Poetry Prize
At the library event Vicki King read out one of the winning poems from our previous poetry prize, launching our 4th annual Poetry Prize. Entries are free, there are cash prizes, and it is open to anyone in the community. We have already received quite a few entries since the launch-this is very heartening. For more details, please go to our webpage https://br4r.org.au/poetry-comp/  where you will find all you need to enter. If you have any questions about the prize, please contact Bill on poetryprize@br4r.org.au.

New book of poems from one of our previous winners

We are really pleased to hear that one of previous winners, Jalal Mahamede is shortly to launch a book of poems through Tangerine Books. Jalal’s book is called "My Tears Will Calm the Sun". Jalal here gives some insight into why he has written these poems:
I am a poet, artist and Ahwazi Arab refugee who was held in detention for nine years (including six years on Nauru) by the Australian Government for arriving by boat and seeking protection. I was freed from my almost decade-long imprisonment in December 2021 at the Brisbane detention centre. Throughout my detention imprisonment, I used poetry and art to express my emotions that were entangled in my ongoing fight for justice and safety. My drawing was self-taught whilst in detention, and my poetry is influenced by my late father Kazem Mahamede a renowned travelling poet and photographer. I drew from my personal experiences to express my moods, feelings and visions through art and language to create “My Tears Will Calm the Sun” (www.jalalmahamede.com). 

During my deeply painful, long-term imprisonment, I have nevertheless managed to create this series of poems and drawings inspired by my detention experience. My work reveals the depth of my heart and mind and my vision for humanity. My book of 35 poems and 127 drawings is published by Tangerine Books with a Foreword by John Shand (Sydney Morning Herald artist critic and Walkley Arts Journalist Award winner) and blurb by Robin Hillard. 
Please see www.jalalmahamede.com for details. 

BR4R is planning to purchase a few copies of Jalal’s books for our regional libraries.

CRISP
BR4R, with many other advocacy groups, successfully lobbied the Australian government to introduce a community refugee integration and settlement programme (CRISP). It is akin to those which have worked very successfully in Canada and New Zealand to supplement the refugee intake through the use of local community volunteer teams. Whilst the numbers in this initial CRISP programme are far lower than we had hoped, we have been advised that we will soon see refugees settled in the Byron/Ballina Shires. For further information or to get involved, please contact Stanley on s.yeo@br4r.org.au.

Support for those in Afghanistan
Many BR4R volunteers supported a project we ran earlier in the year with Ben Gilmour, a locally based film director, to prepare humanitarian visa applications for those in the creative arts in Afghanistan. We are yet to hear of the outcome of those applications. Meantime, with a harsh winter and after 10 months of waiting, many of those applicants have lost all their income and savings. We initially allocated the UNHCR recommended amount of USD200 directly to a number of those we had assisted with visa applications (total allocated to date in excess of $5000). We have since offered an additional USD200 through Ben to anyone he has identified as needing further support.

Talk to Living School
Our Settlement lead, Stanley, recently gave a talk to Year 6 young people at the Living School in Lismore. The Year 6 class were very interested to hear about the life of the children in one of the families we have sponsored. Stanley was also due to talk to Social Work students at SCU but that has been postponed until later in the year. 

If you are part of a group that would like to learn more about the work of BR4R/settlement processes, please contact us through admin@br4r.org.au.



Election campaign wrap
Through a great team of volunteers, BR4R focused our efforts as an organisation in the Richmond electorate. We focused on 3 key strategies:

• We distributed 500 postcards that explained the key issues facing refugees and how the parties plan to tackle those. 
• We made contact with all of the candidates in Richmond and were able to ask a question at the Meet the Candidates’ Night about their position on the granting of permanent visas to the thousands of refugees holding temporary protection visas (TPV) whose lives are in limbo. We also held face-to-face meetings, made phone calls, and wrote emails and letters to candidates.
• We used social media, local radio and print media to communicate with voters in Richmond. We were granted radio interviews for both local radio and print media.

Whilst we were all heartened by the departure of the previous government, we cannot afford to stop campaigning. There have been very, very few refugees over the last decade who have been offered permanent visas. We must hold the Labor government true to their commitment to those people.

SCU student and Cars for Refugees
We have been very lucky to host two excellent SCE Community Welfare/Social Work students over the last part of 2021 and into 2022. In July we will welcome another Masters’ of Social Work student who will work with us on a range of projects including on our Cars for Refugee project. A key need when refugees are released into community detention/onto temp visas is having a car to get to work/studies. We are hoping to develop a project that will see us paying for cars to be restored and given to refugees based on a very successful scheme in the Blue Mountains. 

Roadside Rallies
Our roadside rally volunteers are trialling a rally soon in Kerr Street, Ballina. Prior to Covid these rallies happened each fortnight. If this proves a success, we may well resume them. If you would like to take part in future rallies, contact volunteers@br4r.org.au. 

Events and fundraising
Firstly, thanks to all who have given personal donations, attended events or bought tickets for events to distribute to others. We have raised more than $67,000 this year thanks to your wonderful generosity. Whilst we usually allocate all monies as soon as we receive them, we are now holding funds to support our resettlement project, both as part of CRISP but also in the hope that those families and individuals that we have sponsored or supported still in Afghanistan will be able to settle in Australia.  

Bunnings BBQ 
Thanks to Meg Pickup and all our other great volunteers who ran the Bunnings BBQ in Ballina in late April and to those who munched their way through hundreds of sausages. 360 extra sausages had to be purchased to cope with demand. We raised $2058. These funds will go to supporting those still on Manus, those living on community detention orders/temp visas in Brisbane and those we hope to support through our resettlement programme. 

Proceeds from film screening of Limbo
We had a great turnout for our film showing of Limbo in early June in the Byron Theatre. Thanks to Rose Fox who coordinated the screening and all who volunteered and bought tickets. We raised $1500.  All funds are going to those recently released from detention. We have partnered with a WA refugee advocate, Dawn Barrington, to offer financial support to a number of these individual refugees. Many organisations and individuals in capital cities are offering practical support such as a decent place to stay but cash is required for immediate needs such as food/clothes/transport etc. BR4R allocated an initial $1000 to this group and the film proceeds are on top of this amount.

Trivia night, Ocean Shores
On 4th June, our Ocean Shores team (part of BR4R but working under the banner OceanShores4Refugees) held a great fun trivia night. The aim was to raise funds to pay for the translation of the humanitarian visa application 842 into Dari-an Afghan language- which the Ocean Shores group had initiated. $2692 was raised to cover the translation, now in use. We have shared this translation with other groups to support a broader understanding of what is being asked of those seeking settlement here and to speed up the process of submitting a humanitarian visa application. An additional $1951 raised has been held for settlement of refugees in the Ocean Shores/ Byron shire.