Aid to refugees
LSR a brief review of the year to date
We have had a very busy year so far at LSR:
Fundraising
We managed to participate in 4 fundraisers so far this year; 2 quizzes, a clothes sale in conjunction with Hannah (thanks very much Hannah!) and finally a musical afternoon at Seigneurie de Peyrat. Thanks to all of you that attended/took part. On top of these fundraisers, we have the regular contributions from people such as yourself. These are the life blood of LSR and allow us to make some of the longer-term commitments you see below. If you haven’t signed up yet and want to support us please go to our website and go to the donate page
Service delivery
We have continued with our feeding and housing programs. Every 2 weeks we provide bags of food and a little cash to families with no other means of support. This averages out at around 30-35 people in Beziers. Additionally, our sister organisation in the Aude supports around 100 people once a month in Caracasonne.
Through our partners at Cent pour un Toit Vallée d’Orb we provide the equivalent of the rent for an apartment for one of the families they house.
On top of these on-going core commitments there are series of ad hoc service and funding commitments we make through the year both to organisations and to individuals where we often act as the doner of last resort. This year these have included Théthé and her 4 children when her husband passed away, the ALHAMKA family who have had their support stopped while they need to reapply for settlement and Abdouleh who was going to lose his accomodation while waiting for his final asylum confirmation.
Finally there is the work we do with partner organisations mainly around the region ; These range from Stop Racisme in Pezenas where we helped fund 2 young men who had received OQTF(ordre de quitter le territoire francais) and have now both got jobs, to AMI in Bédarieux where we provide 2 Bangladeshi kids with 50€ pocket money every month. We also pass on a lot of donated materiel such as blankets and furniture to a variety of organisations- Samu Sociale in Montpellier, La
Cimade in Beziers, AMIC and Adages in Clermont amongst others.
Outside of the region we sent money to Roots in Calais and a group looking after homeless migrant children in Paris and have other projects in hand.
Looking forward
Summer is a quieter time for us but aside from the food deliveries etc we will be launching our
annual Rentrée appeal later this month. This covers a contribution towards the cost of equipping
the kids from La Cimade with what they need to attend school in September. The pantry still
needs food donations I can provide a list of drop off points. We will be doing another quiz in
October and hopefully our Christmas concert at Cassan in December. As usual all our activities
are covered in full on www.languedocsolidarite.com
Nobody knows what the current political changes will bring but we only see it making things even harder for those fleeing war and persecution and increase the demand for what we provide.
Thank you all for your ongoing support.
As every year, a good-natured Saint Patrick's Day celebration for the benefit of LSR Haute Vallée de l'Aude.
Pézenas, February 20, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. The quiz is back even stronger! Our quiz masters will challenge you again with this fun and interactive quiz! Teams of 6 will be challenged with tests on music, general knowledge, Lidl offers, and much more! Great prizes are up for grabs.
The questions are in French and English – so you'll need to work with your French- or English-speaking classmates to form a winning team!
Wine and cheese will be available that evening. To reserve, please click here or email us at: lsrtickets@gmail.com
Migrant'scene 2023, Cimade Festival
from November 18 to December 9
More than 100 cities in metropolitan France and overseas will host Migrant'scène events on the theme of Freedoms! In equality and solidarity.
Like every year, hundreds of volunteers throughout France engage in the creation, programming and organization of the Migrant'scene festival which takes different forms depending on the cities.
For a day, a weekend or a week, around a meal, a film, an exhibition or even a show, but always TOGETHER, the local editions of the festival are rich and varied:
LSR Pézenas, Saturday, November 18, 2023, THE QUIZ is back!
Better than ever! Our quiz masters will challenge you with this fun and interactive quiz! Teams will be put to the test with trials on art, music, food and drink, and current affairs. There will be great prizes to be won. Don't worry if you're alone or not enough people to form a team, LSR Matchmakers© are here to create the perfect blend of knowledge, language, and personality.
Questions are asked in French and English - so you'll need to work together with your French-speaking or English-speaking classmates to form a winning team!
Appointment at 7:30 p.m. at the Foyer des Campagne, 10 pl. Frédéric Mistral 34120, Pezenas.
Wine and cheese will be available that evening, but we prefer that you reserve for the cheese. If you have any questions, please contact us at lsrtickets@gmail.com
The LSR Annual General Meeting will take place on Saturday, November 4 at 2:30 p.m. in Caux at the Media Library (13 Rue Jules Ferry, Caux 34720).
We'll take stock of our activities and those of our partners and conclude the afternoon with a glass of wine. If you'd like, you're welcome to bring something to share, and of course, there will be a dry food collection to support our work with refugees.
Operation Bikes II
Having a bicycle can make a real difference in the lives of refugees by giving them independence and the ability to move around the cities where they live without have to pay.
We launched an appeal at the end of September to try to find around twenty bikes and in 2 weeks we were offered 50!
THANKS everyone for your support. We have already distributed a number of them to La Cimade in Béziers, to the MNA (Unaccompanied Minors) in Pézenas, and at LSR Aude in Carcassonne and we continue to respond to needs locally.
Bicycles for refugees in Carcassonne.
We recently donated six refurbished bicycles to refugees in Carcassonne and Limoux. Four new bicycles are in the works.
We learned that Amadou's future had already been decided in his absence and without his on December . His appeal was dismissed, and the OQTF stands. I'm not sure what's going to happen next for this young man, but isn't good news. It seems there's been
of residency rules lately; whereas previously, living responsibly and being into a community for 5 years meant that " " was highly likely, this is no longer the case. This will big problems for the future.
Amadou , a young Guinean migrant, is threatened with an OQTF (obligation to leave French territory).
Last August, We asked you to sign a petition to support the appeal. against Amadou's OQTF. Amadou's hearing takes place on Tuesday, January 10 in Montpellier. Maître Ruffel, who is handling the case, believes the presence of numerous supporters who support Amadou could may influence the Court's decision!
Winter is the most difficult for refugees, especially those who are still sleeping outside. Every year we send clothes and blankets to those who have no shelter, here and elsewhere.
This month of December, in addition to our usual requests for food, We collect men's clothing, blankets and tents.
You will find attached our list of food products as well as the list of collection points where you can drop off your contributions.
Please give generously or, if you prefer, donate on our website using the button below.
Delivery of clothing to refugees in Ventimiglia.
Two of our LSR volunteers have delivered a car loaded with clothes to the Boutik Fraternelle in Menton. There has a real need for (men's) clothing and blankets in Ventimiglia. We We will launch an appeal during the course of next week.
Visa pour l'image 2022.
Visa pour l'image, international photojournalism festival, in Perpignan, 2022 edition.
Of
numerous exhibitions in places that have become legendary, the Couvent des
Minimes, the Dominican Church, the Palais des Corts, the Hotel Pams
etc..
We see all the horrors of the world and we come away shaken.
Of
increasingly concerned by the plight of refugees around the world,
France and in our region, very close to us, I was
particularly sensitive to the exhibition of Sameer Al-Doumy that I had
the chance to meet a Syrian photographer in Perpignan, winner of the Visa
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Humanitarian Gold Award 2022,
for his report produced between August 2020 and May 2022 which highlights
shed light on the migration crisis in northern France. After years
transit through countless countries, many migrants who have
fled war or natural disasters find themselves in Calais. They
then spend weeks in makeshift camps on the coast
French, hoping to be able to reach their final destination, the
United Kingdom.
Sameer does not forget that he himself lived the life of a refugee.
Go see his website .
