BADGES AND THE HARBOUR PROJECT

A couple of weeks after I had started at The Community Fridge, I mentioned to Heather, one of the organisers that I thought it would be a good idea for the volunteers, especially those who went into the café to chat to the customers, to have a name badge.  She said she had thought of that, but if I wanted to source the badges then she was happy for me to do so.

I had a look on Etsy and found a small company called “AlfieIsaac” that could provide name badges for us.  I made a template, found out the various names from Heather and then corresponded with AlfieIsaac, who was very helpful.  It is obviously a small business, as are many on Etsy, and I found the owner very easy to deal with, so after a couple of weeks, this was the result and they arrived today.  There may be one or two who don’t like to wear a badge, but I’m happy to wear mine and to be part of The Community Fridge!  

After I had taken them over to The Community Fridge and left them with Julie because Heather doesn’t work there on a Tuesday, I went to the Harbour Project.  This is a non-government organisation which welcomes asylum seekers and refugees into Swindon - those who have risked their lives, families and homes fleeing war and persecution and provide friendship and hope for a future.  

They have an office and facilities at the rear of St. Luke’s Church, which is near to the Town Centre, and it is a safe place where people can come for help and advice or just to sit and have a cup of tea and a chat with the people who run it.  It is also a charity, so needs to raise money to stay open.  As the Project is also happy to receive donations of personal toiletries, I took lots of shower gel, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes as our donation.

There were quite a few people in there when I arrived and there was a lovely atmosphere - very friendly and welcoming.  When I had rung them a few weeks ago regarding someone who had come to our church, I spoke to a lovely lady called Jaz.  It turned out that she knew our younger son from their schooldays but hadn’t seen much of him since.  I have put them in touch with one another and hope that he sees this photograph;  when I suggested a selfie and said I would send it to him, Jaz was waving to him!  

As I was leaving, the man who came to our church arrived so we had a quick chat.  He has now started going to another church because there are others from his country going there too, and he is also learning English, which is great.  It was so good to see him again and I told him I missed him - he said he missed me too! I did take a selfie of the three of us, but for obvious reasons cannot post it, but I will send it to him.

I am so pleased that he has found friends from his own country and also here in the UK and hope that everything works out well for him.  I cannot imagine having to go and live in another country where I didn’t know the language and didn’t know many people either.  What a wonderful job the Harbour Project is doing - and I’m sure that Mr. HCB and I will be supporting them more in the future.

“It is the obligation of every person 
     born in a safer room 
          to open the door 
               when someone in danger knocks.”
Nadia Hashimi


P.S.  The badges are great - they look a bit odd because of the way the light was shining on them!