Linda Gilroy, MP.   An invite has also been extended to the MP for Plymouth Sutton, to visit during our Centre during the Easter recess from Parliament.   This has yet to be confirmed so please so watch this space!

10^th Anniversary Festival Day.  This has been confirmed as Saturday, 6^th June 2009 at Sherwell Church.   Arrangements are now being put in place to plan the day. More details soon!

Refugee Week:   Monday, 15^th   –   Saturday, 21^st June 2009.   The Theme for this year is "Simple Acts" and Christine R. and Geoff R. attended a meeting on Tuesday, 24^th February 2009 so that DCRSC could have an active part in this event.   We hope to be able to relay further information to you soon!

Gifts And Gizzits.   Further supplies of Key Fobs, and also some Fridge Magnets have been received and Christine R. will be busy assembling these.   We also hope to have some pens following soon!

The Future.   The Board of Trustees will begin looking at 'The Way Forward', at their next meeting, scheduled for Friday, 20^th March 2009.

From:   Geoffrey READ   saudigeoff@yahoo.co.uk
To:   Geoffrey READ   saudigeoff@yahoo.co.uk
Sent:   Wednesday, 4 February, 2009 20:36:12
Subject:   DCRSC: DISPLAYS DURING OUR ANNIVERSARY YEAR OF 2009

To all DCRSC Volunteers,

Trish Baxter has kindly agreed to coordinate and prepare our displays at the varying functions throughout our Anniversary Year of 2009.  Trish will need assistance with this and I'm looking for a couple of small teams to work with her on this project.   You will know that Trish works at the Centre and sometimes this will be when the Centre is closed.  If you think you would like to help and would like to know a little bit more, then do please have a chat with Christine Reid or just let me have your name.

Christine
chrissie.reid@btinternet.com

As the Food Programme Coordinator responsible for the Food Store, I have no knowledge of rats gnawing through four inches of concrete!  I have certainly never said that.   I have always understood that they have entered our Food Store via a disused waste water pipe.   That has since been blocked up!   How did The Herald hear about our problem?   I did seek advice from someone in the Plymouth City Council Sanitation Department about six months ago.   I must say that I have seen no trace of our furry friends for some time.   However, as a precaution, I will re-lay the rodent bait, both in the Kitchen and in the Food Store.

The Food Programme Coordinator is very grateful for the efforts that have been made to meet the demands of our clients.   Some large donations of food were made during the month and this was extremely helpful and warmly received.   However, we are going to need a lot more donations if we are going to sustain clients and maintain stock levels whilst issuing this number of parcels each week!

Explore printing techniques – create your own cards,   design and print a T-shirt:     Friday, 6^th 13^th 20^th 27^th March
Timings:    10 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. or 1 p.m. until 3.30 p.m.
Cost:     £3 per session.
Location:    STEPS, NHS Cumberland Centre, Devonport.
Telephone:    (01752) 556898

