Asha North Staffordshire

28/01/2025

Sue and Monica are currently delivering six weeks of workshops for Asha people as part of this project and some amazing pottery pieces have been created.

28/01/2025

Today is Global Community Engagement Day, a special day to highlight the importance of collaboration and empowerment. 🤗

At Asha, we believe that community engagement is crucial to a cohesive, happy society, but it takes a collective effort. Our work is focused on ensuring the men, women and children we support are part of the community and are respected for their contribution to society. 👏

What better time to look back at some of the community engagement events we and our members enjoyed in the past year?

💚 Some of our members took part in a documentary drama – Voices From – at the New Vic Theatre , as part of their Creating Peace conference with Keele University.
💚 Asha families got on board with GreenHouse Theatre Project UK for their production of Anya and The Potter (picture by Jenny Harper for GreenHouse Theatre Project).
💚 In October, we took part in an excellent community engagement event – Every Voice Matters – organised by Keele University.
💚 The community came together in June for our Refugee Week BBQ.
💚 Asha’s fantastic football team brought home Keele University’s annual Refugee World Cup!

14/01/2025

Is January getting you down?

Did you know volunteering is a great way to improve your mental health and wellbeing? It’s a great way to feel like you’re making a difference, and it’s enjoyable too! 👏

If you want to try something new, meet like-minded people and help an important cause, why not volunteer at Asha? We have a variety of opportunities available, such as running activities, sorting and delivering donations, spending time with service users, and more.

If you would like to get involved, please contact our volunteer coordinator, Darcy, at [email protected] to find out how you can help. You can also ring us on 01782 363122. 📞

Let’s beat the January blues by helping others. ❤️



Source: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/news-and-insights/news-index/time-well-spent-national-survey-volunteer-experience/volunteer-impacts/

07/01/2025

Our British winter can be tricky to navigate. Between the rain, wind and icy mornings, you might find yourself wishing it was summer. 🥶 Now imagine you’ve just arrived here with little more than the clothes on your back… Many of the people we support are not kitted out for the lovely British weather.

Do you have cold-weather essentials such as blankets, jackets, jumpers, hats, gloves or scarves that you can spare? These donations will help keep our service users warm and prepared for the cold weeks ahead. 🤗❄️

If you would like to drop off any donations or get in touch with us to find out more, please contact our office on 01782 363122 📞 or write to [email protected]. 📧

01/01/2025

Happy New Year, everyone! 🎉✨

The start of a new year signals new beginnings, and much of our work at Asha focuses on helping displaced people make a fresh start.

To mark the start of 2025, we would like to thank all our staff, volunteers and supporters for allowing us to positively impact the lives of so many people in 2024. ❤️

Keep your eyes peeled for this year’s campaigns, donation drives and volunteering opportunities so we can continue supporting the most vulnerable, excluded and discriminated members of our community. 🙏

#2025

24/12/2024

🎄✨ MERRY CHRISTMAS! ✨🎄

Asha would like to wish our service users, staff, volunteers and supporters a very merry Christmas! ☃️

However you are celebrating over the next few days, we hope you all have a wonderful and joy-filled time with your families, friends and loved ones. 💚

19/12/2024

Another Christmas celebration for asylum seekers and refugees organised by Asha North Staffordshire. 174 children and 186 adults attended the Saturday the 14December Asha’s 2024 Christmas celebrations. Hot meals including Iranian’s food and African’s food were served to everyone. Children enjoyed Santa and received selection boxes donated by Winter Wonderland. I am blessed to lead a fantastic Asha’s team and all was possible because your support to our cause. Merry Christmas and Happy New year 2025. Godfrey

19/12/2024

Rockin’ around the Christmas tree… 🎄☃️

We would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make our 2024 Christmas celebration one of our biggest and best so far! You all played a massive part in ensuring our service users in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire made some wonderful Christmas memories. 🎉

Thanks are due to our brilliant volunteers and to everyone who donated their time and gifts, helping us provide young children with a festive celebration they can cherish forever. 🎁

We hope everyone who came enjoyed it as much as we did! 💚

10/12/2024

Today is Human Rights Day 2024. 🌎

This year’s theme is ‘Our rights, our future, right now’, calling attention to the importance of basic human rights in our daily lives. Every day, we have the opportunity to speak up against hate speech and correct misinformation.

We must make a collective effort to ensure that people driven out of their homes and away from their families receive only fair treatment, respect and compassion. This is why charities like ours exist: to provide voices for those who cannot be heard.

