Philanthrobeats Fundraiser for World Spirit Forum Theatre Group

Come along and tell all your pals!!!!!

APRIL 11th, 2013 @The SUBCLUB (Glasgow)

= PB 5 : First Birthday Party =

SLAM [Soma]
Mia Dora [High Sheen / Moda Black]
MermaidS LIVE [Mount Heart Attack]

£4 o.t.d.

All Proceeds go to the World Spirit Forum Theatre.

Poster artwork by Mila T-Y.

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(Says Philanthrobeats: ” In February we collaborated with Rubix and hosted one of the most memorable parties that Sub Club has ever seen. They have since been slightly perplexed as how to top it, but we’re going to give it a shot as we are so indebted to all who helped and showed up.
Philanthrobeats started almost exactly 1 year ago from now, so we thought it only natural to host this event in celebration of all the hard work you guys have put into making what we do possible. Everyone from PRs, to bakers, to artists to the revellers that fill our dancefloor – this is a party for you!
To commemorate such an event, and to say thank you, we have decided to arrange a very special treat – we’re taking you to the theatre!

Well, kind of…

Our theatre is the Sub Club and there definitely won’t be an interval – fire alarm permitting. To coincide with a joint project we are launching with the World Spirit Forum Theatre, we felt it was only apt to focus production on the intimate, versatile, and unique atmosphere that the theatre is known for. We don’t want to give too much away, but if you have been to any of our events in the past you’ll know that we’ll try our very best to make this something special.

Oh, and it’s our birthday, so expect balloons. Lots of balloons.”)

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Philanthrobeats:
http://www.philanthrobeats.org.uk/

World Spirit Forum Theatre:
http://www.facebook.com/WorldSpiritForumTheatre

Mila T-Y: http://www.empty-y.tumblr.com/

SLAM: https://soundcloud.com/soma/slam-radio-001-slam-1?in=soma%2Fsets%2Fslam-radio

Mia Dora: https://soundcloud.com/mia-dora

MermaidS: https://soundcloud.com/mermaidsmha

Seeking new members!

World Spirit is seeking new members: come and join us!

Introduction to Forum Theatre with World Spirit

4-6pm Saturday 13^th October

 

Kinning Park Complex

 

Refreshments provided

On Saturday the 13^th of October World Spirit will deliver a workshop introducing forum theatre methods.  Forum theatre is a method developed in Latin America, which seeks to directly involve the audience in achieving positive outcomes to the problems that the performers present.  World Spirit Forum Theatre Group produces community theatre which explores integration and the asylum process from the perspective of those experiencing it.

The workshop will include:

·         A short interactive presentation on forum theatre

·         Theatre games and activities

·         An introduction to World Spirit’s projects past and present

World Spirit is seeking new members and this workshop will be an opportunity to learn more about what we do and why we do it.  If you’re interested in getting involved but can’t make it on the 13^th we will be meeting every Saturday at the same time.

For more information contact Nicky Bolland on 07516367499 or by email: nicky@unfinishedpictureproject.org.  Or go to  http://dialogue4destitution.wordpress.com/world-spirit-forum-theatre/

World Spirit Showcases new play, ‘The Roots’ in Glasgow and Edinburgh

World Spirit this month show-cased their new play, ‘The Roots’ at two community venues in Scotland.  The play, devised around the theme of spirit, explores the challenges that newcomers to Scotland face in trying to maintain their own cultural identity whilst engaging in the culture of their new home.

The story follows Pinar, an experienced woman seeking to work in Glasgow, and her partner, Serge, who is just trying to live life here: both face many hurdles and it is the audiences task to find a way round them. Isabel Harland took the part of the Joker of the play, and facilitated a wealth of discussion on the barriers and opportunities newcomers to Scotland experience and how we can support positive integration and cultural celebration.

The 9^th of June saw World Spirit travel to Edinburgh for a cosy dinner and performance in the Punjabn’de Rasoi Cafe on Leith Walk.  The performance was part of the Leith Festival, and was well attended and even well reviewed by Herald critic Joyce MacMillan (http://joycemcmillan.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/the-roots/).

