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Church youth visit salvaged – but organisers ‘gutted’ for those left behindA visit to the West Midlands by young people from churches in India has been salvaged at the eleventh hour. But local young people are devastated that two of their Indian friends can’t come.
Six young people from West Bengal and two leaders had been invited by the West Midlands area of the United Reformed Church, in return for hospitality given last year. Only two of the eight were granted visas. But after pressure from the Church and from MPs, and with the departure put back by twenty four hours, three more visas were eventually granted.
One male leader and four young women will now arrive tomorrow (Wednesday) evening. One other leader and two young people are left behind.
Helen Carr, from Bartley Green, Birmingham, said ’I’m quite pleased. But gutted for the ones left behind. It would have been their first time out of India. And it means we won’t be able to continue building the friendships with them that were started, when we went to India last summer. We’re being encouraged to foster links with other countries, but bureaucracy is trying to prevent that’.
Co-organiser, Chris Burgham from Shrewsbury said ‘I’m over the moon that three more are coming. We’ve put so much work into this. But I don’t really understand why the other visas were refused. The reason given is that the visitors don’t have sufficient financial backing. But the United Reformed Church is underwriting the cost’.
Chris Burgham and local young people will welcome the arrivals at Birmingham Airport tomorrow (Wednesday) at about 7.30pm. They will take them to Barnes Close, Bromsgrove, headquarters of the Community for Reconciliation, where they will stay for the first few days.
The West Midlands area of the United Reformed Church, which extends from Birmingham to the Welsh border, has had a partnership since 2002 with the Church of North India and particularly the Diocese of Durgapur, in West Bengal. Last summer, twelve West Midlands young people spent two weeks in Durgapur. They painted children’s cots in a rural hospital and helped in a child development centre which caters for slum children. They came back saying the families who hosted them had little to give, but the generosity had been overwhelming.
The church enlisted the support of local MPs including Clare Short (Birmingham, Ladywood), Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme), Andrew Mitchell (Sutton Coldfield), and Lorely Burt (Solihull) to help put pressure on the immigration authorities.
For more details, or to arrange interviews with the young people, contact Chris Burgham tel. 0797 678 8543 or Helen Carr 0777 909 4066.
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