Bradford community centre receives early Christmas gift from Human Relief Foundation

A Bradford based international humanitarian aid charity has gifted an early Christmas present to a local community centre that specialises in refugee integration. 

Human Relief Foundation has donated £500 to the Millside Centre to assist with costs to arrange Christmas activities and events for the centre’s users and volunteers. 

Millside Centre, situated on Grattan Road supports vulnerable people in the community, offering them the tools they need to thrive in the face of adversity. 

Human Relief Foundation has spent over three decades working to provide aid overseas, mainly in the Middle East, for example supporting Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, and peoples internally displaced by the Iraq conflict.

The donation was made after an HRF staff visit to the centre’s Welcome Café, an initiative that gives training to refugees and asylum seekers in catering skills. This includes basic food hygiene, cooking, customer service and giving them the right skills to build confidence, reduce isolation and become more employable.

Said Millside Centre manager, Juliet Adoch: “The generous donation from HRF gives an opportunity to celebrate diversity in our community. Many of our service users would not have the opportunity to have a celebration at this year due to competing priorities, however now we can celebrate with them and share the joy of the festive season with them.”

Nik Schofield, HRF marketing and communications manager said: “We’re looking to expand our work and strengthen ties with organisations providing advice, support and opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers in the Bradford and wider West Yorkshire area. We’re very supportive of the tremendous work that the Millside Centre undertakes in the community. 

He added: “The main body of our aid work is with refugees and displaced peoples overseas but we also recognise the need to support the most vulnerable in our local community and those who have recently arrived from overseas, who have experienced difficult and life-threatening situations.”

“We welcome the opportunity to support and work with local organisations whose activities have resonance with our own.”