On the 20^th June World Spirit performed on home turf as part of an event for Refugee Week.  Kinning Park Complex hosted the event “Challenging Myths; Celebrating Multiplicities”, which alongside World Spirit’s performance included a workshop on asset based approaches to community development and Govan and Craigton Integration Network’s AGM.

World Spirit will be taking a short break now but expect to be back in a community centre near you by the end of the summer!

The fight is not over, it has only just begun.

Although Ahmed was taken off that flight last week, UKBA are doing everything they can right now to get him on another one. Ahmed has been issued new removal directions; Tuesday 19th June- Qatar Airways flight QR76 to Doha and then flight QR506 to Dar Es Salaam.

As posted before I am posting all the numbers again that can be used to contribute towards Ahmed’s deportation campaign.

Ahmed has been incredibly strong throughout his ordeal: he is now far from friends and supporters who can visit him though and it is hard for us to speak with him by phone. If you’d like to pass on messages of solidarity which we can send him email them to: home@ahmedmuststay.org.uk

If you’d like to show your solidarity towards Ahmed come and join the Ahmed Must Stay Bloc at the Refugees are Welcome Here March, Saturday 16th June, 12-3pm George Square. Alternatively you can contact Nicky Bolland (07516367499 for details).

Keep the pressure on Qatar Airways and tell them Deportation is inhumane!
1. Contact for Home Secretary

Please make sure to quote Ahmed’s Home Office reference number A1393864.

Theresa May, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London SW1 4DF

email – copy to all these addresses:
mayt@parliament.uk
UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk
Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

2. Contact for Qatar Airways

Please make sure to quote the flight details which are Flight QR2 to Dar Es Sallam, 21.30hrs 11 June.

3rd Floor, Victoria Buildings
Albert Square
1-7 Princess Street
Manchester, M2 4DF

Telephone: 0844 846 8380
Fax: 0161 838 5398

email:
This email might get through to customer services, although we haven’t verified it yet: tell-us@qatarairways.com.qa

You can also contact Qatar Airways via Facebook and Twitter @qatarairways

 

Stop Ahmed From Being Detained

Please spare a few minutes and support this campaign and stop Ahmed from being detained.

A 27 year old Somalian man Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed was detained last Friday morning when he went to report at the UKBA reporting centre in Glasgow. He is now facing removal directions for Monday 11th June on Qatar Airways flight QR2 to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania at 21.30 hours.

Ahmed is from the Bajuni islands off the southcoast of Somalia where he lived until he fled with his mother when he was aged 7, after having witnessed Al-Shabaab soldiers raiding his home looking for money, and shooting his father in the chest and killing him.

Ahmed was also one of several men made homeless by the Y-People charity two weeks ago when he returned home to his flat in Toryglen to find his locks had been changed without warning after he had been to report at the UKBA on Brand Street. Since being forced to leave his home he has been staying with a friend in Govan and trying to put his life back together.

After his father was killed, Ahmed became a refugee and lived precariously for most of his adolescence in different refugee camps. In 2005, when he was 20, an agent arranged a fake visa for him to come to the UK under a Tanzanian identity (under the name Bakari Khamis Ali) and in this way escape a dangerous and futureless existence in the overcrowded refugee camps and create more distance between himself and the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, keen to force young men such as Ahmed into their ranks.

The UKBA have refused his asylum case due to his earlier use of a fake visa and the results of highly controversial dialect analysis.

Most of his family are dead or missing, but Ahmed has recently discovered that he has an elder sister living in England who has a British passport and has lived in the UK for ten years. Ahmed was waiting for arrangements to be made for DNA analysis to prove he has been telling the truth about his identity when he was detained.

Ahmed has made important and valuable contributions in his local community in Govan, Glasgow, and is well known and loved by many people there.

Here are the details which you can use to contact some of the authorities and contribute towards Ahmed’s future.

