Millennium Commission comes to aid of torture victims

A charity that helps torture victims is to receive nearly GBP400,000 from the Millennium Commission to enable people who have suffered serious human rights abuses develop skills that will benefit the community.

Freedom from Torture will use the Millennium money to fund a variety of projects put forward by people who have suffered torture or organised violence, and are now resident in Britain.

Most of the recipients will be refugees, or asylum seekers with exceptional leave to remain in the UK, who want to play a more active role in society. The kind of projects envisaged include funding newsletters, training interpreters, and setting up health advisory services.

Larger projects will receive a maximum grant of GBP5,000 and smaller ones a minimum of GBP1,500. Group projects, in which up to five recipients pool resources, will qualify for grants of up to GBP10,000.

Freedom from Torture, which last year saw nearly 5,000 new clients at its north London treatment centre, anticipates that the GBP393,750 grant will fund in total more than 120 different projects in London over the next three years.

Director of Freedom from Torture Helen Bamber said yesterday: "Most survivors of torture in the UK today are from communities that face language and cultural barriers, and acute problems of social exclusion.

"Many have an untapped wealth of knowledge and skills, which frequently are not allowed to flourish. This scheme is to help participants access and develop those skills, and help others in their own community, and the wider community too.

"We are very pleased that the Millennium Commission has seen fit to support our project. We believe the scheme will help to break down barriers between people with different backgrounds and beliefs, to foster tolerance and understanding.

"In addition the scheme could fill some gaps that exist in service provision as well as providing channels of communication and support. This could be in the form of helping new arrivals with vital matters relating to integration, and helping them maintain their own sense of cultural identity while presenting a positive image of minority communities to nationals of the host country."

In addition to the money from the Millennium Commission, architects Sir Richard Rogers and Marco Goldschmied have also donated GBP75,000 over three years to Freedom from Torture to help set up the initiative.