December 2014 e

H & F REFUGEE FORUM e-Bulletin
Supporting Local Refugee Community Organisations
December 2014 In This Edition
• New Social Media Training Course a hit
• PHL hub fails but refugee groups not affected
• New Advice Forum for borough/Refugee Week Project underway
• Refugee Forum Annual Meeting
Company Reg. No 04570246 Charity Reg. No 1099619
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This
picture shows members of RCOs and stakeholder organisations who have been attending the Social
Media training courses organised by HFRF thanks to a grant from Awards 4 All. To date, four out of six
monthly
training workshops have been held at the computer suite in the Iranian Association offices in King
Street, Hammersmith. Writing for the web, blogging and creating a Facebook page have been covered thus
far.
HFRF’s Facebook page can now be visited by going to our website and clicking on the Facebook icon at
the
top right hand corner of the homepage. If you like what you see then let us know by clicking on Like. The
training
is being run by Media Trust from White City.
Social Media training course a hit
Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum, 378 Bishop Creighton House, Lillie Road, Fulham, London SW6 7PH.
Tel. 020 7386 9060.
Email: officehfrf@aol.co.uk website: www.hfrf.org.uk
News
PHL fails but refugee groups will stay at Norland House
RCOs forced to leave Palingswick House three years ago have reacted with anger on learning that the
company running the so-called ‘hub’ for voluntary groups at Norland House, on the Edward Woods
Estate at Shepherd’s Bush, had given two refugee organisations notice to quit.
PHL – formerly the management company running Palingswick House – was given £330,000 in 2011 by
the then Hammersmith & Fulham Council to set itself up in business running the new ‘hub’ at Norland
House. Having completely failed to make the ‘hub’ a viable business PHL gave its only tenants, the Iraqi
Association and the Kurdish Association, notice to quit by this Christmas.
The Refugee Forum contacted the Council immediately and Jabbar Hasan, Director of the Iraqi
Association, spoke to local councillors. The result, in a matter of days, was an assurance by the Council
that the two RCOs would not have to leave Norland House and that, for the time being at least, the local
authority would take over managing the ‘hub’ directly.
PHL will now cease to exist, having failed to ensure that the ‘hub’ became a going concern. In the three
years since they took it on the only tenants still there are the Iraqi Association and the Kurdish
Association. Other groups left because the premises were unsuitable and far too expensive.
PHL has blamed the council for this management failure but the Refugee Forum has made it quite clear to
the local authority that we do not share this view. We have called on the Council to launch an inquiry
into this use of public money. Of the £330,000 given by the previously Conservative-run council to PHL
only £72,000 was given to the frontline voluntary groups that occupied Palingswick House. This money
was divided up among the 16 organisations who were in Palingswick at the time. It was insufficient for
most of
them to carry
on operating
and at least half have now either folded completely or are dormant.
Meanwhile PHL held on to £258,000 to establish itself as the company managing the new ‘hub’. They have
clearly failed in spectacular fashion.
Phil Cooper, spokesman for the Refugee Forum, said: “This sorry saga has had a devastating effect on the
voluntary sector in general and refugee organisations in particular. We opposed PHL’s plans all along and,
having witnessed their apparent inability to make the ‘hub’ viable, we are not surprised at this outcome.
We are most grateful to the Labour administration at the Council for ensuring that our member groups,
the Iraqi Association and the Kurdish Association, have not become innocent victims of PHL’s failures.”
And he added: “We want a full inquiry into how and why this huge sum of money was handed over to
PHL rather than being used to bolster local refugee organisations in their vital, ongoing work. We want
to know how the money has been used. We also want to see the ‘hub’ now managed properly in a way
that can provide, at last, some badly needed affordable accommodation for the voluntary sector in the
borough.”
This is how the local press in
2012 covered the row over PHL
and the money given to them by
the previous council. The Refugee
Forum also wrote to the Charity
Commission asking it to intervene
but, sadly, the Commission said it
was unable to assist. It did,
however, refute claims by PHL
that the Commission had given
Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum, 378 Bishop Creighton House,approval
Lillie Road,to
Fulham,
7PH.
PHL’sLondon
plan SW6
to keep
Tel. 020 7386 9060.
the money itself.
Email: officehfrf@aol.co.uk website: www.hfrf.org.uk
News
New Advice Forum for the Borough
The Council, working with the voluntary sector, has established a new borough-wide advice forum bringing
together many local organisations, including the Refugee Forum, to ensure that advice and guidance on the
widest possible range of subjects, including housing, welfare benefit and immigration issues can be dealt
with in a swift and effective manner.
The H&F Law Centre is co-ordinating what has been called the Advice Station which is now the central
point for dealing with initial requests for advice and information. The telephone number of the Advice
Station is 020 7385 1322.
Refugee Week Project is well underway
The partnership between the Refugee Forum and Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre on a project
working with local refugees and schools is gathering pace. Thanks to a grant from the Council, the project Our Stories, Our Voices - has been able to arrange a number of sessions where young people from refugee
backgrounds have been working on a book made up of traditional stories from their countries of origin.
The project has also visited local schools to share some of the stories with school students and a number
of storytelling sessions have been arranged with local branch libraries. Project organiser at the Volunteer
Centre, Peter Rodriguez, is also hoping that an e-book of the stories can be published online. The final
results of the work will be showcased at the Refugee Forum’s 2015 Refugee Week celebration event.
Refugee Forum AGM
The Annual General Meeting of Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum will be held on
Thursday 18th December 2014
Rivercourt Methodist Church
King Street, Hammersmith
11am to 1pm
Guest Speakers include
Andy Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith
Councillor Sue Fennimore, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion,
Hammersmith & Fulham Council
*This is an important meeting. Please make every effort to attend and bring colleagues*
Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum, 378 Bishop Creighton House, Lillie Road, Fulham, London SW6 7PH.
Tel. 020 7386 9060.
Email: officehfrf@aol.co.uk website: www.hfrf.org.uk