THE city's Kurdish community is on the brink of going into hiding after a fourth man was seized and another put on a flight to northern Iraq by British immigration officials. The 2,000-strong Kurdish community was stunned when Jizar Ahmad was arrested yesterday morning as he attended Charles Cross police station to 'sign on'.   Shoker Abobeker, of Plymouth's Kurdish Community Association, said asylum-seekers were required to 'sign on' at a police station, but warned that many might now stop doing so after what had happened to Mr Ahmad.   He had already revealed that some Kurds were sleeping in cars because they were afraid to go to their homes in case they were raided by immigration officers.   "Lots of people are not going to sign now," Mr Abobeker warned. "Everyone is scared.   "We are losing our friends."   Mr Ahmad, aged 31, from the city centre, has lived in Plymouth for nine years, and has worked in a factory and the catering industry because he has a work permit.   Mr Abobeker said removing him from the country was "not fair and against human rights".   "Jizar is a taxpayer," he said.   Mr Ahmad is the fourth Kurd detained in Plymouth since February 6. The Herald has been told that one of the others, 32-year-old Majid Ibrahim Amin, was put on a flight from Stansted to the city of Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region, on Monday.   Meanwhile, 31-year-old Karwan Mahmood, detained on February 12, has been moved to Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centre near Gatwick Airport.   Khasrow Mustafa, a leading member of Plymouth's Kurdish community, said: "Where Karwan has been taken is a bad place.   "That's where they send people for imminent removal."   Mr Mahmood's girlfriend Katie Kellow, aged 25, of Southway, is expected to visit him today, along with others from Plymouth.   Another city delegation is expected to go to the Campsfield House immigration removal centre, in Kidlington near Oxford, to visit 33-year-old Himen Abas, from Keyham, detained on February 6.   Mr Mustafa, a close friend of Mr Abas, said supporters had found lawyers to work on behalf of him and Mr Mahmood.   Names are also being collected on a petition.   "We are doing out best and will see what's going to happen," Mr Mustafa said. "It's not easy, but hopefully we will get them out of detention."   He said Mr Amin had been "put on a plane with about 50 people", only about a week after being detained in Plymouth.   "When he was in Campsfield House I got him a solicitor," Mr Mustafa said. "Unfortunately they didn't give him a chance; they took him immediately."   Mr Abobeker said it was not safe to send asylum-seekers to Iraq despite claims that the country had been stabilised.   He said it was still split by political and tribal allegiances and that people who fled during the rule of Saddam Hussein found the same enemies in place today, adding that people "who have been here for nine or 10 years are now integrated here".   "Iraq is not safe," he continued, "it doesn't matter that the Iraqi Government is dealing with the (UK) Government."   A Home Office spokeswoman said: "Anyone with no right to be here will be removed.   "If the appeal process is exhausted you will be removed from the country. That's the way the immigration system works."   The Home Office would not confirm or deny the names or status of any of the detained Kurds nor discuss flights from the country.

Please do not put any other items into your green container.

http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/searchresults?file=xml%2Fresults.xml&db=plymouth_xml2&topdoc=0&
variant_generation=on&stype=SIMPLE&b=F1ALL&query00=recycling

A CHAMPION of human rights with strong ties to Plymouth is to give a presentation in the city about her work.   Baroness Caroline Cox – who was created a Life Peer in 1982 and was deputy speaker of the House of Lords from 1985 to 2005 – will give a presentation at the Guildhall on 5^th March from 7.30 p.m.   Often known as the Battling Baroness, both her parents hail from Devonport and her mother was a pupil at Devonport High School for Girls.   As a young girl she was evacuated to Plymouth from London during the Blitz.   A founder of Hart-UK –Humanitarian Aid and Relief Trust – she has travelled the globe reporting on human rights violations, garnering a plethora of accolades, awards and honours.
She has been honoured with the Commander Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland; the Wilberforce Award for her humanitarian work; the International Mother Teresa Award from the All India Christian Council and the anniversary medal presented by Lech Walesa, the former President of Poland, at the 25^th anniversary of the Polish Solidarity Movement.   Baroness Cox's humanitarian aid work has taken her on many missions to conflict zones, including the Armenian enclave of Nagorno Karabakh; Sudan; Nigeria; Uganda; the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Chin peoples in the jungles of Burma; and communities suffering from conflict in Indonesia.   She has also been instrumental in helping to change the former Soviet Union policies for orphaned and abandoned children from institutional to foster family care.

The Lab produces films with absolute beginners during a four-day (free) course based at BBC South West which includes camera techniques, health and safety and editing your own film.   All equipment is provided. We are looking for one more person for our half term week course.   Young people are welcome.   We are also recruiting either individuals or groups for our March 2009 course.

The dates are :
Tuesday,   3^rd   March
Tuesday,   10^th   March
Wednesday,   11^th   March
Thursday,   12^th   March

The charity had acted as an umbrella organisation providing services to community bodies.   These included training, reprographics, legal advice, funding information, and admin help.

The way it works:   the volunteers (one from somewhere in the UK and one from Ghana) come to live with you, you share something of your life with them; everybody is learning about each other, the wider community and global issues.   Everybody has a unique and uplifting experience!   We provide support from our two Programme Supervisors.   The volunteers are all aged between 18 and 25 and will be out of the house volunteering in a local activity in Plymouth or attending educational activities five days per week.   If you have read this far perhaps you would like to find out more...

