We have had another busy year, our 10th, so far at LSR:

Fundraising
We managed 5 fundraisers so far this year; 3 quizzes (including one at La Cimade in Béziers, a clothes sale in conjunction with Hannah (thanks again Hannah!) and finally a jazz lunch at Mas Gabriel. Thanks to all of you that attended/took part.

We also had our 10th Anniversary garden party in Pezenas as a thank you for all our donors and members. 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 the

 donate page or join LSR

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 Carcassonne.

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.

This year has been different due to the arrival last October of the Falaha family and Baby Ali. Aside from housing the family we have worked closely with them to navigate the French asylum system. This process has been very complicated and this for a family that arrived here with laissez-passez visas. Finally we have been successful and last month got confirmation of their
cartes de séjours. This is on top of arranging appointment after appointment to get the medical attention and treatment Baby Ali needs and schooling for their son Mohamad.

As usual, on top of these on-going core commitments there are series of ad hoc service and funding commitments we make acting effectively as a donor of last resort.

Finally there is the work we do with partner organisations mainly around the region ; These range from Stop Racisme in, to AMIC in Bédarieux where we provide 2 kids with 50€ pocket money every month as well as helping them bridge their funding gap.

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, 100 pour un toit in Béziers and Narbonne amongst others.
Outside of the region we sent money to Roots in Calais helping migrant families in the camps around there with showers and other hygiene support.
We have also just agreed to part fund a program around sexual health and advocacy for women at La Cimade in Béziers. This exists to support women transitioning from heavily male dominated societies to the realities of modern French life.

Helping out
We are always looking for volunteers to help us run our events and other things as they come up.
Sadly Cate, who has played a major rôle in managing our events has decided to step back for a while. Thank you Cate for all your efforts over the last 3 years. We are looking for someone to take an event management rôle as well as helpers. Please contact me at lsrcowan@gmail.com if this is something you might be interested in.

Looking forward
Summer is a quieter time for us but aside from the food deliveries etc we will be launching our annual Rentrée appeal in the next couple of weeks. 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.

Save the dates
Coming up we have a really busy autumn schedule. We have the first quiz of the season on
October 7th closely followed by a musical event at Grange de Bouys in Neffiés on the 10th.

We close the year with the Christmas concert at Cassan on December 6th.

We‘ll be in touch with you all soon but in the meantime, thank you all for your support and have a great Summer.

On 14th June 2025 A Taste of Caunes summer dinner  will be held
at Château St Jacques d'Albas in Laure Minervois.

For information and bookings, please contact Jane Hartley lsr.caunes@gmail.com
The evening will begin at 6pm with an aperitif on the terrace followed by a sumptuous 4-course meal prepared by chef Linda from La Table d'Emilie. A selection of wines from Château St Jaques d'Albas will be available for purchase, as well as soft drinks.

As usual all profits from this event will go to supporting our work.

“LSR are looking for an enterprising individual to take charge of our “furniture rehoming” across L’Hérault. We work closely with various partners in our sector to rehome furniture offered from our wider supporter network as a result of people leaving the area. The role is voluntary.  The person needs ok French and English (Deepl can hide a multiple of sins) , to be reasonably physically active, to have a car and be happy to drive vans etc on occasion. It’s a on and off role although there is a small amount of activity most weeks. “ For more information contact info@languedocsolidarite.com “ 

On March 15 in Capiès , the LSR group of the Haute-Vallée de l'Aude is organizing a new St. Patrick's evening:
It's a fabulous fundraising evening, full of music, laughter and delicious food.
There will also be a raffle with a wide selection of excellent prizes.
Invite your friends to join us for a memorable St. Patrick's Day party.
All profits from this event will go directly to supporting our work helping asylum seekers in Languedoc and beyond.

Capiès Estate, Limoux-Mirepoix road, 11300, Pomy
For reservations : contact@domainedecapies.com

Early in the morning of the Friday before Christmas, two friends and I set out deliver a van loaded with donations to Ventimiglia. We delivered warm clothes for men, sleeping bags, blankets, shoes and some tents to NoName Kitchen , an organization great that provides food, clothing and assistance legal aid to refugees sleeping under highway bridges, Franco-Italian border. Many thanks to Ward Magee and his poor van, to Stephen Thurston, to No Name Kitchen for work extraordinary that they accomplish and, of course, to yourselves for your donations throughout the year.

After a quiet summer, we had a very busy autumn:
- We provided food aid to families in partnership with La Cimade in Béziers and Carcassonne. We are currently distributing food parcels and a little money to more than 130 people every month.

- Setting up a warehouse in Carcassonne to store donated items before distributing them to families in need.

