JUNE/JULY BULLETIN 2022

The piece de resistance was the arrival of an ice cream van. This was the brainchild of Ryn, who raised money running the Stoke-on-Trent Half Marathon. A queue formed very quickly!

MEDICAL STUDENTS ON PLACEMENT November 2021 – May 2022

Volunteer Chris Chambers managed the placements and he formally reported as follows:

Once again, we have been able to host four second year medical students from Keele University for 12 weeks. As part of their course, they are expected to be placed in a community organisation, to understand something of the problems of delivering healthcare to people in different situations.

This year has been especially interesting, as they joined us just as ASHA was opening following a closure of the building during the worst of the ‘lockdown,’ and the return of service users was sporadic, with usual activities taking some time to re-start.

Although one of the students intended to help with Saturday football sessions, he managed to sustain an injury prior to starting, and had to opt for alternative activities, such as registering people as they arrived at ASHA, or assisting in English classes, as well as occasionally joining the other three students, who regularly helped with the children’s group on Saturdays.

Although the impact on ASHA of having these students may not have been significant, the students all learned a considerable amount from their time spent with asylum seekers and refugees. This will have a lasting impact on the way in which they approach the provision of healthcare for different communities. As they all worked with the children during their placement, their comments indicated that they had become much more aware of the effects of the trauma that they had suffered on their behaviour, and they are likely to be more understanding of this when dealing with such patients in the future.

One task each student had to do was to design a poster which could be useful for ASHA to advertise services which they provide, or other services which are available to our service users. The posters produced consisted of a general description of what ASHA is trying to do, aimed at the public, encouraging their support; two posters encouraged asylum seekers to enrol at Hanley Central Library; one poster advertised the Saturday children’s club, and the student produced this in five different languages.

Overall, the students benefited from the experience. However, the reduced number of days the organisation was open did have an impact on how they viewed the effectiveness of ASHA, and when they were not responsible for specific tasks such as interacting with children, they felt that at times their skills could have been better used. There were not always sufficient service users who needed their input, and areas such as clothing and food were not highly organised during the immediate post-covid opening, so a lack of clear direction meant that the students felt they were unable to use their time effectively in these situations.

The return of larger numbers of service users should allow Asha to operate for more days of the week, and have greater clarity of purpose, so future students will hopefully find ASHA to be an organisation offering more specific opportunities for the students to develop their skills and understanding.

CITY LEADER IN ACTION PLEDGE OVER ASYLUM Sentinel 6 July 2022

The City Council has taken the lead with other West Midlands councils to demand that the Home Office dispersal system is just that, that numbers are evenly spread, and Stoke-on-Trent does not accommodate a disproportionate number. The total which exceeded one thousand has now dropped to around eight hundred. Council leader, Abi Brown, commented: “We look forward to working with the government to deliver a fairer system that continues to support vulnerable people fleeing violence and oppression” and “we recognise the immense value they bring to local communities.”

Asha can see where Abi Brown is coming and the council is under no obligation to take any interest in Asha’s services, however a gesture of interest now and again would not come amiss!