Dear readers, supporters and friends,

As the nights draw in, the trees drop their leaves and the weather turns colder, I hope you are keeping well and looking forward to spending this festive season with your loved ones. It brings me great pleasure to introduce you to our winter newsletter which marks the end of the year, and what a year it has been.

In the news we have been watching devastation after devastation unfold both here and abroad; natural disasters and wars leading to mass displacement coupled with our own politicians creating an increasingly hostile environment for refugees and asylum seekers.

At Borderlands, while we follow this all with heavy hearts, we also try to remain positive and continue to offer safe, warm, welcoming environments to those who need it. Thanks to some amazing funders, we have been able to tackle the cost-of-living crisis by increasing our food provision for our members. We have also been able to work on the more strategic side of Borderlands through a consultant helping us to create our 3-year strategy plan. None of us know how the landscape will look in the coming years but this gives us something to work towards and we are so excited to see what these years will bring for our small organisation with big ambitions.

The asylum seeker population has increased exponentially here in Bristol and so our hard-working staff team have been undertaking outreach work in the hotels alongside supporting our welcome centre and language classes which are all bursting at the seams. It has been a difficult year in terms of hostility and unkind policies, but we continue to try to counteract this with positivity, showing those we work with that many of us do not reflect these views.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for supporting Borderlands over the years and to wish you all a very happy and cheer-filled festive period in which we hope you can recharge your batteries for the year ahead.

I will now leave you to grab a mug of coco, wrap up warm and read on to see what we have been up to this year, I hope you enjoy our winter newsletter!

With warmth, sharing, dignity and respect,

Best wishes,

Caitlin Plunkett, Interim CEO

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What´s been happening at Borderlands...

The Welcome Centre is as busy as ever!

In October, we onboarded a new cohort of member volunteers who have joined the cooking, social supermarket, cleaning, art table and help desk teams. Each new person continues to be a great asset to the team and has helped replace members that are moving out of Bristol to other accommodations.

Our new Monday cooking sessions mean we get the pleasure of inviting groups of friends and families living in initial accommodations across the city to cook together and share a meal.

Residents living in hotels do not always have access to a useable kitchen, so we provide the kitchen, a budget of £40 for fresh ingredients for 2-4 cooks to use and a space to enjoy a meal. Those members can then invite up to 20 neighbours, friends and community members to join them for lunch.

We have also added a new space for women to share a snack and a cup of tea after their yoga classes and before dancing. This project gives women a budget of £20 to buy a few snacks and spend some time together. It is a great space to relate and share.

Yasmine, cooking delicious Eritrean cuisine.

While these initiatives are in their early stages, they've been warmly embraced. They enable groups to prepare cherished family recipes or traditional dishes from their home countries and spend quality time with others. Participants gain confidence, deepen their connection with Borderlands in a more intimate setting and, above all, enjoy a moment of relaxation over a comforting, home-cooked dish.

Our social supermarket has been seeing extremely high number of members using its service, with roughly 100 people visiting each week. Due to the increase in the cost-of-living, this project has become a very important part of our Tuesday drop-in at the Welcome Centre and we are working to strengthen partnerships with food providers and local food banks to deliver a better service but also to make it fairer. We foresee that 2024 will be challenging but we will try our best to keep up with the growing demand for essential resources.

Hot meal being served at Borderlands Welcome Centre.

We are extremely grateful to all the support of volunteers, donors and partners who make Borderlands possible and help us to carry on with our projects. A small-scale example that a better world is possible.

We recently honored the incredible dedication of our volunteers with a special celebration, expressing our deepest gratitude for their hard work and commitment.

The event was filled with joy and creativity as we hosted a lively hat-making competition, accompanied by music, and, in true Borderlands style, a delightful feast.

Thank you to each and every volunteer for being the driving force behind the spirit of Borderlands!

Borderlands volunteer celebration.

Our mentoring project has been busy over the last few months! We currently have 33 active partnerships (the highest number this year) and we have recently trained a new cohort of dynamic mentors who have now been matched with their first mentees. We have also welcomed our new mentoring manager, Annora, who has taken on Olivia’s role while she is on maternity leave.

