Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

Do you have lived experience of seeking asylum and are you ready to become a leader in advocating for refugee rights? ✨ The Community, Advocacy, and Power Program (CAPP) in Brisbane is still accepting applications🌟 This is your chance to develop the skills to make a real difference for the refugee community. ⏰ Applications close: September 29 📍 Apply today via https://bit.ly/3eMg0mV Take the first step toward becoming a powerful advocate.

Sajeda and her family escaped unimaginable violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan, clinging to the hope of a future filled with peace and safety. “Back home, I have seen the targeted killing of Hazara people like me,” Sajeda recounts, her voice heavy with emotion. “I saw 100 people killed in a bomb blast. We were not welcome, never safe, never free.” Her father, driven by love and desperation, took the perilous journey to Australia first, risking everything to protect his family from the violence that surrounded them. "It was risky, but he came first in an effort to save us from being harmed or killed on the trip." Now, against all odds, Sajeda is a beacon of strength, a powerful voice for human rights, using her story to advocate for justice and freedom. Learn more about her courageous journey and help support our life-changing advocacy work via https://bit.ly/3zaDKOr #standontherightside

Melbourne’s biggest running event, the 2024 Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival, is now just a few weeks away, coming up on Sunday 13 October. It is also the biggest event on the ASRC’s Run 4 Refugees calendar, and we have a 185-runner strong Team ASRC taking to the streets this year while raising vital funds so we can continue to provide essential services for more than 7,000 people seeking asylum. It is going to be a massive #melbmara again, with full marathon, half marathon, wheelchair marathon and 10km run all sold out, but it's not too late to get in on the action! There are still some spots available in the 5km run, 2.5km walk and the kids’ 1km mini marathon. Don't wait until it's too late - join in this spring and register to run with Team ASRC via https://bit.ly/47iQxel

Your passionate support for the ASRC helps fund the Community, Advocacy and Power Program (CAPP), which provides training to leaders with lived experience of seeking asylum. The program covers key advocacy skills including public speaking, storytelling, campaigning and organising. 148 people have graduated from CAPP since it started in 2020 and many of whom have gone on to lead key advocacy campaigns. Zainab is one of our CAPP graduates this year and she shares why she joined the CAPP program: “I learned how to campaign for refugees in an efficient and effective way. I don’t want other refugees to experience what I suffered, I want to open the way for them - for a smooth settlement in a new environment in a new society. And I want them to be happy. Thank you so much.” Learn more about the stories of two other CAPP graduates—what it’s like to live in limbo, the joy of family reunions, and more. Help power our advocacy work so these voices continue to be heard 👉🏽 https://bit.ly/3zaDKOr #standontherightside

Meet Douha Kabbara, one of the wonderful baristas at Journeys Café by ASRC Catering. Douha shares her journey joining ASRC Catering, her love for cooking, and what she enjoys about her job. Staff like Doha, so talented, hard working and passionate, are the perfect example of what people can achieve when given the opportunity to thrive in safety 🧡

Thank you to Soap Aid who have been supporting the ASRC Foodbank since January 2023 with donations of soap. Soap Aid is a not-for-profit organisation recycling and sending critical soap to communities facing major hygiene challenges by collecting, sorting, clearning and reprocessing hotel soap into fresh, hygienic soap for distribution to targeted communities in need of basic sanitation. Their donations ensure people seeking asylum who access our Foodbank have access to basic essentials and access to these wonderfully scented bars of soap.

Have you been toying around with the idea of writing a will? This is your sign to do it today for FREE & leave a legacy capable of protect freedom. Gifts pledged in wills play a crucial role in allowing our organisation to do the work that we do. More importantly, it can be an avenue to reflects what matters to you – your loved ones, family, friends & causes. A gift in your will of any size will ensure we continue providing access to food, healthcare, education, and legal services to some of the most vulnerable people in our community. We know will-writing can be expensive. So we’ve partnered with Gathered Here, Australia’s most trusted online will platform, to bring you access to 100% free online wills with unlimited free updates for life. Write your free will today : https://bit.ly/3XsZDC4

Another wonderful event, held in Melbourne recently, raised more than $1,000 for the essential services the ASRC provides for people seeking asylum. After a 15-year hiatus, Zachary Dunbar, Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne and a long-standing ASRC supporter, revisited his classical music roots with a solo piano recital at Melba Hall. The night weaved together Stanislavski's concept of lived experience from the book An Actor Prepares with memories of musical training and interpretation, featuring works by Mozart, Chopin, and Schumann. Two of ASRC's dedicated volunteers spoke at this free event, with the audience generously responding to the artist's call to donate to featured charities that support education and homelessness. A huge thank you to everyone involved, with special thanks to Zachary and David 💜 (Video credit to The University of Melbourne Faculty of Fine Arts and Music Youtube)

Did you know, a third of Australians say they would consider including a charity in their will? But only half even have a will 😧 We’re on a mission to close that gap, so we’ve partnered with Gathered Here, Australia’s most trusted online will platform, to bring you access to free online wills - with unlimited free updates for life! Write your free will today: https://bit.ly/3AHCWBc

This month, we ask you to stand on the right side of history ✊🏼 Many refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia have been failed by an unjust system, leaving them in limbo for over a decade with devastating consequences. Forced to leave their homelands for safety, they find themselves in our community without rights: to work, to access Medicare, or access to income support. This shameful chapter has to end for refugees and people seeking asylum to live with dignity and safety. Help us hold the government accountable by powering our advocacy work. Find out more at https://bit.ly/3zaDKOr #standontherightside