Our Work
Despite the big world events, our ethos has remained constant throughout this period: to perceive the individual and befriend him or her. Our mandate has come from the Bible and is “to welcome the stranger into our midst”. In reality friendship expresses itself in action and we have been guided throughout by responding to requests for help. This started with English language teaching but soon moved on into advice, accommodation, community building and caring for 16-18 year olds. There has been real joy in the friendships thus formed but there has also been a lot of pain. The joy has stemmed from seeing lives established and built; the pain from walking with people who were being stigmatized by the media and then effectively locked out of our country by the government. We understand the reason for this policy but find the execution of it so brutal and indiscriminate that we have started to actively campaign for improvements.
The history of immigration to this country has much to teach us but the key lesson is this: waves of refugees have hit these shores over the centuries and each of them has brought an injection of new blood to the culture as well as the economy. It seems such a shame that so many new arrivals were and are met with hostility, but it is down to personal responsibility. We want to follow others in the past who have given a welcome and so made life bearable.
How can we help?
The staff of ICN are available for advice and help. If you need a speaker to talk about opportunities of reaching out to refugee and asylum seekers please feel free to contact our office.
Thank you for being there. I can do so much more knowing that you will help me if things go wrong.