Asha will continue to support refugees through their struggles and fight for their rights to safety and dignity. No human being is illegal, and everyone has the right to asylum. 👏❤️

08/12/2024

This Christmas, Asha wants to spread some extra joy among our service users. 🎄🎁

We’ll be delivering gifts to families seeking asylum in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire, to ensure everyone has a magical Christmas to remember. Unfortunately, we can’t achieve this alone, so we are kindly appealing for toy and gift donations to help reach our goal. 🤞

Some ideas for gifts you can donate include baby and children’s books, baby and children’s toys, board games for all ages, teddies and dolls. 🧸

We are also, as ever, appealing for food donations. Staples such as tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, kidney beans, rice, pasta, tuna and oil are always appreciated. We would also appreciate any Christmas-themed treats, such as chocolates and selection boxes, biscuits and cakes. 🍫

If you would like to donate, please get in touch with us via telephone on 01782 363122 or via email at [email protected]. 💚

03/12/2024

Can you spare a few hours to spread some festive cheer? 🎄

We want to ensure everyone can wake up on Christmas morning to a visit from Santa, but we’re short of a few elves. We’re looking for volunteers to help us wrap gifts and distribute them to families seeking asylum in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire. 🎁

Gift wrapping will take place on Monday 16 December, from 10am at our HQ in Hanley. 📍

The deliveries will take place on Wednesday 18, Thursday 19 and Friday 20 December from 10am. There are no preferred drop-off times; all you need is a car (or some reindeer and a sleigh!) 🛷

If you’d like to help us spread some Christmas joy, please contact our volunteer coordinator, Darcy, to let her know your availability at [email protected]. You can also ring us on 01782 363122. 📞

We would appreciate any shares of this post so we can reach as many people as possible. 😊❤️

Thank you, everyone!

30/11/2024

At Asha, we are always working away to get our service users back on their feet and ready to move forward. 💪

However, we can’t do it without your support.

We want to send a huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to support our organisation over the years. Whether you are or have volunteered or you have donated any goods, we are massively grateful for your part in our role of helping people in need. ❤️

We wanted to show you a glimpse of life at Asha, more specifically, our donation room!

Here is where we keep and organise all our donated goods. As you can see, we have an abundance of items, from shoes to toys to bags. This is the collective work of Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire’s wonderful residents, who continue to support us and our mission.

This appreciation post is for all of you! 😊🙏

26/11/2024

Thanks Savana for organising a vigil for victims of sexual violence and the march to Reclaim the Night. We stand with you.

21/11/2024

Did you know…

Asha has helped people from almost 50 countries worldwide. 🌎
Asha provides clothes and necessities to around 600 people every week. 👖
Asha distributes roughly 10,000 meals each year. 🍽️

This would have been impossible without the wonderful donations we receive and the amazing volunteers at our centre. Together, we can all continue to make a difference in the lives of those who need our care and support.

If you have any old clothes, shoes, or toys, would like to provide us with some food donations, or become a volunteer yourself, please get in touch with us via:

Facebook or Instagram message 💬
Phone: 01782 363122 📞
Email: [email protected] 📧

20/11/2024

We support our friends at Savana to Reclaim The Night. Please join the event if you can.

Join SAVANA on the 25th NOV to march and demonstrate with the global movement to End Violence Against Women.

16/11/2024

Today is the International Day for Tolerance 🌎 🫱🏻‍🫲🏾

Established by the United Nations in 1996, it’s a day to highlight the importance of understanding among people, regardless of race, social status, sexuality, gender or religion.

We believe we can all find ways to be more open-minded and address prejudices, while also showing zero tolerance for hatred, xenophobia and racism.

Together, we can continue fighting for the equal and fair treatment of those who have been displaced from their homes, families and countries by helping to challenge misconceptions and showing greater empathy.

Today, of all days, please consider how you can be more tolerant. ❤️

14/11/2024

At the weekend, we hosted a craft activity session where some of our service users created an Asha family tree. 🌳

Everyone drew around their hand, cut it out, and wrote on their ‘leaf’ what Asha means to them. 🍃

We now have this beautiful tree brightening up the centre, covered in messages of love and hope. 💚

08/11/2024

Christmas is just around the corner 🎄🎁

However, not everyone can share in the festive cheer. Most of us take for granted the privilege of spending time with loved ones celebrating.

At Asha, we aim to provide all our service users with Christmas memories they can cherish forever, allowing them to celebrate and have some fun. That is why we are now appealing for donations to our Christmas Celebration! 🎉

Last Christmas we hosted more than 300 asylum seekers, providing a hot meal, music, and selection boxes for the children. This year we're expecting even higher demand, but we rely on our generous supporters to make it happen.

If you would like to contribute to a special Christmas party for people who are far from home and struggling with their current circumstances, please donate now.

Your donations will help us to:

🏫 Hire a venue
🎁 Deliver gifts to children
🍽️ Provide a Christmas meal
🎄Decorate and provide music
👮Hire security for the evening

We recognise that times are tough at the moment, and we greatly appreciate ALL donations, no matter how big or small.

To donate, or if you can help in another way, please visit our website: asha-uk.org/donate
Or call us on: 01782 363122