Hello everyone,

A very warm welcome to this special issue of our newsletter marking Refugee Week and Pride month. 

As migrant and LGBTQ+ communities continue to bear the brunt of discrimination, we must to stand in solidarity with them. Let’s make Refugee Week and Pride count and come together as a community against hate, racism, islamophobia and transphobia. 

5 things you can do this Refugee Week:

 🥾 Sponsor our team for the London Legal Walk
 🎉 Get a ticket for our Community Celebration – we have a stellar line up of local poets and DJ’s for what promises to be an inspiring and fun event. See you there!
 🧡 Join us, together we make a stronger community. 
 📲 Follow us on Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook.
  📧 Share this newsletter with your family, friends and colleagues.  

We are excited about Refugee Week and we know that together we can make it a huge success. 

Please get in touch with ideas or how to get involved: [email protected]. We love hearing from you.

In solidarity,
Anne

📆 Refugee Week starts today – Monday 16th June – and ends on Sunday 22nd with Windrush Day. It”s going to be a busy week for us at WFMA with many events to attend – as well as hosting our own. And here’s how you can make the most of what happening in Waltham Forest – and beyond – this week. 

Some highlights include:

For more local events, please check Waltham Forest Council’s listings. 

Refugee Week: Take Action

While there isn’t much new information to share about the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill 2025 or White paper since our last newsletter, there is much to be done – and time is of essence. We’ve seen how quickly things have escalated in the US!

We are working with colleagues at Citizens UK to invite our local MPs to a parliamentary briefing later this month to engage directly with them on issues pertaining to the Bill and the white paper. 

We are also supporting RAMFEL’s campaign asking MPs to sign Early Day Motion (EDM) 986 – calling for a fee waiver to be introduced for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) applications for those on family and private life visas. 

The immigration system is discriminating against the poorest migrants – many of whom have lived in the UK for decades, but are being locked out of permanent residency simply because they can’t afford the extortionate £3,029 per person – even though it only costs the Home Office £646 to process. 

To take action and add your voice, simply click on this link. 

Thank you.