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Notts Refugee Food Collection
Notts and Nottm Refugee Forum
- Refugee Food Collection
- Could you live on £2.50 and a small bag of food a week in Notts?
- Confessions of a former Coke addict
- You can make a global difference
As we report below, the Nottingham & Notts Refugee Forum (NNRF) is giving food parcels to asylum seekers left destitute by the withdrawal of their financial support by NASS (The National Asylum Support Service).
NNRF is asking for your help with collections of food to support about 120 people in Notts who risk being left hungry.
UNISON is asking our members to help by making collections of food (see below for suggested items) and delivering them to one of the collection points. It is as easy as putting an extra tin of soup or jar of coffee in your weekly shopping.
We have collection boxes in County Hall, Centenary House and the Branch Office. Please contact the branch office for details. If you wish to run a collection in your workplace, please contact the branch office to arrange delivery.
| SUGGESTED ITEMS | |
Tinned Foods
UHT Cartons (1 litre)
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Dried Foods
General
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Could you live on £2.50 & a small bag of food a week in Notts?
This is the amount that Nottingham & Notts Refugee Forum (NNRF) is now giving to asylum seekers left destitute by the withdrawal of their financial support by NASS (The National Asylum Support Service).
Until the beginning of April 2005, NNRF were able to give £5 a week plus a bag of food and two lunch tickets. Since they started giving this help in June 2004, the number of destitute asylum seekers has increased. They are now supporting about 120 people every month. They simply could not afford to continue giving the same level of help and with great regret decided that, from the beginning of April this year, they would have to reduce it. They decided to halve the amount of cash to £2.50 a week and to give EITHER a bag of food (for those with cooking and food storage facilities) OR 2 meal tickets to get a hot meal (for those without access to cooking or storage). They intend to maintain the higher level of cash support for those with serious health problems.
Even at the reduced level of support, they need about £2000 a month to keep going. This includes the cost of food bags that NNRF is now managing directly. Each bag costs approx £5 a week and includes rice, oil, orange juice, tins of fish and vegetables, tea and coffee.
Funding for supporting destitute asylum seekers comes from money donated to NNRF for this purpose. Their other funds are allocated for specific projects and cannot be used to help destitute people. NNRF supporters have generously responded to previous appeals with one off donations and regular standing orders. It is regular income that they most need to ensure that they can continue to offer this support for as long as it is needed. Their current income from regular standing order donations amounts to £300 a month.
The Branch has recently agreed to donate £20 a month to the NNRF and is asking any members who are interested in helping feed destitute people in Nottinghamshire to contact NNRF. Their address is:
NNRF, The Square, Alfred Street North, Nottingham NG1
NNRF is supported by Nottingham & District Race Equality Council, Refugee Action, Refugee Housing Association, Diocese of Southwell Social Responsibility Group, Nottingham City Council, and other local organisations and groups. It is a registered charity (number 1086962).
Confessions of a former Coke addict
I first started having it when I was out at night, at the weekends. You know, it’s getting late, your mates want to stay out and you need a bit of a pick-me-up. Seemed harmless enough, although I knew it wasn’t really doing me any good. Soon, I was having it in the week, at first, just now and again, when I needed a bit of a lift. Then, I found myself craving it in the morning. It was hopeless, I was hooked. I was a four-can a day woman. And then I found out about the misery it causes, the lives it ruins. I knew I had to kick the habit. Read on, and hopefully you’ll be getting your caffeine hit elsewhere, too.
Murder – it’s the real thing!
Behind Coca Cola’s friendly corporate image lie human rights violations, pollution and the violent repression of trade unionists. In the last 12 years, Coca Cola has sacked 10,000 workers in Colombia alone, replacing them with contract workers on poverty wages. Eight trade union activists at Coca Cola’s plants in Colombia have been assassinated, including the wife of one of the victims who was to act as a witness against Coca Cola in court.