1. Contact for Home Secretary

Please make sure to quote Ahmed’s Home Office reference number A1393864.

Theresa May, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London SW1 4DF

email – copy to all these addresses:
mayt@parliament.uk
UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk
Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

2. Contact for Qatar Airways

Please make sure to quote the flight details which are Flight QR2 to Dar Es Sallam, 21.30hrs 11 June.

3rd Floor, Victoria Buildings
Albert Square
1-7 Princess Street
Manchester, M2 4DF

Telephone: 0844 846 8380
Fax: 0161 838 5398

email:
This email might get through to customer services, although we haven’t verified it yet: tell-us@qatarairways.com.qa

You can also contact Qatar Airways via Facebook and Twitter @qatarairways

In the past, targeting the airline right to the last moment has been quite effective; they don’t want to lose potential customers nor significantly stain their reputations. Phoning the airline and politely expressing your serious concern and disagreement with this deportation can be very helpful.

Write to the politicians, expressing your concern and get them to take notice!!! You can find out who your local MPs, MSPs and MEPs are, as well as get there emails addresses, by entering your postcode on www.writetothem.org

Here are some templates of the letters that can be sent to these people.

Template letter to the Airways: AhmedAbdullahtemplateQAirways

Template letter to UKBA: AhmedAbdullahtemplateUKBA

World Spirit comes to the Leith Festival!

‘The Roots’

Part of Leith Festival 2012

 

9th June, 7pm 

 

Punjab’n de Rasoi Cafe

122-124 Leith Walk

EH6 5DT

Come and join us for a night of delicious food and critical exploration, hosted by World Spirit and the Punjab’n de Rasoi Cafe. 

Devised and performed by World Spirit Forum Theatre Group, ‘The Roots’ takes the audience on a journey to explore the struggle to maintain a fulfilling existence as a foreign person in this country.  Investigating the various challenges face by asylum seekers, in the form of the asylum system, ‘fellow’ citizens, and what lies between, the groups performance will not allow you only to distantly observe: critical solutions to these challenges must be found and we cannot do it without you.

The performance will be accompanied a delicious 3 course meal, prepared by the renowned community cafe, Punjab’n de Rasoi:

http://www.list.co.uk/place/29272-punjabn-de-rasoi/

World Spirit are a group who create theatre based on their experiences as asylum seekers in the UK and as citizens of the wider world. You can read more about them at: http://dialogue4destitution.wordpress.com/world-spirit-forum-theatre/

Tickets cost £15 which includes your 3 course meal: bargain!

Tickets can be booked by calling David Roberts: 07776 242582 or Nicky Bolland: 07516367499

Please share with your contacts and distribute the attached flier if possible.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Campaigners Get Equipped to Fight for Refugee Rights

Our Campaigning for Refugee Rights event, took place this Saturday the 12^th of May at the Kinning Park Complex inGlasgow. The event, organized by NCADC and Dialogue for Destitution was well attended by a range of individuals and organizations involved in work with refugees and provided a positive opportunity to increase the capacity of campaigners in Glasgow.

Mike Kay, advocacy manager for Still Human Still Here was the main speaker at the training/skill share event and gave an informative presentation on the topic of campaigning and lobbying. The aim of the presentation was to help community groups to understand the importance of campaigning and how to go about planning an effective campaign.

The session was accessible and a large number of people actively participated: feedback from the session suggested that people got a lot out of it.  One woman who was herself an asylum seeker, said: “anyone whose seeking asylum and wasn’t here today has missed out on an important opportunity.” In particular, she found the “Approaching MPs” session very useful, as she had arranged a meeting with my MP the following week: “Now I feel equipped for the meeting” she said.

Following a wholesome lunch and an informal opportunity to share ideas, a workshop about destitution and housing was delivered by Unity and Dialogue for Destitution. The workshop was centered around the recent evictions as this is something people had a lot to say about, and involved discussions about the current situation, the planned and potential responses/campaigning tactics to be used around the issue and how people could get involved. The workshop gave the opportunity to discuss both the political approach as well as the grass roots approaches to the issue.

