Manchester Refugee Support Network
Manchester Refugee Support Network1968-2015
Archives
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This collection contains the organisational archive of the Manchester Refugee Support Network. It holds records on the governance, structure and development of the Network, its activities including the Refugee and Migrant Forum Manchester, its services, partnerships and activities. The collection also contains material on the communities which constitute the Network (as well as other minority groups in Manchester), photographs of activities and events, material which contextualises the Network and some records of related organisations.
Within the collection are paper records such as minutes, letters and reports, photographs as well as audio-visual media and digital formats. Some digital records have been inaccessible due to their media and format types such as floppydiscs.
Title:
Manchester Refugee Support Network
Creator:
Date of work:
1968-2015
Reference number:
GB3228.57
Level of description:
Collection
Includes:
Custodial history:
This collection was created by the Manchester Refugee Support Network over its lifetime through its various activities. In 2015 a heritage project was started which aimed at researching and archiving the history of the Network. Material identified for archiving was tranferred to the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre in the Spring to Summer of 2016 for permenant preservation.
Arrangement:
The collection has been arranged to a broad item level within the following series: 1) Governance, 2) Community Network Members, 3) Projects, Services and Partnerships, 4) Migrant and Refugee Forum Manchester, 5) Communications, 6) Photographs, 7) Related Organisations and Contextual Material, 8) Other Multimedia
Source:
Date of donation: Jun-Sep 2016Donor name: Manchester Refuggee Support Network
Access restrictions:
Unrestricted24 hours notice is required to view this collection. Material will then be accessible through Manchester Central Library Search Room, Manchester Central Library, St. Peters Square, Manchester, M2 5PD. Any enquiries relating to this collection please contact: rrarchive@manchester.ac.uk
Use restrictions:
Restricted
General notes:
The Manchester Refugee Support Network provides advice and support on a range of issues as well community development programmes and interpretation services to Manchester's diverse and developing refugee communities. It is located at the St. James Centre, Princess Road, Moss Side.
It started as an idea in the early 1990s by eight of Manchester's refugee community groups, namely those of Bosnia, Iraq, Vietnam, Somalia, Brava, Sudan, Kurdistan and Chile, all of whom settled in Manchester due to various civil wars in the 1970s-1990s. Representatives from each group founded the MRSN and formed its Management Committee. They then worked with the local authority and the voluntary sector to help meet the needs of these diverse groups. Later on, the MRSN continued to develop its work programme with other communities to include people from Kosovo, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Congo, North Korea, Palestine, Kosovo/Albania, Eritrea, Nigeria, African Francophile nations and others.
It was formalised in 1995 with its first Annual General Meeting in 1997. It was directed by Ali Rahman and in 1998, after a successful fundraising efforts, two staff were hired: Liz Rutherford (Co-ordinator) and Ahmed Ballah (Advice Worker).
Its core aim is to "promote and support the successful integration of people from refugee communities in Manchester and celebrate their contributions to the city." This was achieved by providing training, facilitating events and campaigning for various issues. One of the earliest training workshops provided the MRSN was in 2000 and focussed on media skills. This was highlighted as refugee communities were worried about the negative narratives being delivered by the media about refugees in the UK. It was organised by the Greater Manchester Asylum Media Group, of which the MRSN is a member. Other training had primarliy focussed on building leadership skills within the different refugee community groups. Its other operations fall broadly under the banners of culture, health and rights/campaigning.
Within culture, one of its most notable contributions is the facilitating of the Refugee Cultural Festival, the first of which was held in 1996 at Manchester Town Hall and featured eight participating communities – Bosnian, Chilean, Bravanese, Kurdish, Iraqi, Somali, Sudanese and Vietnamese. The event was supported by Manchester City Council, Refuge Action and Oxfam. The event was later named the Shine Festival. These were held bi-annually until 2004 when it was taken up by Community Arts North West (CAN) and branded the Exodus Festival. Information on theManchester Refugee and Shine festivals can be found within the material on projects [GB3228.57/3/1/1] as well as within the photograph collection [GB3228.57/6/2/1].
Another notable contribution to culture was the support of the Refugee World Cup tournaments. Manchester's first tournament was held in 2000 and was organised by MRSN and Manchester Social Services taking place at Trinity Sports Centre in Hulme. Three competing teams, the Somalis (the winners), Sudanese and Kosovars were joined by a team from Manchester Social Services. It was held again in 2010 at Salford Sports Village with sixteen teams competing. Photographs of the tournaments can be found in the photograph collection [GB3228.57/6/2/2].
Under health, a promient project was the 'SWITCH’ Somali Women in the Community Health Project. This delivered women's health workshops with Haween Somali women’s group in 1999. Papers about this project can be found in the projects material [GB3228.57/3/1/2].
Within the spehere of rights and campaigning, MRSN operates the Refugee and Migrant Forum which campaigns for refugee rights [GB3228.57/4]. It was launched in 2004 at Hulme Hall with 64 people from different communities and organisations attending. One of its most important campaigns was to create the Manchester Refugee Charter, a document which set out Manchester's commitment to refugee communit
Location of originals:
Archive 250/5/4-6, hard drive
Related material note:
GB3228.08 Greater Manchester BME Community Collection
MRSN oral history recordings
Language:
EnglishAlbanian, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Somali, Spanish, Tigrinya
Record number:
8931934
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