Feb. 26; LRV Executive Committee Meeting at The Diana Princess Of Wales Memorial Fund

Feb 28; LRV participated in the lobby of parliament regarding ESOL funding cuts, representing the voices of Refugee Community Organizations being affected by the cuts. Sylvia Watchuku-King spoke on behalf of LRV in committee room 14, on the affects that the cutbacks will have on service users, and the valuable work done by community groups who deliver such services.

March 12; LRV AGM at the Amnesty Human Rights Centre. The AGM took place during International Women’s Day, and the topic was refugee women’s issues. Aside from the LRV business, several notable refugee women’s projects spoke to the members. Diana Nammi, from the Iranian Kurdish Women’s Organization presented their campaign "Stop Honour Killings", and spoke about the harrowing realities of honour killings facing women from vulnerable communities. Deborah Singer, from Asylum Aid’s award winning women’s resource project, spoke about the efforts of their organization to influence the Home Office to use gender guidance while processing asylum claims. Finally, Enshrah Ahmed from FORWARD spoke about the realities of Female Genital Mutilation facing women from refugee communities. Members had the opportunity to view images from the "Slave Britain" exhibition, and were treated to dinner and traditional belly dancing.

March 28; 2007; LRV Members Event: Remittance and Diaspora Values (with CFD, GHARWEG and AFFORD) and a dialogue with the IOM on Questions, Comments and Concerns with Return Packages 12-4 pm Palingswick House 241 King Street W6 9LP LRV participated in organizing a members event which featured a roundtable discussion on Remittances, led by Gibril Faal, chairman of AFFORD and founder of RemitAid. The discussion focused on barriers and opportunities for remittances, and challenges and incentives for changing remittance patterns.

Additionally, Sacha Cham Kam from the IOM was present to inform attendees of the facts regarding incentives for voluntary return. He also participated in a discussion and dialogue with LRV members in regards to their experiences, questions and criticism of the voluntary return programme.

Thank you to all who attended from: GHARWEG, AFFORD, IOM, Migrants Resource Centre, African Swahili phone Refugee Project, Latin American Workers Association, Western Kurdistan Association, and the Refugee Council.

April 20; 2007; LRV Members Meeting/Executive Committee Meeting 10 am: Executive Committee Meeting 11 am-3pm: Members Meeting; Detention Issues and Resources for RCO’s Diana Memorial Fund County Hall Westminster Bridge Road London SE1 7PB

LRV members came together to discuss Detention, and how it is affecting communities, organisations and individuals. Jerome Phelps from LDSG spoke about community groups becoming involved with detention visitation, and the work that the LDSG does. Sarah Cutler from BID spoke about bail for detainees; very valuable information for many of the small and emerging groups in attendance.

RCO’s attending the meeting were; Women’s Ivory Tower Association, Women’s African Development Network (WAND), Horn of Africa Community Group, and GHARWEG. 2nd tier groups in attendance were: BID, LDSG, MRC, and Strangers into Citizens. May 3, 2007; LRV Funding Club 6-9 pm Irish Centre Hammersmith

Russell Darbon from Awards for All came to discuss funding opportunities with LRV members. Several groups were present to engage in dialogue with Russell on the needs of their communities and how they can apply for funding. Groups in attendance were Arab Women’s Group, Generation Roots, Western Kurdistan Association, and Nsimba Foggis.

June 24; 07 REFUGEE WEEK EVENT! LRV participated in Refugee Week again this year by hosting a screening of the film "Almost Adult", which highlights the realities faced by asylum seekers in the UK. The film was featured at the 2006 British Film Festival, and we were proud to be screening it for our members and friends.

After the film, there was a panel discussion about the asylum system, where LRV members had the chance to answer questions from the audience. Tickets were free for refugee community groups, and funding was provided by Community Chest (Refugee Week). After the film and discussion, everyone gathered to talk about the film while enjoying some delicious Palestinian food!

Thanks to Clapham Picture House for hosting this event!

Sept, 2007; Fighting Destitution: Resource Sharing and Relationship Building for RCO’s, Day Centres, and 2nd tier Organisations

Groups came together to talk about the affects of destitution on both their communities and organisations. A chance to network, skill share, problem solve and create a unified platform to tackle the issue of destitution.