A CAFE designed to integrate refugees and offer residents a taste of something different has been bringing out the best in volunteers and the wider community.
Coming from an idea by Debra Hill, Cafe Laziz launched in St Helens in 2019 as an inventive way to integrate refugees and asylum seekers into the community and improve their English skills in real-world situations.
Cafe Laziz, which is named after the Arabic word for delicious, invites people who are seeking asylum or fleeing war-torn countries to meet at the Peter Street hub and cook meals that are inspired by their culture.
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Success of project being shared in other regions
Offering a fresh Arabic menu each Thursday, the project has been so successful in improving the volunteers' English skills and confidence, Debra has been invited to conferences to share the idea with other councils and organisations.
Since launching Cafe Laziz, Debra has sadly been diagnosed with terminal cancer, but she has confidence that the volunteers can soon take on the reins of running the cafe themselves.
Debra said: "I came up with the idea for the cafe when I was teaching refugees and asylum seekers English, but thought they would still really struggle to get a job as they were finding it difficult to integrate and use the language in a practical setting.
"We now have volunteers from all over the world and their confidence has gone through the roof since we started.
"They love coming here because they feel safe and they can share their culture with each other and the community that comes in. They also know that if they need any extra help or signposting to other services, they can get that here.
"They all have families or small children so after my diagnosis, it's something that I want to take more of a step back from, and let them start running it for themselves."
Volunteers often fleeing war zones or destroyed homelands
With many of the volunteers fleeing from war zones, Debra shared stories of some of the horrors of what some volunteers and their families have been through.
This includes one woman who has lost fifteen members of her family in Syria, following the devastating earthquakes felt in Turkey and Syria this month.
Another refugee, Majada, came to St Helens six years ago after her husband was killed during the Iraqi civil war, and spoke of the satisfaction she gets from volunteering at Cafe Laziz.
Majada, 46, said: "I've volunteered at Cafe Laziz for two years, and also volunteered at St Andrew's Church as I always want to help.
"It has been hard to learn English and learn the culture, but I feel very safe and happy when I am here [at Cafe Laziz] and I make sure I come every Thursday."
Film planned to show integration project and how refugees are human beings
Abdullrhman Hassona, a filmmaker from Egypt, has been supporting Cafe Laziz since it launched in 2019 and has helped many of the volunteers improve their English skills.
Previously working for Middle Eastern media company Al Jazeera, Abdullrhman's former colleague Mahmood has recently come to the UK, and the pair plan to create a film about the integration project at Cafe Laziz.
Abdullrhman, 36, said: "In St Helens, I have found it to be a calm and friendly environment and I enjoy volunteering here as well as in other places.
"It's really good what is happening here, and I think it is a really positive model for others to follow in terms of integration.
"It may be baby steps, but it can lead to bigger things."
Speaking about the planned short film, Mahmood added: "I think with people coming to another country, it is always hard to adjust to a whole new culture.
"So the film would show a positive way of showing how two cultures can mix, and convey this to the English and the Arab world.
"I think food and music are great ways to bring people together and share cultures, and it also shows how refugees and asylum seekers are human beings and not just doing nothing or taking things away."
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