Making homes for refugees
Chag Pesach Sameach (slightly early), Eid Mubarak (slightly late) and happy Easter (when it comes). It is not just been a busy month for religious folk (and loudmouth politicians who seem to have a problem with some, but not all, public displays of belief). It has also been a busy month at Thousand 4 1000.
There are definitely some signs of spring. I have even seen daffodils. This gives me enormous hope. It is not always easy to have hope. This is going to be a newsletter about hope.
Happy New Year. I have say that it does feel that 2026 started a very long time ago even if my calendar says that it is still January. Things are tough. The Home Office machine has crept slowly back into gear. They are making decisions, but unlike the last backlog clearing exercise, those decisions are negative and of poor quality. It is overloading the tribunals and there simply isn’t capacity in the legal aid sector to ensure that people have representation. The net result is an awful lot of homelessness. Even when people win, the Home Office want you out of your accommodation in 28 days (if you follow the link, you will see that they do not always get their way. It doesn’t help much). It pushes the burden onto the council. The council will do their best to avoid it, the voluntary sector and the community picks up the pieces.
We have been busy as always supporting people to build their home in Brighton. Because it has been particularly cold, we helped people buy heaters and blankets and other useful things to help you get through the cold snap. It was particularly important for the men housed in Brighton by the Home Office. The houses are so poorly equipped and in at least one the boiler is on the blink that some heaters and blankets and a very long way.
A very happy Halloween to you all. It occurred to me that I almost always have a celebration for which I can wish you joy as a way of opening these newsletters. I rather like that. The festivals that I know about come from a fairly limited subset of traditions, but every tradition has its feasts. I think that is wonderful. It shows that humans, whatever their circumstances, find ways to be with each other and express joy. Winter is coming, which is big news, if true. Given the circumstances we going to need more than our average quotient of joy to make it through the dark days ahead.
