ASSIST needs your sponsorship for the Great Yorkshire Run

ASSIST provides advice, support and friendship for destitute asylum seekers living in Sheffield.  We're a team of ASSIST volunteers, friends of ASSIST, asylum seekers and refugees running 10km in the Great Yorkshire Run on Sunday October 9th 2011, and hoping to raise at least £500 to enable ASSIST to continue its crucial work.

Check this page for team training updates and photos leading up to the race, and for more info on ASSIST, please visit www.assistsheffield.org.uk/.
Thanks!!!!
The ASSIST Runners

http://www.justgiving.com/ASSIST-Runners
About ASSIST

Asylum Seeker Support Initiative – Short Term (ASSIST) is a Sheffield charity that helps destitute asylum seekers in and around Sheffield. Asylum seekers become destitute when all the support they have been receiving from government is withdrawn following a final negative decision on an asylum claim. We often hear that they are failed because they are not genuine, but researches in 2003 by a group of MPs found that over half of those refused were in fact genuine; a proportion thought to be even greater now due to lack of adquate legal help.
Refused asylum seekers are not allowed to work, to register themselves as homeless, or places in local authority night shelters. There is no legal way for them to support themselves. Many become destitute, struggling daily for food, accommodation and clothing. It is estimated that there is about 1000 destitute asylum seekers in the Sheffield area alone.

What help do we give?

• finding night shelter for those sleeping rough
• finding temporary accommodation with host families
• paying a small weekly grant for food and basic living expenses
• advising about other sources of assistance available (charitable and non-charitable)
• giving free bus pass vouchers to those with serious medical problems, and pregnant women who would find it difficult to walk
• giving free bicycles
• finding longer term solutions by assisting clients to pursue their asylum claims
• raising awareness to the problem through events and talks
• opportunities for volunteering

We only give support to people who can demonstrate their situation (a letter confirming refusal of support under section 55 or a letter confirming termination of support at the end of an asylum claim plus termination of NASS housing letter, and, where appropriate a letter of referral from a relevant refugee community organisation). We prioritise those who are old, unwell, infirm or pregnant. Other than this we will support people to the best of our abilities with decisions made by a panel appointed by the trustees of the organisation. At present we support up to 80 people out of 1000 or more (estimated from government statistics) who are destitute in Sheffield. (Generally £20 per week per person). We give people cash but ask people to sign individually for all the money that they are given.
When necessary we provide people with money for travel expenses, so they can go to legal appointments. We are presently able to help about 25 people with accommodation, mostly hosted in private homes. ASSIST wants to help people in as dignified manner as is possible so they do not have to rely on food parcels.


Assist relies very much on the generosity of the public to meet the basic living needs of the asylum seekers. We have so far been able to help over 60 destitute asylum seekers with grants and accommodation. We try to give priority to those who suffer serious medical problems as well as women in late stages of pregnancy when making decisions about who should be helped. Those who can not be helped still benefit a lot from advice given by our volunteers about how they can access other forms of assistance.

What help can you give us?

You can make a big difference to the lives of these people by:

• making a regular donation to Assist, cheque or bank transfer
• host an asylum seeker for a short period of time
• supporting Assist at many of its fundraising events
• raise awareness by inviting members of Assist to come to speak to you about the problem
• become a volunteer with Assist

Being a refused asylum seeker is one of the worst punishments on men. Everyday, we see doors shut which deny us access even to the most basic human needs.  In an environment where everything appears to shift towards relentless firmness with no room for sympathy ASSIST really is a life saver.  Their work targets solving real problems faced by asylum seekers: need for shelter, food, clothing, access to healthcare, advice and signposting, befriending, and above all listening and caring.  It is not easy dealing with people for who the future has nothing -but ASSIST goes beyond and ask people to open their doors and take in asylum seekers.  It is beyond words to describe such gestures and generosity.  The worst feeling is knowing that you have nothing to offer in return; yet the relief is that nothing is expected of you in return.

International Day of the Disappeared in Sheffield

 Yesterday was International Day of the Disappeared when we remember the tens of thousands of people around the world who have been subject to enforced disappearance.  Sheffield Amnesty International organised a vigil to remember those people and to continue to seek justice for them and their families.

People came from as far as Liverpool and Newcastle to support the event.  Special thanks to local Amnesty International groups and to the members of the Chilean community many of whom have experienced the loss of loved ones in such difficult circumstances.  Their dignity and placards featuring hundreds of disappeared individuals served as a grim reminder as to why we should never forget.

