September 2021 – Marlow Refugee Action

Afghanistan Response

We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our community in Marlow in wanting to offer clothes and other items, money, time and skills in response to the arrival of several thousand refugees from Afghanistan in the UK.

As the refugees were quarantined in a number of hotels around the country to which only a few organisations had access, we have signposted your kind offers to organisations like Care4Calais www.care4calais.org/thedropoffmap/. We also gave a £200 donation to the Wycombe Youth for Christ who were able, through a paramedic working at a hotel where refugees were quarantining, to provide essentials for babies and children. We have met with WYC subsequently and will see how we can continue to support these efforts.

MRA is in regular contact with Wycombe Refugee Partnership who are supporting a family from Afghanistan as they move to High Wycombe. WRP send out requests for specific items, or specific help, as they identify them and we will ensure that these are promoted through our social media as well. You can follow WRP to get the latest updates here: www.facebook.com/groups/1069995593044656

We also attended the All Saint’s Church Fun Day in September and had a Donation Station for mobile phones – we were delighted to receive so many and are happy to receive more. These will go to refugees via Care4Calais. Please visit www.phones4them.org.uk to donate a phone.

You are no doubt aware that Buckinghamshire Council were one of the local authorities who agreed to support Afghan refugees. We have signed up with them to offer support. However, the Council have specific criteria for organisations they will engage with to support refugees coming to Buckinghamshire, which we do not meet. We will continue to explore ways of offering support however and will update you as soon as these become available.

Virtual Book Reading event with MARION MOLTENO

On Wednesday 6th October at 6pm we are excited and privileged to welcome author MARION MOLTENO to an online ZOOM event. Marion will be talking about her books and the refugee lives that formed and inspired her writing.

The event will chaired by local author HARRI ANGELL and is a free event, open to anyone interested in learning more about Marion’s publications and the people and places that have informed them. Details about joining the meeting will be available from Marlow Refugee Action’s Facebook page nearer the time, or by contacting marlowrefugeeaction@gmail.com.

Marion Molteno is an award-winning novelist. She has had several books published including A Shield of Coolest Air, which is specifically about refugees and the problems they encounter, and Uncertain Light, which gives an insight into war conditions that cause people to flee, and is set among people who work in humanitarian organisations responding to them.

Her latest book, Journeys Without a Map, will be available from end of September 2021. Through this memoir, Marion takes the reader on a journey of discovery, tracing the origins of her fictional worlds. With refugees from war in Somalia or exiles from apartheid South Africa, working with newly arrived immigrants in London or with Save the Children in the mountains of Tajikistan – everywhere Marion engages with people she meets and is inspired by them.

For the book reading event on 6 October, participants are invited to read one of the books referred to above. A complete list of Marion’s books is available from her website: www.marionmolteno.co.uk. Although we would love you to have read one of Marion’s books, it is not essential to have done so to attend the event.

The event will be chaired by Harri Angell, author of “Pilates for Runners” and “Pilates for Living”, both published by Bloomsbury. Harri lives and works in Marlow. In addition to running a business teaching Pilates and yoga, and to writing, Harri runs a local book group in Marlow.

There is no charge to attend the event, but if you would like to make a donation to Marlow Refugee Action, you can do so here: donate