CREEM (Chapel of His Glory Refugees’ Evangelism & Empowerment Mission).

FLAGSHIP MISSION STRATEGIES  for Glasgow and West Midlands UK:

 

(1). SOCIAL INCLUSION PROJECTS

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Preparing people for the next lock-down: help people to ‘move beyond disadvantage’.

Conceived to help people to ‘move beyond disadvantage”, project has dual purposes: to empower beneficiaries (particularly Muslim refugees/asylum seekers) for social inclusion and equip them to improve their economic potentials. 

 

It is informed in part by experiences of several people (particularly asylum seekers/immigrants/refugees) during the pandemic restrictions. As volunteers with various charities working with people during these difficult times, we came upon so many people who literally ceased to exist as everything transitioned to virtual space during lockdowns. It did not matter what their skin colour is, once they did not have skills to navigate the internet or digital devices or speak the English language, they became precluded from life: no food, no money, no one to talk to, no doctors, etc. 

 

History and Purpose of CREEM.

During the pandemic everything migrated to virtual space and a lot of people simply fell off society’s grid. We discovered, from being part of various charities serving the needs of people hardest hit during the period that most people became so because they lacked two basic skills to be part of the virtual world: digital ability & English language skills. A group of us came together to address this need. This proposed project and CREEM have the same parent: the pandemic experience, having been formed during the pandemic and attendant lockdown restrictions. It became a registered charity on 14th May, 2021. 

 

Our vision, values, and ethos are Christ-centred, which is, to serve the local community in a way that fosters well-being, including the marginalised and encourages cross cultural and cross-faith relationships. Our principal goals are:​

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• To empower Refugees/Immigrants to achieve the highest possible abilities to live a productive economically secure life.

• Bridges to “new and native Britons” by connecting communities: build bridges between marginalised groups and mainstream society, empower individuals to reach their full potentials. 

 

NB: Notwithstanding our Christian faith, programme serves all irrespective of faith beliefs. Sole criteria for participation: asylum seeker/refugee/immigrant with no English or digital skills.    

 

Description of the Project

Dual Communication Skills for Refugees’ empowerment.

 

What we are attempting to do.

 

Refugees/asylum seekers, particularly women, are an excluded group in the UK. Factors like language, faith beliefs or education contribute to exclusions from mainstream society; which then affect their productivity socially or economically. 

Social inclusion, empowerment or integration are some of the several moving parts of power relations in society and social outcomes. Who sits at the table when decisions are made is important to social outcomes. To sit at the table, whether invited or earned, people need to have the means to be at the table and influence what happens there. To be invited to the table one needs to know what language is spoken at the table and if everyone has a grasp of it.

 

• At the decision table there is another language – Digital skills. Combining both languages is necessary for inclusion.  Refugees are already outside of mainstream society in the UK. Communication is key to becoming included. Language and digital skills are the main communication lines in our society today and at decision tables. 

• Refugees need to understand the language (not just any language) spoken at the table. This is where the English Language programme connects with digital skills and opens the door wide for inclusion. 

 

Our Project is a 2-component, digital and language, skills acquisition effort. Through it CREEM will empower asylum seekers/refugees with the skills to communicate and participate in society. Our approach is to use literature rich in storytelling and from personal experiences of people of immigrant backgrounds to engage refugees’ learning abilities.

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• Simultaneous acquisition of Soft digital skills and English language for entrance into labour market and/or engage with larger society. 

• Digital skills are a must in most vocations now: our dual skills programme is getting two benefits with one effort. 

• This effort helps the UK economy as it addresses critical labour shortages: some refugees have these education/skills in foreign languages. Others want to learn in-demand vocational skills, be able to work and earn good income. Some will want to improve their level of earning right now if they could acquire the language that enables them to go for training. The project addresses all these desires.

• The English classes aims to get people to IELTS level 6 (standard for UK universities’ admission). At this level they can then go onto any vocational training and excel. 

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To achieve project objectives, community organising activities include recruiting teachers and forming classes, holding information/workshop/seminar sessions to prepare and educate beneficiaries on the tasks ahead.

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(2). NEIGHOBOURHOOD OUTREACH

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This strategy entails building relationship with refugees through a sustained neighbourhood outreach ministry that aims to build home/cell fellowship groups in neighbourhoods. The outreach comes in the form of visiting an identified neighbourhood with a mobile foodbank and clothing shop. Tea/coffee/chocolate and biscuits (cookies) are served under a gazebo. Team members fan out around the neighbourhood talking to people about Christ.

This is repeated every week for about 18 weeks. During this time, we expect to build strong connections with the people we meet and it will be the basis for discipleship and mentoring of unchurched and unreached people groups in places like Glasgow and West midlands UK.