We have been developing our peer mentoring project which will launch in January and will involve 6 mentees taking on the role of mentor. This will be a space for members to become an active part of our organisation, provide valuable peer-to-peer connection and deliver training opportunities to our members. We have also been growing a network of mentoring projects with people from all around the UK, serving as a useful channel for sharing resources and learning with one another.

At a recent final meeting, one of our mentees said:

"The mentor, she was nice, she was helping me with a lot of things. Like practice the language, English language, she was supporting me like with driving theory a lot. She was helping with the exam online every day. She was helping me with court for my benefits. She gift me confidence about myself, I have trauma, you know. She gifted me a lot of confidence in myself. She said over and over again: you can do it, you can do it, you can do it! Try, try and try! She made me feel happy and comfortable. She was very kind and never missed a meeting. She would send me a text message in the morning to remind me and ask me how I am feeling on the day of our meeting. She always confirmed before. And I always said, ‘I will come!’.

The court listened to my case, before they don’t care, one year and a half. Pushing with mentor and with my lawyer was successful. They made the decision, finally, finally. And it was successful.

She was giving me more confidence in myself. In first day we met, I couldn’t speak like that. She told me you can speak, you can write, you can do. She pushed me and gave me more confidence.

When I have appointments, she supported me to get help I need. She sent GP letter. To the theory test, so that they gave me extra hours. The mentor said that I needed the support, and they accepted. She supported me a lot my side.

I did not confidence then but I do now. Now I feel who I am. Before I could feel the trauma, ‘you don’t know the language, you can't say things’. Now I have confidence. Now I can make appointments with my GP by myself.

Thank you is not enough, but thank you so much to all of you."

It’s been an exciting time for ESOL classes at Borderlands.

After two new asylum hotels were opened in Bristol earlier this year, we found we were struggling to cater for all our new members. There were lots of people who desperately needed to learn basic English so they could learn to navigate their way round Bristol.

Study group in initial accomodation hotel

In responses to this, with our fantastic English volunteers, we launched a new pilot programme of ESOL classes in the hotels. Although there have been some challenges (including finding suitable classroom spaces), this project is now in full swing and is something we plan to continue into 2024. We have doubled our number of students from around 80 per week to 160. All of this is due to incredible passion, commitment and compassion from our teaching volunteers. We truly couldn’t do it without them.

Alongside the English classes, we have also been offering weekly Maths classes. Although there is a variety of levels within the group, there is a lovely supportive atmosphere and a culture in which the students use both their maths and language skills to help one another.

This term, Leticia, a Borderlands volunteer and journalist, has run an incredibly successful discussion group called ‘Sharing Stories’. This group has brought together members from countries all over the world. Together they have travelled through Brazil, Colombia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Georgia, Iran, Sudan and Ukraine. Each member is invited to share something from their culture (such as a song, poem or festival) and then the group explore and learn about it together. We are very sad that this project will be coming to an end as Leticia is moving back to Brazil.

Finally, our weekly poetry classes, run in partnership with The Reader, continues to flourish. Each week members read and discuss different poems. This way they are exploring different writers and ideas whilst also continuing to improve their English vocabulary and oral skills.

Teacher:"You've all been fantastic, it's such a great team and group of students. I hope to volunteer with Borderlands again in the future!"

Student: "OK I'm excited for it I would like to stay with Anne because she is helping me with the alphabet."

English class at Borderlands 2023

The women’s theatre group has been such a joy this term!

Carlota, with the support of Circe and Ania, have created a beautiful, safe and creative space for women to come together and explore the medium of theatre.

There have been two ‘sharing’ sessions during this term. The first as part of a fascinating event about the Theatre of Migration at the Trinity Centre. The second formed an end of year celebration in which friends, family and guests could come and participate in the group’s work and share a delicious meal together afterwards.