Kidnappings, torture, imprisonment and threats are also used against trade unionists. The Colombian workers say the violence is carried out by rightwing paramilitaries on behalf of Coca Cola’s bottlers and with the support of the Colombian government. The Colombian trade union for food and bottling workers is SINALTRAINAL, which organises over half of the unionised workers at Coca Cola. They are one of the plaintiffs in a court case against the bottling plants which is proceeding in the US. The union is alleging injuries due to the campaign of violence by paramilitaries employed by the Coca Cola bottlers.
Unthinkable, undrinkable –Coca Cola’s crimes in India
Colombia isn’t the only country to be blighted by Coca Cola’s operations. In India, protests by local people have forced the temporary (hopefully to become permanent) closure of the Coca Cola plant in Kerala. Pollution of the groundwater and monopoly of the water supply has caused crop failures in those communities living by Coca Cola’s bottling facilities across India. On top of that, toxic waste produced by Coca Cola containing cadium and lead has been distributed as "fertiliser" to local farmers! Testing of Coca Cola’s products on sale in India has shown them to contain levels of pesticides, including DDT, up to 30 times higher than EU standards. A public health nightmare has been created by Coca Cola in India.
"We ask Coca Cola to stop killing…And you to stop drinking Coke..."
On 22 July 2003, SINALTRAINAL called for an international campaign against Coca Cola. The boycott has begun to take effect, with trade unions and students organisations taking up the campaign; in fact, the company is so concerned that it has produced its own publicity material in a desperate PR campaign.
But no amount of glossy leaflets can hide the truth about Coca Cola. At last year’s UNISON conference, we voted to support the boycott campaign. A Week of Action has been called between 10th and 16th April which will be supported by UNISON branches across the country, including our own. Boycott their drinks! Don’t let Coca Cola get away with murder!
What you can do
Here's some things you can do to avoid becoming a COKE addict...
1 E-mail the branch (branch.office@nottsunison.org.uk) for more details of the campaign and how you can get involved
2 Find out more at the following web sites:
- www.killercoke.org
- www.sinaltrainal.org
- www.cokewatch.org
- www.indiaresource.org
- www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk
3 DON’T DRINK ANY COCA COLA PRODUCTS
Apart from Coca Cola itself, this includes: Bacardi Mixers, Canada Dry, Dr Pepper, Kia Ora, Oasis, Sprite, Just Juice, Five Alive, Lilt, Schweppes and Evian
You can make a global difference...
Be an ethical consumer: Buy Fairtrade goods, pressurise local shops to stock more ethically produced products and travel with ethical tourism companies. Visit www.fairtrade.org.uk for Fairtrade information, or phone ACTSA on 020 7833 3133 to find out about ethical tourism in South Africa.
Campaign to end bonded labour: Worldwide 20 million people are enslaved through bonded labour, even though it is prohibited by international law. A person becomes a bonded labourer when they are forced to work to repay a loan. Contact Anti Slavery International and join their campaign at www.antislavery.org
Become a petition signer: Petitions really can make a difference - and they only take a minute to sign. Check the Urgent Action page to find out who needs your support this month.
Contact your Branch International Officer: Our branch International Officer post is currently vacant. If you are interested in the role, contact the branch office.
Collect books for South Africa: Community HEART's Book and Ten Pence campaign has already collected one million books for children in South Africa. The legacy of apartheid has left the country's education system vastly under resourced and books are in short supply. Why not help collect the next million books. Visit Community HEART to find out how.
Recycle your old computer: ComputerAid International recycles unwanted computers in Britain for use in schools and community organisations in developing countries. Don't add your old, personal or UNISON branch PC to those already piling up in landfill sites. Instead visit the ComputerAid web page for details on how to give it a better home.
Stay informed: Keep up-to-date on international news by making a regular trip to the News pages at www.unison.org.uk/news and checking out the websites of other campaigning organisations with an international agenda.
Campaign for core labour standards: Join the international trade union movement in its efforts to campaign for Core Labour Standards to be included in international trade treaties and in particular in the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).