Journeys of Lockdown, Journeys of Refuge 

As so many others we have all been separated in one way or
other from our loved ones over the past 16 months. We know the sorrows, the pain, the tears, the fear. In our minds we travel to see them ; on our screens we speak to them, share valued moments and experiences. We click our love, keep well, keep safe, look after those close to you.

We we-enact in our minds the journeys that take us to them and the journeys we have made with them. From the Angel of the North to the
Angel Islington, from Bensham (Grove) to the Barbican, from Chester-le-Street to Chapel Market, from the Dunston Staithes along the Derwent Walk, from East Gateshead to East Stratford …. . We take and exchange photos and memories. But we are not WITH them.

Three weeks ago our eldest granddaughter came from London to
stay with us for a week after her A Levels, so we were able to share our home again and just be with her. Ten days ago we picked up our two Gateshead grandchildren from school and brought them into our home for the first time in 16 months. Three days later one of them tested positive, so back into isolation. Today I will meet my daughter off the train at the station in Chester-le-Street. Reunions, happy moments, no doubt some tears.

Four weeks ago S form Iraq and her three beautiful children J M and L came and spent the afternoon in the sun in are garden. We talked, we
sat, we played games, we just relaxed and felt each other’s presence and company. When they left they chose some plants to take home and nurture in the small beds they have created in front of their house and in their back yard - four different mints, marjoram, dill, nasturtiums, geraniums, marigolds and more ….. 

It’s been a hard time for all of us, these 15-16 months. I’ve been through a major cancer operation and six months of chemotherapy. Linda has just fallen and damaged knee ligaments and sprained both ankles. We’ve so missed our wider families.

But we haven’t had to walk across Europe, Africa or Asia, brave the seas in a leaky boat, be exploited, robbed and abandoned by
traffickers (or worse), live in an overcrowded camp, been threatened, been hungry, thirsty, cold and without shelter. We have our homes, if only in our minds we can make a SAFE PASSAGE to be with our families, loved ones and friends. We have our refuge.

SAFE PASSAGE works 24/7, 365 days year, year in year out, to help refugees complete their journeys SAFELY, to find their refuge, whether
temporary or permanent. Above all they are working to help re-unite child refugees with other family members. The family won’t be complete, their lives will still be scarred by the loss of sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, grandparents and wider family members and by everything else they have had to experience. But they can be re-united with at least one family member and get the chance to feel the reassurance, the togetherness, the love we all need to
re-establish some kind or normality in our lives.

So in the past twelve months I have walked, every day, 100 yards, a quarter mile, a mile, then 5 km, 8 km, 10 km. First I took it up for
my  physical recovery, then found it contributed as much to my mental health and well-being. Then in March I joined Maggie’s 300,000 steps in March Challenge for the Maggie’s Cancer Support Centre in Newcastle, who helped me so much while I went through chemotherapy. And in April  Eleanor hit upon the idea
of walking in our minds to meet each other “from Waldridge Fell to Walthamstow Wetlands, from the River Lea to the River Wear” for Care International’s 100 mile walk to fund-raise for girls’ and women’s health and education around the globe. In June it is with other members and supporters of for Durham City of Sanctuary’s fundraising effort for SAFE PASSAGE’s appeal to help reunite
refugee children with other family members.

PLEASE DONATE TO SUPPORT THIS APPEAL, however large or
small, either on my page or directly at the Durham City of Sanctuary’s page on Safe Passage’s appeal site. Thank you.