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Hello everyone,

Thank you for your continued support, and welcome to the first newsletter of 2024!

Below you’ll find an update on the hotel eviction, details of some upcoming events, and some good news about WFMA funding.

If there’s anything you’d like to be included in the next newsletter, or that you would like me to send to our supporters urgently, please contact me at [email protected]. I want this newsletter to be a helpful resource for members of the community, so appreciate feedback and input.

In solidarity,

Joseph

Update: Waltham Forest hotel evictions

I’m sure most of you are already aware of the ongoing situation at the hotel in Waltham Forest where people seeking asylum have been housed for up to two years. On 18th January residents at the hotel received a letter from the Home Office asylum accommodation subcontractor Clearsprings Ready Homes stating that their rooms would “no longer be available” after 26th January. This meant that 400 people were at risk of being moved away from the community links they had developed in Waltham Forest. Some were at risk of being moved outside of London altogether. This is part of a shift in government policy away from the use of hotels, in response to racist backlash.

There was a powerful gathering on the 24th January outside the hotel, coordinated by Waltham Forest Citizens and other local groups, as residents showed up in solidarity and handed a letter to Clearsprings with the following demands:

  • Extend people’s stay until April 2024, as initially planned;
  • Commit to giving people at least two months’ notice; and
  • Meet with us to discuss how housing conditions can be improved.


You can see some photos from the demonstration here, here and here. There was also news coverage in the Waltham Forest Echo.

With thanks to George Gaillet from Waltham Forest Citizens for providing the following update on the situation since the 26th January deadline passed:

The action on Thursday 25th January was full of sadness, emotion and hope. There is also lots of learning to build on. General feelings of pride, gratitude, being impressed with our power to turn out and in such short notice, collaborating with other institutions and organisations. We showed solidarity with our refugee and asylum-seeking neighbours and friends…

The Action is in the reaction:

  • So far, no one far been moved from London (a backtrack since first week which had 8 different hotels);
  • Single people have been moved to West London, Newham and Forest Gate;
  • Lots of positive feedback and gratitude from people living in hotels; and
  • Vulnerable families remain at the hotel.


No doubt the Waltham Forest community will continue to organise around this issue. I will share any updates and events with you all as and when I hear about them.

Events

Free bus travel for asylum seekers campaign

Save the date! On 7 February, Citizens UK and a coalition of community leaders, asylum seekers and grassroots campaigners from across London will gather outside London City Hall to deliver a Valentine’s Day card to Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor of Transport for London and ask for a “date” to meet and discuss access to bus travel for asylum seekers – bringing along creatively designed ‘love buses’ artwork, a collaborative effort crafted by various community groups and people seeking asylum.

  • Date: 7 February, 11:30-12pm.
  • Location: the lawn outside City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, London, E16 1ZE.

If you would like further information or want to meet up to go to the action, please email me at [email protected].

CommemorAction

On 6 February 2014, the Spanish Guardia Civil police force fired rubber bullets on people who were trying to swim around a border fence that separates Morocco from the Spanish city of Ceuta. Dozens drowned at sea and corpses were found on both the Moroccan and the Spanish side of the border. Other bodies disappeared and were never found.

Every year since, relatives of the disappeared and dead, together with activist supporters, organise CommemorActions – commemorations of the dead and missing fused with protest and actions for a better world in which these deaths don’t occur. 

This year there is a CommemorAction taking place in London, organised by the Alarm Phone:

  • Date: 6 February, 7pm.
  • Location: London Action Resource Centre (LARC), 62 Fieldgate St, London, E1 1ES.

There will be a documentary screening, banner making, and other activities.

If you need more information, please email [email protected].

WFMA updates

Funding update

Huge thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund for awarding us a grant that will help fund our immigration and welfare advice / casework for migrants and refugees in the borough of Waltham Forest.

Waltham Forest has a large migrant community with high levels of deprivation in several wards. For many, we represent their last resort as they face language, financial and bureaucratic barriers to accessing their rights.

A key strength of WFMA’s service is offering both immigration and welfare advice as our visitors’ problems are often entangled and complex. Visitor numbers have doubled recently to more than 15 per week and we anticipate 300 visitors bringing over 600 issues to us this year.

As such, this grant could not come at a more important time for the migrant and refugee community in Waltham Forest.

Get involved!

Could you be a WFMA volunteer?

If you have any time to spare each week, month or even for a one-off piece of work, please do email [email protected] and we will send you a registration form so we can see how we might best use your talents!

If you’re interested in anything campaigns or communications related, please contact me at [email protected]

Support us

Become a WFMA member and become part of our community – click here to fill out the joining form.

Alternatively, click here! to make a one-time donation – or even better, set up a monthly recurring donation – and make a valuable contribution to what we do.

Every penny you give will be appreciated and go towards helping us give urgently needed support to migrants in Waltham Forest through our Support Centre and other work.

The Support Centre is open for drop-in every Friday from 10am -12.30pm at the Baptist Church, 65 Blackhorse Road, Walthamstow E17 7AS.

For more information, please email is [email protected]. Most immigration inquiries will require a follow up appointment – so drop in, phone or email to secure a time.