A midday talk at St. Nicolas Church highlighted the ongoing efforts of the Abingdon churches and community to provide support for refugees. Rev. Keith Dunnett of Christ Church introduced the session. About 40 people attended.

Sue explained how the Host Abingdon initiative began nine years ago in response to a call from St. Ethelwold’s House (pictured above) to assist families fleeing war and persecution. The initial focus was on resettling Syrian families, with eight families arriving in Oxfordshire, as part of a government scheme. Host Abingdon provided support with language classes and advice on navigating unfamiliar systems, bureaucracy, and housing. They recognised the challenges of learning a new language after experiencing the trauma of war. These families have now integrated well into the community, many are now British citizens and 2 children attend university.

When the war in Ukraine began, Host Abingdon initially felt overwhelmed. Christ Church stepped forward to provide assistance and volunteers.

Host Abingdon also supports refugees residing in a Home Office hostel in the area and has built relationships with the women and children there, who have fled war zones in Eritrea, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria. One of the women shared her experiences and the help she has received both emotional and practical.

Janice, Chair of Host Abingdon, and from the International Welcome Café at Christ Church described their work. The café provides a welcoming space where people can improve their English and meet others. Typically, 20–30 people attend each week, including visitors and children, volunteers, and representatives from agencies. The café, which began in 2022 in response to the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, is open to people of all nationalities and operates free of charge.

Keith highlighted the global scale of the refugee crisis, noting that 103 million people were forcibly displaced in 2023, a number likely to increase in 2024 due to the conflict in Gaza. A relatively small number of these individuals come to Abingdon.

The churches and community in Abingdon have a commitment to supporting those in need, whether at home through the food bank or those fleeing conflict zones though Host Abingdon, and the International Welcome Café.

Tomorrows midday talk and prayers at St Nicolas are about supporting looked-after children.

Have you got a Christmas tree that is suitable for goats to eat: free of tinsel, decorations, and spray snow. If so, take it to Abingdon lockside and leave it in the tree cage. The lock goats will happily munch on the needles and bark, and turn your tree into poop. Any leftovers will be composted and eaten by the worms and bugs.

The first repair cafe of 2025 is the Sewing Repair Cafe (Saturday 4th January 2025 at 10.30am – 1pm) in Unit 24. Go and see if the volunteers can mend, alter, or hem your garment!

The Mayor of Abingdon on Thames is hosting a quiz night to raise money for The Abingdon Driver Volunteer Service and One Planet Abingdon. The event will be held on Saturday, January 18th, 2025 at The Crown and Thistle. Tickets are £5 per person and can be purchased online at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/abingdon-town-council/t-dvrgveg. Teams can have up to 8 people. Individuals and teams with fewer than 3 people will be assigned to a team on the night.

The Abingdon Clubs and Societies Day is on March 1st 2025. If you want to highlight the work of your club or society visit https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/event/clubs-societies-day. Otherwise just turn up on the day.

For anybody wanting exercise at the start of the new year, the following two community groups may help:

The Abingdon Green Gym is a volunteer conservation group that meets every Saturday from 9.30am to 12.30pm. They work on a variety of tasks to improve the local environment. For more information, visit abingdongreengym.org.uk and see their programme for Winter 2024.

VOWH Ramblers is a walking group that offers eleven walks in January. The walks are free and open to all. For more information, visit ramblers-oxon.org.uk/vwh/walking/walks

Today, Unit 24, Bury Street, was busy with three community activities. The Woodcarvers, previously reported, were back again. The Ock Poets gathered in the back room and discussed the work of Fleur Adcock as well as sharing their own work. Abingdon Carbon Cutters held a sewing repair cafe.

Throughout the morning, visitors brought in clothing for small repairs, such as patching, replacing zips and elastic, or adjusting hems. These services were aimed at minor fixes rather than larger projects. Observing the volunteers at work also helped visitors gain insight into sewing techniques, making them more confident in handling simple repairs themselves.

For those with more complex sewing needs, volunteers offered advice on whether specific items could be repaired, and the best approach to fixing them. I asked what was the most difficult thing they’d have to sew and one volunteer said replacing a zip in a multi-layered puffer jacket. Volunteers also provided guidance on simple tasks like sewing on buttons or hemming. For people looking to develop their sewing skills further, One Planet Abingdon offers courses on sewing machine use and other repair techniques. It all helps promote repair, reuse and alteration of clothing instead of disposal.

To find out more about Unit 24, if your community group might use it see https://abingdoncivicsociety.org.uk/activities/unit-24-community-space/.