Background

Hastings Kurdish Welfare Association was originally set up as a community-led support organisation. It was the only such organisation working for the Kurdish community in East Sussex and was approached by members of the Kurdish community from across the south coast area including Ashford and Portsmouth. The group was set up by three people including one Kurdish person who came to the UK as a refugee. It began by organising a weekly drop-in on a Sunday where people met up to socialise and listen to music. Through this successful regular event it became clear that people within the Kurdish community were experiencing a range of problems in accessing mainstream services in the town. As a result HKWA obtained funding to open an office staffed by volunteers to provide sign-posting and advocacy support to the Kurdish community in Hastings.

One of the group's strengths was the involvement of both the Kurdish community and the wider local community in the running of various projects. This ensured that the integration of the Kurdish community with the wider community remained a core aspect of the group’s work.

Despite the ongoing changes within HKWA, we continue to have strong links with Hastings Voluntary Action and are listed in the Hastings Voluntary Action Directory of Local Voluntary and Community Services Resources. HVA is a full member of the National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service (NACVS). Our association has also received financial support from Hastings Borough Council and East Sussex County Council. In the past we have worked closely with many local agencies including the Police [particularly when members of the community come in contact with the Criminal Justice system], Migrant Helpline, Refugee Legal Centre, Chapel Park Community, Links Project and other BME communities.

We dealt with many people who had difficulties accessing services, as critical as obtaining housing or healthcare, or as simple as dealing with everyday life such as paying utility bills. We provided help with filling in forms from local agencies, wrote letters and answered telephone calls from enquirers. Some of the issues related to language but others were due to cultural differences. The latter was complicated by the history of the Kurdish people, who not having their own state, have been oppressed by numerous governments - hence there is a tendency to keep a low profile and not complain!

Some of our visitors had traumatic personal experiences in the countries they came from. This included interrogation and torture during detention  They then had to wait months in the UK, sometimes years, before their cases were heard and decided upon. Applying for asylum can often be a long and drawn out affair and during the waiting period asylum seekers can experience stress and feelings of isolation and alienation. They may also be subjected to racial prejudice while they are here.

Recently, we have been unable to secure funding for us to continue giving free advice and support throughout the week, so some changes have had to be made. From now on, there will only be free advice and support available on Mondays. Free English classes will now take place on Mondays and Saturdays and we will be focusing on organising some social events for the Kurdish community during the year. Our old office has be turned into a computer room and is being booked out to people interested in using it. The website will remain active and we would like to hear from anyone interested in helping us to organise events. We would especially like to establish contact with Kurdish musicians, artists and poets in the area with whom we can work.

Unpaid volunteers working for HKWA are: Peter - Chair; Yaser - Bilingual Advocate; John - Treasurer; Stephen - Secretary; Linda - Language Tutor; Behice - Translator.

Home Page music: Invisible Cloister by Sleepwalker Project (mp3)