Room to Heal’s Winter Newsletter

Newsletter 16 December 2016

Room to Heal winter newsletter 2016

Happy Christmas and New Year!

Hello and welcome to our winter newsletter. Throughout 2016, Room to Heal’s healing community for survivors of torture and organised violence has continued to flourish despite worrying changes in the political landscape. Sometimes it has felt that xenophobia, fear and despair are gaining the upper-hand but, as one member said in our most recent evaluation:
“Room to Heal is like a sun, shining from midst of the dark clouds!”
If you believe in our work please become a friend of Room to Heal by supporting us.

LOOKING BACK

We are just completing our annual evaluation of Room to Heal’s work, interviewing members and partners and compiling our learning from the year.
“Room to Heal means my family, where I feel loved. It means everything.”
The fifteen words most frequently used by our members to describe Room to Heal are:

OUR SUPPORT
In 2016 we helped 113 people who had survived torture and organised violence, from 30 countries, to rebuild their lives in exile. Key findings from our survey include:

95% of our members felt life was more meaningful
100% felt more able to cope with the effects of trauma
89% felt better able to cope with the asylum process
80% felt more able to access housing
73% were informed by RtH about places to study and receive training

For the first time our evaluation includes feedback from partners:
“It is a great help that the clients have an organisation in Room to Heal that really cares about their well-being and support and means that we can focus on their immigration problems.” Damien Hanley, Wilsons LLP

COMMUNITY OF THE HEART
Next year is Room to Heal’s 10th anniversary. We will be using the opportunity to take stock of how far Room to Heal has come over the last ten years and what we have learned over the decade we have been working in the field. We will be celebrating (with you) and looking to share the journey, learning, expertise and stories of Room to Heal. As Mark Fish, our Founder and Director said:
“I’ve learned much more about therapy and what it is, what it isn’t. In a world of quick fixes and a fixation around curing symptoms, people lose sight of what’s really important. And actually when it comes down to it, that’s the heart. Through Room to Heal I’ve learnt what it means to create a community of the heart.”
Read more on the Room to Heal blog here.

JOIN OUR TEAM!
We are looking for a bright and brilliant fundraiser to join our team and help ensure we can continue to deliver our pioneering work. If you are interested, or know somebody who might be, you can find out more here.

That’s all for now folks…Thanks to you all for your invaluable support and have a wonderful holiday!

“I don’t know the purpose of me, to live / survive! But Room to Heal brightens my life by making me aware that there is HOPE.”

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