Please see the brochure at the end of this Newsletter.
Meetings are held on the second Saturday of each month from 10:30 to 12 noon at Plymstock Children's Centre, Dunstone Primary School, Southernway, Plymstock.

•Climate Change
•Sustainable Energy
•Human Rights
•Trade Unionism

In January the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) launched the Muslim Women Power List in association with The Times newspaper and Emel magazine.   The Power List is a celebration of Muslim women within the working community in Britain who have already reached the top of their chosen field or are on the fast track to success.   The EHRC is now accepting nominations for the list, to be revealed at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester on 24^th March 2009.   Any British Muslim woman over the age of 18 and in employment may apply - nominations may be submitted by or on behalf of an individual.   Unfortunately, the deadline for nominations was 16^thFebruary 2009 via www.thelist2009.com.  There are currently over 100,000 Muslim women working in Britain.   Recent focus group research conducted by the EHRC indicates that Muslim women want to succeed in education and at work.   Many had high career aspirations and wanted to return to work after having children and combine family life with a career.   This is the first time an organisation has sought to identify and celebrate professional Muslim women in this way.   The project is being piloted this year with a view to maintaining a network of women who can benefit from each other's experiences of forging a career and the initiative is supported by the CMI.

http://www.managers.org.uk/Management_News_1.aspx?id=10:1120&id=10:5&doc=10:7116

During Refugee Week hundreds of events exploring refugee experiences take place ac the UK.  These range from small community and school activities to art exhibitions, political debates, film screenings, conferences, big music festivals, sports events etc.  Anyone can get involved in Refugee Week either by organising or visiting an event or by just spreading the word!

For addressed unwanted mail
Fill out the postcard available from Post Offices which is titled 'Mailing Preference Service Registration Form' and put it in the post.   By supplying the Mailing Preference Service with your name and address, you will gradually receive less addressed unwanted mail.   You can also register online at www.mpsonline.org.uk.   The entire process takes up to four months to start completely and lasts for five years.
You will still receive mail from companies who you have done business with in the past, e.g., catalogue companies.

For un-addressed unwanted mail
Much of the unwanted mail that people receive is posted out on a regional basis to every household.   By completing the Royal Mail Door-to-door service postcard, giving your name and full address, you will stop receiving some un-addressed unwanted mail.   This can take up to six weeks.   Opting out means that no one at the address will receive unaddressed mail.   By using this service, you will no longer receive the un-addressed information that the local authority sends out.   You will still received mail addressed to 'The Occupier'.   The Royal Mail is the only distributing company that offers this service.

For local unwanted mail
Finally, you may wish to put the 'No unwanted mail or free newspapers' sticker (available from Post Offices) onto your letter box.   This helps to stop the local unwanted mail that you tend to get in towns and cities.   This can be anything from pizza flyers to landscape gardening adverts.   It's up to you!   You can stop all or some of the unwanted mail that comes through your letter box – it depends on your needs.   Don't forget to reuse your envelopes wherever possible.

About unwanted mail

•550,000 tonnes of unwanted mail is generated in the UK
every year.

•The average household receives 224 pieces of unwanted
mail every year.

•That means that every year 3,300,000 trees are cut down to
produce 550,000 tonnes of unwanted mail.

How do these actions happen?
This campaign ultimately depends on all of us doing one small thing to help change the way we perceive refugees.   Here's how:   Just take a look at the actions on our website.   Think about which ones you'd like to do (or already do everyday).   Do them.   Tell us that you've done them and (if you really want to push the boat out) tell someone else to do the same.
It's really simple.


Where do I find more information about the campaign?

Visit   www.simpleacts.org.uk   for  
•Explanations and suggestions for each action
•The Action Counter – check out a running total of how many   actions have been completed across the UK
•Get hold of the gorgeous Simple Acts Journal
•Loads of free resources such as quizzes and tasty recipes
•Toolkits and tips for getting your school or organisation   involved

Be our friend and follow us on
•Twitter - Simple_Acts
•Facebook - Simple Acts Group
•Bebo - SimpleA2