Asylum seeking families and refugees supported by Bradford Refugee Action have recently enjoyed two activity days at Nell Bank Centre and Ilkley Grammar School thanks to the kindness of the Ilkley community.
The trips were organised by local residents Felicity Tomblin and Sue Staton who came up with the initiative of inviting asylum seekers and refugees to Ilkley and the surrounding areas in 2017 after watching on the news the plight of desperate families fleeing war and persecution in Syria.
They work with the refugee charity and local organisations and volunteers to offer five activity sessions each year with the purpose of extending the hand of friendship, giving the children the opportunity to play with other children and creating memorable experiences for the families.
In some cases, it is the first time that the families have left their accommodation in Bradford and spoken to anyone from the UK.
The first trip in August was a day of outdoor fun at Nell Bank, where the visiting families enjoyed a day of sunshine playing team games, climbing on the adventure playground, searching for mini beasts and cooling off with water play. Everyone had a marvellous time thanks to the staff and volunteers at the activity centre.
And on Saturday 5th October, Ilkley Grammar School welcomed 64 guests from across the world, including Sri Lanka, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Albania, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraqi Kurdistan and Jordan.
The day was split into two halves, with half of the group taking part in orienteering on the moor and enjoying the spectacular views, and the other half creating artwork in the IGS art rooms where they painted, created origami sculptures and made necklaces and friendship bracelets.
Many IGS teachers gave up their Saturday to help with the activities and on both trips, volunteers from the local community prepared a delicious lunch and provided clothing and toy donations for the guests to take home with them.
Organiser Felicity said:
“Sue and I have been organising days out for asylum seeker families supported by Refugee Action Bradford for 7 years and have had the very great privilege of meeting so many wonderful people from all around the world. We will continue to fundraise in the future to be able to offer these trips in the future as we know first-hand how important they are for the families.
“However, we cannot do this without the goodwill and generosity of those around us and we are continually humbled by the numbers of people who volunteer to help us at each day out. It’s wonderful to see the kindness, non-judgement and welcome that is shown to our visitors who have shown great courage and resilience in the face of tremendous adversity and who continue to face hostility here in the UK thanks to misinformation spread by the mainstream media.
“At Ilkley Grammar School, a father and son were painting and when we were looking at the paintings afterwards we saw that the dad had painted the English Channel, the White Cliffs of Dover and their journey here and the 6 year old son had painted what came into his mind which sadly was tanks, planes and explosions! No child should have to experience something this harrowing and this is precisely why these days out are so important as they provide a respite for families who have been through so much.”
[Lunch at Ilkley Grammar School]
The two trips were a huge success with feedback from the families including the following comments:
'This is the best day I have had in the UK'.
“I was about to cry when Sue took me to the room and showed me the clothes, that they kept for me and my family, it was generous and very kind of them to think about our needs, and to do their best to give us what we need.”
“The place is amazing, I love the view, I also love the food, and the kindness of people there is unbelievable.”
The next day out is planned for the end of November and is taking place at Dan’s Den Soft Play Centre thanks to the support of Christchurch and the Dan’s Den team.
Felicity and Sue would like to issue special thanks to the Children Charities Circle Bradford who provided the funding for Nell Bank, Ilkley Arts who contributed 50% of the proceeds of its successful ‘Secret Postcard Auction’ this year, the team at Nell Bank, the staff and students at IGS and all the many volunteers who helped on both days, without whom the trips would not be possible.
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