News

Donation of goods

Donations of goods remain a way in which people can express their support for refugees and we have an ongoing input of items. Adapting to the post-Covid era, most of these pickups and deliveries were coordinated through our WhatsApp contact list.

Swimming lessons save lives

Over the years, members have assisted new arrivals with swimming lessons. Over the years MVSRG have from time to time run swimming programs through funding from various sources including NSW Sport & Recreation and Rotary Foundation of Albury. These have

Annual Report for 2020

Welcome to the sixteenth Annual Report for Murray Valley Sanctuary Refugee Group Incorporated. The new decade brought with it many challenges, from bushfires to Covid19 restrictions and six months of border closures impacting on newly arrived settlers

Artists and Winemakers enable Fake Art Auction

During 2019 – 2020, local artists donatedartworks towards an Auction that was scheduled for April 2020. These magnificent pieces were collected, promotional flyers printed, and Coffield Wines bottles delivered, in the lead up to the inaugural Fake

Thank you to our founding members

… from little things, big things grow Sr Bernice Keane recently retired after 16 years as an active member of MVSRG. Sr Keane has contributed in many ways behind the scenes and her support has been much appreciated. We are grateful for the ongoing

Bikes to get to work, school, sport and play

Donated bikes, helmets, bike locks and repair kits are provided to new arrivals to enable them to be more mobile and participate in study, work and socialising. Thank you to the Bike Committee for delivering bike lessons and bike repair workshops during

ATEL vehicle keeping people safe on the road

MVSRG is grateful for the generous donation of a dual control car from ATEL Employment Services in 2019. MVSRG was assisted 72 learner drivers to undertake 287 driving lessons over the past two years, thanks to financial support from the Department of

Safe Driving In Australia

Saturday 6th March
DRIVING SAFELY IN A NEW COUNTRY For some years Sanctuary has been providing driving lessons for many new arrivals. These have generally been enthusiastically received such that some 72 learner drivers undertook 287 driving lessons, thanks to financial

Fueled up to support more new settlers

Monday 7th March 2021
Fueled up to get more new settlers involved in their new community A really big thank you to Volunteering Victoria and the Department of Social Services for grants that reimburse volunteers for fuel expenses supporting newly arrived families. Our volunteer

Albury Lions Club Scholarship

Monday 1st February 2021
ALBURY LIONS CLUB SCHOLARSHIP LAUNCHED During the past year, 32 refugees benefited from both financial support and mentoring from the Student Support Committee (24 Cultural fund, 3 Tertiary fund and 5 Richardson Education Assistance Program fund) during

AGM 2021

Our Annual General Meeting will be held at St. David's Church Hall, cnr Wilson and Olive Streets Albury at 6pm on Wednesday 10th March 2021. Come along to extend a great thank you to Sr Bernice Keane, one of our founding members, who is retiring after

Rotary Club of Albury Foundation keeps refugees informed during these challenging times

18/06/2020
THE ROTARY CLUB of ALBURY FOUNDATION has generously offered a grant to MVSRG to fund a series of educational forums and associated videos in Swahili with English subtitles. These will be posted on YouTube so that attendees can revise what they learn

Giving Tuesday call for funds for computers

During Covid19 restrictions our volunteers are unable to provide face-to-face support for recently arrived refugees settling in Albury Wodonga. What we are able to do is to accept donated bikes and donated computers. During these times of social isolation,

Play of Life practitioners arriving in Albury/Wodonga soon to continue their support new settlers.

7 March 2020
Melanie Raimundo will be visiting Albury/Wodonga with her colleague and Play of Life trainer Stephanie to reconnect with students of the Play of Life. This will be a time to check-in with how the students have gone with practicing thePlay of Life techniques,

Rotary supports Play of Life self help counselling program

PLAY OF LIFE-- a very generous grant from Rotary Club of Albury Foundation, enabled the training of several members of refugee background in the program "Relationship Mentoring for New Settlers”. The Play of Life is a practical tool for determining

AGM 2019

9 th March 2019
Our Annual General Meeting will be held at the St David's church hall at 6:30pm on 13th March 2019. Dr Andrea Osterwalder (East-wood) will be our guest speaker relating some of her experience of 10 years of working in Africa. Visitors are welcome.

Refugee Alternatives Conference - Self Representation

13 April 2018
Self-representation Apajok BiarBorn in a refugee camp, Apajok arrived in Australia from Kenya with her family as a curious 2-year-old. At 23 she has just completed a Bachelor of Social Work at Western Sydney University and volunteers at her local community

Refugee Alternatives Conference - Refugee Women in Australia

13 April 2018
A Continuum of Experience: Refugee Women in Australia. This session was moderated by Mariam Issar, herself an inspiring speaker. https://refugeealternatives.org.au/mariam-issa/ She introduced three young women with refugee backgrounds who spoke of the

Refugee Alternatives Conference

13 April 2018
Report by Helen Putland If we felt lucky to have been chosen to attend this conference before the event, we felt privileged afterwards. While the program was demanding, it was, in many instances, delivered by people with rich lived experience of the

Sisters experience Wodonga Christmas lights during first Australian Christmas

22 December 2017
Janet Howie from the Border Mail newspaper writes on 22 December 2017; Uncertain at first, but growing in confidence and delight, the two girls played with bubble snow, danced along with Santa and gladly accepted candy canes. For Angel, 10, and Naomi,

The refugee with a secret rock star past

3 January 2018
Luke WAters, SBS Reporter met with Faida Kashindi in 2017 and published the following article and video on 3 January 2018. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-refugee-with-a-secret-rock-star-past Below is an except from Luke Water's article on www.sbs.com.au;

Swimming Lessons for 20 refugees funding by Rotary Foundation of Albury

17 September 2017
Twenty newly-arrived Border residents are learning the basics of swimming thanks to a partnership between the Murray Valley Refugee Sanctuary Group and the Rotary Club of Albury. Below is an article written by journalist Emma Ebsary and published in

Talented refugees give back to our community

15th October 2017
Our community has been strengthened and enriched by our talented new arrivals. Singing songs about things that matter at the Murray Valley Sanctuary Refugee Group's annual Open Garden fundraiser. SBS journalist Luke Waters visited Wodonga in November

Wodonga VCAL students support refugees

8 November 2017
New settlers to Albury Wodonga receive so much support from their new community who welcome them. Wodonga Senior Secondardy College students restored bicycles and sold them at local markets as part of their VCAL program. The funds raised were kindly

Wodonga TAFE Student Award

New arrivals 2017