Summer Party 2017

The ICG's summer party was held in July and was hugely successful – lot of wine was drunk, food consumers and stimulating conversation.

The event included a raffle in aid of Refugee Support. For those of you who are unaware, Paul Hutchings was a very active ICG member who left this year to pursue his charitable work.  He has asked us to publish his thanks for our support below:

“Thank you very much to all the generous members last night at the summer party who bought raffle tickets and donated to help the refugees in Greece. We raised well over £700 that will help to provide some dignity and normality to people who have lost so much and now living in poor conditions with uncertain futures.

As a researcher, I note that attitudes to refugees can divide a room. Some people are openly hostile, some people incredibly supportive but many, while sympathetic to their plight, have understandable concerns about the impact on their society and individual circumstances. In this context, facts and evidence don't seem to be enough to win people over.

As a human, I would just say that having lived and worked with these people over the last 18 months, they are just like you and me. One of the things I was most struck by when we first started working with refugees was a sense of bewliderment at their situation. They had normal lives surrounded by friends and family and then there was a war raging around them. Suddenly life was full of chaos, loss and uncertainty.

Putting moral concerns to one side, this is a manageable situation. It just needs some political will. In the meantime, I hope there is something that we can do to provide for the most basic of human needs. Thank you to the ICG for helping with that.”