Raising cash to help the plight of refugees

BY TOBY PORTER
toby@slpmedia.co.uk

If you’re looking for a home for traumatised refugees, you could certainly do with tough-talking no-nonsense Sergeant June Ackland behind you

The character on TV series The Bill had her troubles which blazed a trail for the likes of TV female detectives Jane Tennison  and Vera Stanhope, who came after – and, in real life, the Met’s first woman Commissioner, Cressida Dick.

Now the long arm of the law is reaching out to troubled Syrian refugees. The actor who played Sgt Ackland for 24 years, Trudie Goodwin, has thrown her pioneering spirit behind a project to house a displaced family in Herne Hill – and the project has already raised thousands of pounds.

Trudie, born and raised in Lewisham is supporting a bid for a refugee family under the government’s Community Sponsorship Scheme (CSC).

The scheme says that to take a refugee family, a community must have,  £9,000, school places, a flat for two years, with its own front door,  a doctor, support from the local council – Lambeth has already increased the number of families it has offered to take from 25 to 28, and befrienders who can support the family with the cultural, practical and legal hurdles they will face.

Trudie is helping with fundraising, publicity, working on a stall in Herne Hill Market, in Railton Road,
Brixton, and dishing out leaflets.

She heard about it when two neighbours, Rachel Griffiths who works in the theatre and former Fairtrade chief executive Harriet Lamb, began the project and raised thousands through a sponsored cycle ride.

They staged an open meeting for the neighbourhood in St Xavier’s Church, Herne Hill Road, in October – 50 people turned up. One of them was Trudie.

She said: “Like many people, I had seen on TV how many people are being displaced. When it is children, it is particularly awful. People were drowning in the Mediterranean – which showed how desperate they were to get away from their situation.

“I felt impotent – that just giving money was not enough.

“I went to the meeting and there were amazing numbers of people of all ages, including young people who did not even have comfortable homes like me.

“Young friends of mine had gone to The Jungle refugee camp in Calais and were shocked by the terrible conditions and such desperation.

“There is not much I can do – I can’t speak Arabic or do a website – but helping with publicity is something that can help.”

Trudie likes that the community is so involved. “It is one of the issues that can spark a lot of discussion, even anger, with the housing shortage here,”  she said.

“This needs to be out in the open from the start. It has involved the whole community from the word go.

“We have not had a single negative comment.

“We have lived in this house for 28 years – and before that in Brixton and Peckham, because that was what we could afford.

“I always felt extraordinary welcome in those areas.

People talked about crime in the areas we moved to – but we have never experienced any.

“We love Brockwell Park and the open air swimming pool there. I have used it for up to 40 years. We love the diversity. My kids were born and raised here and went to local schools. My daughter Elly [pop star La Roux] lives five minutes away.”

The next step is finding a home for the refugee family.

“We are looking for a sympathetic landlord who can rent to a traumatised Syrian refugee family on housing benefit for two years,” she said.

“We would be involved throughout. If the home is not in good condition, people have offered to do it up.

“It is very heartening, when sometimes it has seems like everyone these days is just out for themselves.”

Rachel started the project after meeting Harriet on the annual cycle ride by members of St Xavier’s. It raised the £9,000 necessary to start the Community Sponsorship Scheme in Herne Hill.

“The extraordinary thing has been people’s willingness to give their skills and time,” she said.

“We have committees looking at housing, teaching English, security for the house, communication and marketing.

“We are learning as we go along.”

The theatre freelancer has worked on cabarets, activities and concerts in schools here and in India, for example on workshops with former sex-trafficked girls.

“It is exciting to be doing this – though sometimes it feels like a massive thing to have taken on,” Rachel said.

“I have friends who have helped create a CSC in North Devon and their family arrived before Christmas.

“It is a beautiful thing but it needs real commitment – which we have got. That is amazing. To get a roomful of people helping out who never knew each other before.

“The scheme supports the most vulnerable families, so it is possible ours will have medical needs.

They might not speak English.”But with Sgt Ackland behind them, they have an expert in getting out of any tough situation.”

Find out more, email hhwelcomesrefugees@gmail.com