Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Our village is currently hosting approximately 600 asylum seekers and refugees who are temporarily residing at our local hotels. Many of these individuals and families will eventually be processed and located in other forms of accommodation. St John’s Church is currently liaising with other service providers to ascertain how to add value to the provision of support that is needed. The presence of asylum seekers and refugees will have an impact on our community and we seek to acknowledge them, welcome their presence, and ease their integration into our village.
So far, we have been able to make some initial donations towards clothing items and children’s toys but there is still a lot of need that we as Copthorne community can help with. For example, there is a shortage of (male) winter clothes such as coats and jeans, as well as the need for financial support to purchase underclothing, games and some basic stationary items such as pens and writing books. As church we are already organising weekly afternoon sessions with coffee, tea, games and opportunities for conversations. We will also be looking at other ways of meaningful social engagements. If you would like to get involved, or want to support or perhaps would like to donate to this work, you can do one of the following:
(1) Any gift in kind such as winter coats and/or jeans (male only) are very welcome! You can drop these off and leave them inside at the back of our church
(2) If you would like to volunteer in any future projects to support Asylum Seekers and Refugees than contact our church office on 01342 712063
(3) Finally, you can financially contribute to our Asylum Seekers and Refugee fund by clicking on the donate button here below (select "Asylum Seekers & Refugees Fund"):
