Newcastle College parent group NCG has launched the next phase of its student refugee support programme Our Community is Your Community.
The programme focuses on helping student refugees overcome barriers they face when arriving and learning in a new culture and society. Shivan Merza, a refugee from Kurdistan, has been appointed as project coordinator.
Since starting in December 2021, the programme has worked directly with approximately 120 refugees, asylum seekers and other ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students in its Newcastle, Carlisle, and Kidderminster Colleges, and NCG plans to expand this support across all of its seven colleges.
The programme aims to support students in a variety of ways, focussing on activity including technical English language, building social bonds and connections, employability, refugee entrepreneurship, and health and wellbeing.
Liz Bromley, chief executive officer at NCG said: “Shivan our project coordinator has been a real driving force behind the Our Community is Your Community programme to date, which is terrific. As a network we’re lucky to have someone who has experienced first-hand the challenges student refugees face and despite the odds been very successful to lead the programme.
"As colleges we have existing partnerships with organisations we can work alongside to make it easier for student refugees – for example we are currently working with the travel network Nexus on a range of initiatives, including translation of travel guides and documents."
The Venator Community Fund is offering community groups across the North East grants of up to £1,000 as part of its £11,500 prize fund.
Now in its fourth year, the fund is offering £1,000 to the application that receives the most public votes in an online poll, with £750 and £500 awarded to the second and third placed projects. Another 37 winners will receive a grant of £250.
Groups are invited to apply online at www.venatorcommunity.com. Entries are open until 12pm on Thursday 9th June 2022.
A Newcastle digital marketing agency has announced a partnership that aims to benefit charitable organisations in the area.
Glass Digital is working with Connected Voice, which works with charities to improve their business knowledge, to share its digital marketing expertise with local charities for free.
The first charity helped in the scheme is the Friends of Jesmond Library, which has to raise £30,000 a year to keep Jesmond Library open. Glass Digital advised the Friends group on improvements to its website and social media output.
Jennifer Macdonald, Glass Digital’s head of marketing, said: “I am looking forward to doing more of these projects in the future, as it not only feels like Glass Digital are helping charities, but also like we are benefiting the region. The North East has some amazing charitable organisations which are crying out for free expertise, so if we can help even a handful of them it will be a worthwhile achievement.”
