Judith Eversley writes:

Wren Sidhe and Graham and Diana Page attended the Syrian Feast organised by Bath Welcomes Refugees on Saturday evening (photo courtesy of BWR). They told us about it after Meeting for Worship on Sunday 28th October, announcing too that Bath Welcomes Refugees is appealing for household goods. The following items are needed to equip two refugee 5-member families arriving in Bath in the near future.

The items needed are:
• cutlery set
• glasses
• small coffee cups
• large Arabic coffee pot
• scissors
• kitchen clock
• calendar
• first aid kit
• basic tool kit
• large saucepans with lids
• cooking implements
• ironing board
• laundry basket
• laundry bin
• kitchen bin
• iron*
• toaster*
* Apparently it’s best these items are brand new so they don’t have to be sent for portable appliance testing.

Wren and Diana are co-ordinating Bath Quaker donations in response to this appeal. If you can donate any item on the list please email Wren on wrensidhe@me.com. (By the way, if any items are duplicated, they will go into store for the next families).

In immediate response to the appeal in Notices, Friends gave cash donations of nearly £150 which will be spent on items on the list this week. If you would like to add to the cash collection, please tell Wren. (We had thought that we would hand over the money, but we now know that it makes their accounting easier if they receive goods rather than cash. They ask us to do the shopping!)

To finish with Wren’s inimitable observation: “As Quakers, we strive to live simply; we ourselves may put up with household items that are manky though serviceable. Our wish is to make families who have lost everything feel welcome here, so we hope that items you donate to make a home for them will be in new or as-new condition!”