Bank transfer to:

Cooperative Bank
Sort code: 08-90-38
Account Number: 50000898
Account Name: Oxford Quaker Meeting
R/C 1137898

Cheques – CAF or mainstream bank – made payable to:

Oxford Quaker Meeting
and sent to the Office,
St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW.

Previous Article Next Article

Back to August 2022 Newsletter Main Page

Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 520 • August 2022
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW

newsletter@oxfordquakers.org

Copyright 2022, Oxford Quakers

Charity Appeal

Monthly Appeal – February 2023

Richard Seebohm

The Quaker Council for European Affairs is still both your Quakerly voice in Europe and your unique window on Europe – and not just about the European Union.

Photo by J Henderson

Perhaps you have been on one of its study tours, perhaps you see its bimonthly newsletter Around Europe. Perhaps you have already responded to appeals like this one.

It is easy for me to say it, but now seems a critical time to take stock of the myriad issues that crowd in on its traditional programme areas – peace, human rights, climate. Bad faith and hints of corruption, corrosion of democracy, militarisation of every policy strand, environmental effects of conflict, data and cyber threats, refugees, threats to freedoms, energy crises, Ukraine.

I could go on.

QCEA now has a sparky new director, Tracey Martin – some Friends may know her, she was until now at Woodbrook. She has until the April QCEA General Assembly meeting to formulate a strategy and staffing plan to face up to all this. More resources will make her task that much easier.

I shall be leaving leaflets in the Meeting House, but here are the contribution basics.

One way: go to the the qcea.org web site and click donate.

Bank transfer

Account: British Friends of QCEA
Number: 00004748
Sort code: 40-52-40
Reference: Oxford appeal

Cheque or charity voucher

Payee: British Friends of Quaker Council for European Affairs
Address: BFoQCEA, 33 Shaw Lane Gardens, Guiseley, Leeds, LS20 9JQ

Gift Aid via Martin Ford, our treasurer

About QCEA*

The Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) works to bring a vision based on the Quaker commitment to peace, justice and equality to Europe and its institutions. We seek to build support for humane, non-military policies at the EU level, both inside and outside its borders. We do so in the spirit of peaceful cooperation which forms the foundation of European politics.

Quaker House provided by QCEA.

We have been based in Brussels’ European Quarter since our foundation in 1979.

We currently operate two programmes focused on peace and human rights. Our peace programme works to promote non-violent conflict resolution based on the concept of “shared security,” with a view to challenging the idea that international security can only be guaranteed by military means. Our human rights programme seeks to advance a more humane approach to migration and asylum in Europe, and focuses on less visible migration policy areas such as child immigration detention.

QCEA is a member of advocacy networks EPLO (European Peacebuilding Liaison Office) and HRDN (Human Rights and Democracy Network), as well as a number of Quaker networks. We are an international not-for-profit organisation (AISBL) under Belgian law.

*Quaker House image above and the text of this article are reproduced with permission from the QCEA.

Previous Article Next Article

Back to February 2023 Newsletter Main Page

Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 526 • February 2023
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW

newsletter@oxfordquakers.org

Copyright 2023, Oxford Quakers

2022 05 May, Charity Appeal

Monthly Appeal May 2022

Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA)

Richard Seebohm

Poster provided by Richard Seebohm

Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) had a chequered time in the past year, with staffing controversies. However, the appointment of a communications/fundraising officer is now in hand.

More importantly, the process of appointing a new Director by the end of the summer is now underway, drawing on lessons learned and involving the services of a human-resources professional. Thus QCEA is still ‘our Quaker voice in Europe’. And as you can see in the latest issue of its Around Europe newsletter, QCEA still offers a window on post-Brexit Europe for us at home.

It is still a respected partner among the rather few Brussels NGOs witnessing to humane and principled policies for people, economics, and public life – in a world of massive business lobbying, especially the arms trade and big pharma. It also keeps the faith-based voice alive – alongside the perhaps more inward-looking bodies such as the Conference of European Churches and the Catholic Bishops.

Our money will help it to come back to full functioning:

Cheques to:
British Friends of the Quaker Council for European Affairs,
33 Shaw Lane Gardens,
Guiseley, Leeds,
West Yorkshire, LS20 9JQ

Bank transfers to:
CAF Bank
British Friends of the Quaker Council for European Affairs
account 00004748
sort code 40-52-40

Direct debit via:
www.qcea.org/donate

Copies of Around Europe are in the Meeting House. You can see a screen-readable version at www.qcea.org – scroll down to WAR IS A CHOICE.
(There is a link to Richard Seebohm’s writing on page 2.)

