Happiness is a warm bun

A kilo of fresh yeast came in to our surplus food cafe so Elenor decided to make buns. They turned out bigger and better than expected and our [community sponsorship] meeting  in the cafe was allowed to indulge in some samples - see extra.

Although  'our' refugee family has been with us a few weeks  now we continue to meet regularly to check on their progress, plan their assimilation schedule and iron out any problems. Since they are only just beginning to learn English from scratch they need help navigating all the bureaucratic formalities involved in registering with doctors and dentists, signing on for social security benefits, opening banks accounts, paying bills and learning how to use public transport and local shops.
The two individuals at the end of the table are post-graduate researchers from London University  who came to talk to the family and to us about the community sponsorship process and how it compares with refugee resettlement as carried out by local authorities. There's no doubt that the diverse backgrounds, the energy, persistence and motivation of groups like ours renders the undertaking more rewarding for all concerned.

If  anyone is interested in finding out more, our sister group, in another part of the county, has been getting some media attention recently; you can read about their initiative here.