Additionally, the group has been on two theatre trips; one to Sudafest, an arts festival celebrating Sudanese culture. The second to Arabian Nights, a play at the Old Vic theatre. It’s been amazing to watch this project come to life and we hope to be able to secure funding in order for to continue in 2024!

Theatre sharing session, at the Trinity Centre.

In other news...

You might have caught Borderlands on your screens in the last few weeks, engaging in conversations with both Channel 4 and ITV News about the concerning rise in food poverty and the remarkable efforts of charities like ours.

Destitution is a significant challenge faced by those seeking asylum in the UK. Most of whom are from different cultures and backgrounds, with some not speaking English. But stretching the limited support to meet their basic everyday needs is often the biggest challenge.

Destitution prevents people from living a healthy life, affecting their mental wellbeing and reducing their quality of life. Many people seeking asylum have already been exposed to multiple traumatic events before arriving in this country and, in many cases, the trauma is prolonged or repeated while being in the asylum system.

In the UK, the demand for support from charitable organisations and food banks continues to rise. Each week we are seeing a rise in the number of people attending our vital services. With poverty worsening and winter arriving, the demand for resources is higher than ever.

As Sezab, said to ITV News: "When you see the increase in people who need food, that means they're struggling for other basic things."

You can watch and read the full stories here: Channel 4 and ITV.

We’re extremely thankful for all your ongoing support. Your donations play a crucial role in helping refugees and asylum seekers with basic human needs.

We would also love to send a huge congratulations to Khrystyna, who has won the Workers’ Educational Association Academic Excellence award for her translation work. Congratulations Khrystyna!

Read the full BBC article here.

We've published our 2022 - 2023 Impact Report!

We held our Annual Open Meeting at the beginning of November, it was an afternoon dedicated to celebrating Borderlands' journey and outlining our strategic goals for the next three years.

We were also excited to share our Impact Report for 2022-2023 - an overview of Borderlands' activities and accomplishments throughout the last year.

Please read via our website here.

A word from our Chair...

On behalf of the Trustees of Borderlands, I would like to start by thanking our Borderlands family, particularly the members, volunteers, staff, supporters and trustees who all give a considerable amount of their time and commitment to help Borderlands achieve its mission.

Christmas is a time of giving, but for Borderlands, this period of giving is not limited to the Christmas season. Our staff, volunteers and trustees give their time, care and hard work throughout the year to ensure that our members are provided the opportunity to share their stories, courage, determination and resilience whilst creating a place for community and taking part in social and educational activities.

It has been my privilege to step into the role of the Chair of Trustees and I would like to thank Richard McKay for his invaluable support for Borderlands throughout the years.

Finally, on behalf of myself, I wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and that the 2024 New Year brings you much joy, health, happiness and prosperity.

With my best wishes,

Kimberlee Lynn Carstensen

Chair of the Board of Trustees

Fundraising

We've had a wonderful winter season with some fantastic fundraising events!

One of our highlights was being chosen as the charity beneficiary for local event Transitions - An Adventure in Music and Words. "As the music plays, we hear the thoughts of people of different ages and backgrounds about the changes happening in their lives."

Here, we set up a stall and had the pleasure of connecting with many fantastic supporters, some of whom have been supporting Borderlands for a long time. It was truly heartwarming to meet you all. Through door sales and raffle tickets, we raised an incredible £122. A huge thank you for this fantastic support!

Additionally, we're delighted to announce that Borderlands has been named as Bristol Phoenix Choir's Charity of the Year. By fundraising at their events, they've raised over an astounding £500 for Borderlands - thank you, we're incredibly grateful!

If you are interested in fundraising for Borderlands, please click here to check out our website and for more information!

Finally we would like to conclude the year with a warm and heartfelt thank you to our dedicated board, our valued funders, compassionate volunteers, dedicated staff, and steadfast supporters. Your unwavering dedication and support play a pivotal role in the success of Borderlands.

As we approach the holiday season, we extend our sincere appreciation, and we wish each of you a joyous and happy holiday.

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We thank you for your continued support of our work.

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