 

My interview on BBC Radio Sheffield is 70 minutes into this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00jrfgh/Rony_Robinson_30_08_2011/

 

Graham Jones

 

 

 

 

The Future of Nuclear Power: debate in Sheffield

Remember the victims of Hillsborough and their families

 Many people in Sheffield will remember the terrible day in 1989 when 96 people were crushed to death and over 700 others sustained various injuries.  It was the worst day of my life and I never want to see anything like that again.

 After  twenty two years of pain, the brave families of those that died are still seeking justice and are calling for the governemnt to ensure the release of papers relating to this incident.

Please support this petition
 http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/2199

 If you don't understand the way these families have suffered unnecessarily at the hands of the authorities, you could do worse than to watch clips of Jimmy McGovern's film Hillsborough:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVXfXZGki4c

Please help the people find justicea nd sign the petition.

CUTS - ALL REMPLOY FACTORIES UNDER THREAT

CUTS - ALL REMPLOY FACTORIES UNDER THREAT.

A recent DWP Report proposes either the privatisation or outright closure of REMPLOY
factories. If these proposals are implemented it will mean the destruction of REMPLOY and a
bleak future for disabled workers who are the most vulnerable workers in society.
In spite of the late notice all available trade unionists and their friends and colleagues are
urged to participate in the following Demonstration which is to be jointly organised by the
GMB, UNITE, and COMMUNITY.

FRIDAY 19TH AUGUST 2011

DEMONSTRATION

DWP
STEEL CITY HOUSE
WEST STREET
SHEFFIELD
S1 2GQ

START TIME 10.00AM
EVERBODY WELCOME
IT’S TIME TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED IT DOES NOT MATTER
WHO OR WHAT YOU ARE
CUTS WILL DESTOY OUR COMMUNITIES
Tell the DWP WHAT YOU THINK TO THE CONSULTION OF THE SAYCE
REPORT
DEFEND DISABLED WORKERS DEFEND THE FUTURE OF REMPLOY
WORKERS
NO IFS NO BUTS NO PUBLIC SECTOR CUTS
THEY SAY CUT BACK WE SAY FIGHT BACK

International Day of the Disappeared in Sheffield

In Sheffield on 30th August at 4.30 pm we will be assembling in front of Sheffield Town Hall to remember victims of enforced disappearance from around the world. 

Aug. 30, is the International Day of the Disappeared, observed by Amnesty International and other human rights groups around the word to remember the disappeared and to press for justice for the victims of enforced disappearance and their families. An “enforced disappearance” occurs when agents of the state arrest a person and the state then denies any knowledge of the person’s status or whereabouts. 

You could be taken at any time, day or night. You might be at home, at work or traveling on the street. Your captors may be in uniform or civilian clothes. They forcibly take you away, giving no reason, producing no warrant. Your relatives desperately try to find you, going from one police station or army camp to the next. The officials deny having arrested you or knowing anything about your whereabouts or fate. You have become a victim of enforced disappearance

Enforced disappearance is a grave human rights violation and a crime. Amnesty International defines an enforced disappearance as the detention of someone by the state or its agents, when the authorities deny that the victim is in custody or conceal what has happened to them. Enforced disappearances have occurred across the world - in Sri Lanka, Russia, El Salvador, Morocco, Iraq, Thailand, Pakistan, Bosnia, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt and Argentina, to name a few. No one is immune; victims have included men, women and children.

Stand up against enforced disappearances and support our vigil on 30th August.

(if we don't see you there we might get worried about you.)

UK taxpayers finance illegal, inhumane weapons

Episode 3 of Amnesty International TV has launched today! You can view it on this link
http://www.youtube.com/amnestytvhttp://www.youtube.com/amnestytv

This edition highlights the scandal of the  investment by major British banks, some of them using taxpayers money, in illegal weapons, notably cluster bombs.

Cluster bombs kill and maim indiscriminately – 98 per cent of victims are civilians and a third of those are children. This is why over 100 countries – including the UK – have signed up to an international treaty banning their manufacture and use.
Yet over a year after this treaty came into force, and despite the fact that cluster bombs are now banned in the UK, some UK-based banks continue to invest in companies which make them.
Stop investment in companies that make cluster bombs
The worst of these is the Royal Bank of Scotland – which, don’t forget, is now over 80 per cent owned by UK taxpayers. RBS is known to have invested $80 million in companies which manufacture cluster bombs in the past year¹.
Take action: email the Chief Executive of RBS now
Cluster bombs can remain deadly for years, much like landmines. So civilians in places like Georgia, Kosovo, Lebanon and Laos are at risk long after the fighting has ended. As a member of the global Cluster Munition Coalition², we’re working to end the suffering cluster bombs cause. But we need organisations like RBS to take responsibility for the part they play.
Should a taxpayer-funded bank be investing in companies making weapons which are banned by this country? Should any bank invest in companies which make these appalling weapons?
If you think not, please take action now