More articles in this month’s newsletter:

Back to May 2022 Newsletter Main Page

Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 517 • May 2022
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW

newsletter@oxfordquakers.org

Copyright 2022, Oxford Quakers

Charity Appeal

November Appeal Tabora League for Children, Tanzania

Tabora League for Children (TLC) is a registered charity operating three day-centres for vulnerable or orphaned children and young people in Tabora, Tanzania. Quoting directly from TLC’s website, TLC’s vision is to help children to be “educated, empowered, safe, healthy, and happy” – and to grow into “independent young adults with improved life chances”.

TLC’s website further states that its purpose is to:

  • Provide a secure and nurturing environment for their children and young adults.
  • Ensure children’s regular attendance at school.
  • Provide all their children and young people with:
    • sustainable nutrition and clean water,
    • support to achieve their potential in school,
    • health education and care, and
    •  support for their development to become independent adults.

If you would like to help please follow this link online:  https://www.tlctanzania.org/how-to-help

or make a donation by direct bank transfer to: Tabora League for Children Barclays Bank Sort code: 20 97 48 A/C No: 63693430

or by Paypal on the TLC website www.tlctanzania.org

Previous Article Next Article

Back to November 2021 Newsletter Main Page

Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 511 • November 2021
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW

newsletter@oxfordquakers.org

2023 06 June, Charity Appeal

Monthly Appeal June 2023

Asylum Welcome

Tina Leonard

Asylum Welcome’s mission is simple: we aim to make Oxfordshire a safe, welcoming, and inclusive community for asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants.

Asylum Welcome Staff, from their website

As a local not-for-profit we address a critical gap in the support available for our vulnerable clients by providing a wraparound support service that is uniquely client-led. We advocate for, empower, and advise every individual so that our support is tailored to every client’s varied, complex, and unique needs.

Our work is growing in importance every day in this current climate of governmental hostility and the increasingly complex and opaque immigration legal system. In recent months alone we have welcomed more than six hundred new arrivals, and the number of people we are supporting annually has almost doubled to more than three thousand clients.

The demand for our help shows no sign of slowing, but with few additional resources, no notice of new arrivals and little to no funding from local councils or the Home Office for this work, our ability to fully support those who need it, is constantly being challenged.

At the core of our work is the belief that everyone deserves to live safely and freely, regardless of who they are or where they come from. We are working to make this happen by providing essential services to help our clients navigate the many difficulties they face, this includes legal advice; language assistance; employment and education assistance; accessing crucial mental and physical health services; combatting homelessness by helping to find suitable accommodation; and providing funds to ensure clients are well fed, have essential hygiene items, suitable clothes and access to activities, phones and bikes that all increase their quality of living.

The asylum system may be broken, but that will not stop us from providing the essential care and support our clients need in these truly difficult times. Our goal continues to be building a community where asylum seekers, refugees, and vulnerable migrants feel safe and loved members of our compassionate community.

We will continue to work towards a future where our clients can exercise their rights and have their cases fairly considered; where they can live freely and safely; access crucial services easily; share their talents and achieve their goals, and where ultimately, they can feel at home.

If you share this sentiment and wish to help us to make Oxfordshire a safe space for everyone, please support us today and donate if you can.

The Co-Operative Bank
PO Box 250
Skelmersdale, Lancashire
WN8 6WT

Account: Asylum Welcome
Sort Code: 08-92-50
Account number: 65026773

Asylum Welcome donate website: https://www.asylum-welcome.org/donate/

This Month’s Forty-Three Newsletter Contents

Back to June 2023 Newsletter Main Page

Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 530 • June 2023
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW

newsletter@oxfordquakers.org

Copyright 2023, Oxford Quakers

Charity Appeal

Monthly Appeal June 2022

Peace Works Zimbabwe (Friends of Hlekweni)

Anne Watson

Friends of Hlekweni, the Milton Keynes Quaker charity that Oxford has supported for years, has closed most of its activities but continues to fund Peace Works Zimbabwe:

Alternatives to Violence Zimbabwe (AVPZ) runs community- and school-focused training in conflict resolution.

Peace Clubs in Schools supplies a core Peace Education textbook to each school and free-of-charge AVP training to teachers who, in turn, train volunteer students in conflict resolution and non-violent communication.

Corporal punishment in schools has recently been banned so these projects are now vital to replace it with peacefully-ordered communities. Learn more at: www.peaceworkszimbabwe.net.

Zimbabwe Flag, Wikipedia Commons

Contributions can be made:

By bank transfer or Standing Order
Bank: Co-op Bank, 1 Balloon Street, Manchester M60 1GP
Account name: Milton Keynes Quaker Meeting, R/C 1134541
Sort code: 08 90 28
Account no: 50528862
Please use reference ‘zimpeace’
Please contact us at peaceworkszim@gmail.com to confirm the donation and, ideally, request a Gift Aid form.