The final session of the afternoon involved a workshop on detention delivered by Detention Action with input from Scottish Detainee Visitors, which explored their successes and challenges and highlighted some of the issues that campaigning in the area of refugee rights entails.  At the same time NCADC delivered a workshop around the legal system. Advocate Joe Bryce and Roddy Gibb of Scottish immigration Law Practitioners Association gave an overview of the asylum system and highlighted some campaigning priorities around access to justice. It was a very useful session and Joe and Roddy agreed to run a program of legal workshops in the future for community groups campaigning on these issues.

The event was organized in preparation for the launch of our own Right to Work campaign, which is due to kick off this Summer. Stay tuned for details!

Glasgow Refugee Evictions

Muhammad Abdel Munion, from Sudan, is the first person to made homeless as a result of the change in housing contracts from Y-People to Serco. Muhammad returned home on the 8th of May to find that his locks had been changed. He has no where else to go and is now seeking refuge in the Glasgow Night Shelter.

CHARITY BEGINS REFUGEE EVICTIONS IN GLASGOW

Y-People: Locks changed despite promises from Chief Executive.

Despite assurances, Scottish charity Y-people has started the eviction of up to 100 refugees ahead of the transfer of housing contract to Serco.

Muhammad Abdel Munion, of Sudan is now homeless, after returning to his home of 2 years on Tuesday to find his locks changed. Muhammad had not received any proper notification that he was going to be made homeless from his landlord, Scottish charity Y-People.

In March of this year, Y-people, formerly YMCA, announced it was ending it’s ‘no-evictions’ policy, which had allowed refugees refused asylum, who would otherwise be homeless and destitute, to stay in Y-people flats. Support groups in the city have been pressing Ypeople to allow the residents more time.

On the 25th April at a City Chambers meeting, Y-People Chief Executive, Joe Connolly, assured councillors, refugees and campaigners that there would be no evicitions until August, that “no locks would be changed” and legal due-process would be adhered to.

Campaigners found out about Muhammad’s case when he sought refuge at the Glasgow Destitution Network Night Shelter. Muhammad arrived with nothing but the clothes he was wearing as he had still not received any of his belongings and it was only after campaigners put pressure on senior management did staff agree to return his belongings to him 2 days later.

Muhammad’s story comes 2 weeks after Joe Connolly, Chief Executive of Y-People publicly stated that no locks would be changed without proper legal action being taken to remove people from the properties before they are handed back to property owners.

During the public meeting Joe Connelly “agreed to send a letter out to people explaining the processes and giving dates of when things will be taking place”. No letters have been received by Muhammad, nor have any of the individuals we’ve been in touch with reported receiving such a letter.

Once again Y-People have failed to deal with vulnerable asylum seekers and their supporters in a fair and honest manner. Joe Connolly stated that “they are looking at the most humane way of asking people to move on”. By using dirty tricks and giving unclear messages they have created fear amongst the asylum seeking community. Some individuals, terrified by the threat of eviction, have gone into hiding.

Muhammad is among around 100 asylum seekers who have had their initial asylum claim refused but are unable or unwilling to return to their homes.  Many of these people, are victim to administrative errors and poor decision making on the part of UKBA, yet are now facing imminent homelessness.

We’re calling on those concerned about this situation to write to Y-People, expressing your concerns at their dishonest practice and ask them to adhere to due process. Attached is a template letter which can be sent to:

Joe Connolly

j.connolly@ypeople.org.uk

Chief Executive of Y-People

YMCA Glasgow Head Office
William Harte House

15 Dava Street

 

**The Night Shelter has been providing much needed support to those left completely destitute since November 2011: they rely on public support to continue. If you can support the Night Shelter financially, please do so by donating money to the “Glasgow Destitute Asylum Seeker Night Drop In” account at any Lloyds TSB branch, account No: 75140563 and sort Code: 87-37-51.**