Report from Wigan Christadelphians:
Our chosen charity for the rucksack promotion went to a very
grateful group called SWAP (Support for Wigan Arrivals Project).
We know them through visitors we have had and have benefitted from their
advice.
Established in 2005 as an offshoot from an existing charity by
the help of lottery funding they are somewhat pioneers in this area with a
growing national reputation. They are all about helping in a practical manner
both in terms of giving advice and assisting in the integration of asylum
seekers within the community. They work closely with the local council
and other organisations.
They comprise 4 staff and around 120 volunteers primarily based
in Wigan where, amongst other things, they provide regular courses for ESOL ( English
for Speakers of Other Languages), English Conversation
Classes and an Advanced Debate Group on specific days throughout the week. It
includes women only classes and as might be expected deals with a variety of
nationalities. It recently expanded some of its activities to the nearby town
of Tyldesely.
SWAP were a natural choice for the COG backpack appeal and gave
advice on what foodstuffs to provide. For those not regularly involved in a
daily food budget it was surprising to learn what could be obtained for £7.00
per backpack. Wigan Ecclesia were grateful to COG for also providing the
finance for the food which allowed the ecclesia to maintain its existing
support for others.
20 or 40 packs of anything multiplied soon fills, in our case,
two big shopping trolleys and can be a bit of a challenge at checkout but our
local Aldi checkout girl trusted our declaration of quantities and shopping was
complete. Backpacks had arrived beforehand without incident.
From car boot to living room and a mini production line
then on to delivery.
But how do you distribute 20 filled backpacks to 22!
Simple, you have a competition at the Christmas Party based on that well known
game of ‘pin the nose on the reindeer’! Clearly a festive alternative to ‘pin
the tail on the donkey’. Then again the donkey was very much part of the first
Christmas! Anyway it was a success and certainly no poor losers.
A
few pictures are attached from the SWAP Christmas Party and delivery.
