About three and a half years ago, I listened to an interview with Jacob Berkson, the founder of T4K, on Refugee Radio and I immediately thought this is the organisation for me!
I had been becoming increasingly upset and angry about accounts of people fleeing life-threatening experiences in their home countries and then enduring terrifying journeys across Europe in order to achieve safety and sanctuary in the U.K. However instead of welcome and sanctuary they received humiliation and sanctions from a hostile and suspicious government.
I thought – this is not in my name! My outrage was heightened by the fact that many of my relatives were murdered in the Nazi death camps and I wouldn’t exist now if my grandparents hadn’t been permitted entry into the U.K.
However I wanted to do much more than express my outrage. I wanted to be able to make a practical difference. This is what is so brilliant about T4K – it enabled me to to channel my emotions into tangible benefits for migrants that I personally wanted to welcome into our community.
I along with many of the other volunteers have only got a limited number of hours a week that I am able to commit to T4k. I have recently retired from paid work (after a career in social work) but I have lots of other demands on my time. However that has not stopped me from getting involved several areas of the development and functioning of T4k. I am a Trustee and also have lead responsibility for searching for new homes. In addition I help with the Events and Care & Support sub-groups.
It has been an amazing working alongside such lovely and often inspirational folk – both the people we are supporting and the other volunteers!