- Rental assistance for families through 100 for one Orb Valley and Carcassonne rooftops.

- Current expenses related to travel to the courts in Paris, medical and other emergencies in Béziers and Carcassonne.

- Back-to-school assistance for more than 50 children in Béziers and 60 in Carcassonne.

- Monthly support for Stop Racism in Pézenas and Unaccompanied Minors in Bédarieux.

- Furniture reused by people leaving the region for be used by families with the help of our charity partners Adages, La Cimade and 100 for a roof.

The biggest change this fall was the arrival of the Falaha family from Homs via Lebanon. Arrival under the aegis of Humanitarian Corridors, the Lamea family, Amoun, Sidra, Muhammed and Baby Ali is now housed in Montagnac. They are learning French and Baby Ali is finally starting to receive the medical support he desperately needs need. We support the family both in accessing services and financially in the long administrative process of integration.

Still to come in 2024 - next Wednesday we are hosting the Christmas party for 66 children at La Cimade in Béziers and on Friday, we will deliver a large van of warm clothes, sleeping bags and blankets to Ventimiglia for migrants sleeping under bridges.

Of course, All of this costs money and we have made a number of appeals and fundraising events since the summer. A quiz was organized in Pézenas in October and another in Caunes Minervois in November. Hannah's Fall Clothing Sale has also been very successful in helping us raise funds. We we organized a musical evening in Siran in October and last weekend We held our 3rd Christmas concert at Château Abbaye de Cassan with O'Sisters.

Dates to note in your 2025 diary:

The next quiz in Pézenas is scheduled for January 29th. There is also a "Burns Night" on January 25th at Pépieux. We hope to see you at these events and many more. next year.

However, the main drivers of all our activities are our donors. monthly as well as those who support us with ad hoc payments throughout throughout the year. We really couldn't do without this source regular income.

This year we unfortunately lost one of our main volunteer of the Aude group, Theresa Dommett, who told us left far too soon due to illness. Theresa was a true driving force for us and we send our deepest condolences to her husband Chris. Chris asked anyone who would like to make a donation in memory of Theresa and commemorate his life by doing it at LSR. Thanks Chris!

None of this could have been achieved without the hard work and support of our volunteers, for which we thank you. I would also like take this opportunity to thank some external groups for their support: The Seigneurie de Peyrat, Cassan, the Château St Jacques d'Albas and Pezenas Town Hall for allowing us to organize events in their premises, Languedoc Property Finders in Pezenas for their sponsorship, Grange De Bouys, Sharon Townend, Ken & Alison, O'Sisters, the Smokey Notes, l'Oeno Band, Hannah and Steve Waters, Terre Mere, All Saints Anglican Church and especially yourselves for your unwavering support.

Thank you all!

Peter

President LSR

PS: There is still time to send us last-minute donations. before the end of the year so you can get 66% back on your bill next year's tax year.

Please visit the dedicated page on our website or send your checks to LSR c/o 10 Ave de Mougeres, Caux 34720.

We had a great day yesterday sorting through donated clothing. Thank you to everyone who donated and to the team for their tremendous efforts. We're still looking for blankets and warm clothing for men, and the LSR food pantry is also in need of food. Contact us at info@languedocsolidarite.com or leave us a message here if you have something to donate.

Ali has arrived ! And he brought his family !

It has been a long campaign but Baby Ali and his family have finally arrived in France. They came legally with French visas that give them the right to apply for refugee status and give access to medical care for Ali immediately. It was the wonderful people at the Sant’Egidio association that made it possible from the Lebanon side. Wendela and I went to meet them at the airport in Paris last Tuesday and returned with them by train on Thursday. They are now settling into a small apartment being provided by LSR and one of our stalwart members. The family will continue to need our help (logistical, administrative and financial) for some time as they work through the process of regularization in France.

Ali has some very big problems to deal with but he has a very sweet disposition and is fortunate in having a very loving family devoted to his welfare. LSR will continue to contribute to that support and any individuals wishing to contribute in any way are invited to contact me directly.

Gary Kilmer

LSR research urgently a child's accommodation and wheelchair for a Syrian family who will arrive from Lebanon in the second half of september :

There Falaha family, made up of 5 people, finally obtained permission to come to France and seek asylum. Their little boy, Ali, has cerebral palsy and other birth defects due to a lack of oxygen at birth. After a long campaign led by Gary Kilmer and Wendela Kilmer , they will arrive in France during the second half of September: LSR has committed to housing and caring for the family until that their asylum application be approved.

If you have accommodation (free or not) or a wheelchair to offer, please contact us at info@languedocsolidarite.com .

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

Yes! I want tickets!

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:

Languedoc Roussillon region