By cheque
Please make cheques payable to:
Milton Keynes Quaker Meeting R/C 1134541 and send to:
Peace Works Zimbabwe c/o The Quaker Centre, 1 Oakley Gardens, Milton Keynes. MK15 9BH.
Please include a note with your name, address and email, making it clear that the donation is for Peace Works Zimbabwe.

Previous Article Next Article

Back to June 2022 Newsletter Main Page

Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 518 • June 2022
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW

newsletter@oxfordquakers.org

Copyright 2022, Oxford Quakers

Charity Appeal

MONTHLY APPEAL APRIL 2022

Tabora League for Children (TLC)

Margaret Paton

Many thanks to all who gave so generously in TLC’s Christmas appeal. Apologies for asking for help again so soon but April is TLC’s month on this year’s appeals calendar. I am planning to visit TLC Tabora again in June after a long COVID gap. I remain in daily contact thanks to email and WhatsApp.

TLC Tabora

TLC provides food for 150 orphans and vulnerable children in Tabora, Tanzania daily, and offers medical and educational support until individuals become financially independent. Each child is sponsored; this covers many of our costs.

This month TLC has started a new fundraising drive to support costs not covered by sponsorship and other regular donations. It’s called Dedicated Donors (DDs) and aspires to create a regular £10/month base (or less, or more!) so we can buy bikes where secondary students have long distances to travel between home, school, and TLC centres.

(The extra tuition happening in the photo right is currently paid for by some Cambridge Quakers. Students struggle to settle into English Medium secondary schools.)

Marg Paton

DDs will buy sanitary products for our girls, beds so children do not sleep on the floor and to which mosquito nets can be affixed, bed wetting sheets for the children recovering from trauma, more food to give meals to every child who otherwise would not get one on Sundays, and sports and arts supplies for improved health and creative expressions. DDs will also support expensive and required Tanzanian financial costs like auditing, and enable local volunteers to contribute their skills and gain work experience. All this for £10 a month!

If you’d like to support this initiative and sign up as a DD, just ask me, Marg Paton for a DD Form (and Gift Aid Form where applicable), or find these on our website www.tlctanzania.org and sign up with a Standing Order to our Barclays bank account:

Tabora League for Children
A/C no.63693430
Sort Code 20-97-48

Thank you!

Of course, also feel free to give a one-off donation and feel assured that it will be very gratefully received and swiftly used for the children.

Previous Article Next Article

Back to April 2022 Newsletter Main Page

Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 516 • April 2022
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW

newsletter@oxfordquakers.org

Copyright 2022, Oxford Quakers

2023 08 August, Charity Appeal

Oxford Quaker Meeting August Appeal: Peace Works Zimbabwe

Anne Watson

Debates within Britain Yearly Meeting about reparations include the Quaker Africa Interest Group (QAIG quakerafricainterest.org.uk) urging us all to consider supporting projects in areas of Africa that have been affected by British colonialism in the past. Quakers have been working in Matabeleland since 1967 and we are delighted to tell you about a relatively recent area of work that needs our support.

Photo from peaceworkszimbabe.net

Peace Works Zimbabwe (emanating from Milton Keynes Quaker Meeting) is raising money to support Peace Education in Zimbabwe. The money raised goes to Alternatives to Violence Zimbabwe (AVPZ). AVPZ is based in the Quaker Meeting in Bulawayo. AVPZ runs courses in conflict reduction for community groups like young people, women at risk of violence, community leaders and prison staff.

AVPZ’s other focus is on training teachers to use conflict resolution and students to become peer mediators and ambassadors for peace in their schools.

There are now over 60 Peace Clubs in both primary and secondary schools. The number increases by about 10 per year and is dependent on funding to support the initial training and training the trainers.

Teachers have a huge appetite for these courses. Zimbabwe has recently outlawed the use of corporal punishment in all schools, so this is a huge opportunity to promote ‘peaceful schools’ and a much-needed cultural shift.

For more details and how to donate see www.peaceworkszimbabwe.net

Bank transfer or standing order:

Account name: Milton Keynes Quaker Meeting
Bank Name: Coop Bank
Sortcode: 089028
Account #: 50528862
and give the reference ‘zimpeace’.

Inform peaceworkszim@gmail.com that you have done so and request a Gift Aid form if appropriate.

By cheque made out to: Milton Keynes Quaker Meeting
and sent to:

PeaceWorksZim
c/o The Quaker Centre
1 Oakley Gardens
MILTON KEYNES
MK15 9BH

Include a note that it is intended for PeaceworksZimbabwe.

This Month’s Forty-Three Newsletter Contents

Back to August 2023 Newsletter Main Page

Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 532 • August 2023
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW

newsletter@oxfordquakers.org

Copyright 2023, Oxford Quakers