Britain is to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next four years, to help with the crisis in the Middle East. But how will refugees fair in a new country and how will they fit in to a different culture? One Dutch social landlord thinks he has an answer.

Thom Aussems, head of the Trudo housing corporation, based in Eindhoven in the Netherlands, is offering to cut the rent of current tenants if they help refugees to integrate. He says residents will receive a €100 (£80) discount if they agree to spend 10 hours a week helping new migrants navigate Dutch bureaucracy and guiding them through their host country’s rules and customs.

“We expect them to do two things,” he said. “First, they should help them settle into their new home, get to know their neighbours, and learn things like when to take the bins out. Secondly, they can act as a kind of liaison officer when they’re dealing with institutions in areas like learning the language, education, work and social security, so they can highlight any problems quickly.”

Trudo operates in some of the most deprived districts of Eindhoven. Aussems says the average monthly rent is around €435, so a €100 discount is a fair-sized carrot for tenants on low incomes. The housing corporation is funding the €250,000 scheme from its own resources, as part of a five-year €430m investment programme.

The idea came from a 2007 project in which young tenants were given a similar discount in return for helping local schoolchildren with their homework. “We wanted to prevent another lost generation,” said Aussems. “Within four years we had helped 350 children. It was a fantastic result. So then we went looking other areas where we could adopt the same strategy. We identified seven or eight, one of which was helping refugees settle.”

The refugee issue has caused social unrest in parts of the Netherlands, but Aussems said his incentive was designed to defuse tensions between local residents and refugees before they reached crisis point. “Tensions occur when people don’t know each other, can’t understand each other or can’t communicate,” he said. “If you give people the opportunity to connect with each other and work together, it’s a lot more effective and efficient than doing it via the bureaucratic route.”

Venus has recently taken delivery of an impressive art installation that is the result of collaborating with local artist Steph Fawcett. Over a period of time, Steph and the women who attend Venus worked together to explore photography, how events can change a person’s life immediately, and the after-effects of change. The project is called “My Life Changed When…” and participants talked and wrote about particular events that affected them.

Steph explains: “I wanted to share my feelings of vulnerability, fear and strength, with individuals who could empathise and engage with a photographic project that expressed how anybody can be exposed to something life changing at any moment, without warning or time for preparation; and that support is available if and when you need it.”

The thought-provoking installation is interactive, which means you can change the face by changing the segments of picture around, so it can be prsonalised to the viewer. Steph has integrated the physical art into the world of social media too by creating the “Hashtags” #VenusCentre and #MyLifeChangedWhen so that you can take a picture of the face you have created and share it with the world!

You can view this powerful work of art when it is exhibited next week. The exhibition is from 6pm – 8pm on Tuesday 14th June at the Museum of Liverpool Life at the Albert Dock.  Whilst the full installation won’t be there, there will be representations to demonstrate the full range of the work.

Venus worker, Jo Kenyon, said: “We’re delighted to be involved and thrilled with the results of everyone’s hard work, it’s amazing and moving and evocative and we love it!”

If you’d like to see the installation, call in to The Venus Centre at 215 Linacre Lane, Bootle, and have a look.

Musicians Against Homelessness are putting on an exciting show at Liverpool club District on Saturday October 1st.

The former Creation label boss, Alan McGee, set up Musicians Against Homelessness earlier this year to help raise funds for the homeless charity Crisis and provide gig opportunities for up-and-coming bands. Cast and The Farm will be launching Musicians Against Homelessness with a gig at the O2 Academy in Leeds on the 18th September.

Speaking about the tragedy of homelessness, McGee said: “It’s a massive modern problem and one we can’t just step over and ignore. That is why we’re supporting Crisis, to try and highlight the issue through music and try and raise awareness about the situation.

“Maybe it’s time for us to think about how this government is dismantling the safety net of the welfare system through cuts, and ask them to address the skyrocketing rents people are being asked to pay. All of us need to question the stereotypical images we have of people on the streets. Falling on hard times or having a particular run of bad luck is something that could happen to anyone.”

“And if you ain’t got any support when it hits you, you too could find yourself one rung of the ladder away from being homeless and living on the streets.”

So, for a great night out and to support a worthy cause, get your tickets – only a fiver! – from District, 61 Jordan Street, Liverpool L1 0BW, or phone 07812 141936.

Venus are delighted to announce that they have been awarded 5 year funding to work with women and girls through the Big Lottery. The programme is called “Step Together” and will include lots of individual support, group work, training and counselling to women who are often the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society.

The Big Lottery Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK and this is part of £48.5 MILLION investment nationally. Women and girls are at the heart of more than 60 projects across England which will support them to regain and retain control of their lives, including seven life-changing projects sharing in £3,966,015 across the North West.

Funding is focused on not only providing help for women of all ages faced with extremely difficult situations such as stalking, sexual exploitation, violence against them but also in mentoring and connecting young girls with role models.

Venus will receive £416,863 to work with women who have lost their children to public care or adoption to empower them to manage their own lives. Venus will get involved early when there are further pregnancies and provide support the year after to reduce the likelihood of their new child going into care. Other areas of help will include parenting training, interventions with regards to substance misuse and support to help women to build supportive relationships with family members and friends to build their support network.

The Big Lottery Fund is investing £45.5 million in 63 projects. A further £3 million will be invested in evaluating and learning including supporting the projects as they develop and then sharing details of the work of each so that other women and organisations can benefit in the future.

Geeta Gopalan, Big Lottery Fund England committee vice chair and chair of the funding panel for women and girls said: “Strong evidence from women and girls organisations told us of the increased demand for support, so we’ve been working closely with them over the past year to identify ways that women of all ages can get the right help, information and a listening ear to take control of their lives. We will be working closely with all the projects funded today to share the most successful aspects so that other women and girls can continue to benefit in the future.”

“I am delighted that we can use money raised through National Lottery players to go back into the community and help young girls and women most in need.”

Have you ever wondered what happens to food that is unsold or past it’s sell-by date? According to a new report, over one million tonnes of food is being “avoidably” discarded, of which at least 185,000 tonnes could be used to make safe and healthy meals for people who are hungry

According to the Trussell Trust, more than one million people have asked for three days’ food supplies from food banks in the UK this year. In these times of austerity, hunger and food-banks, throwing away 360 million meals is obscene. If this food were saved and redistributed, it would represent a “four-fold increase” on current levels of food being saved.

Richard Swannell, director at waste-prevention charity Wrap, which produced the government-commissioned report, told The Independent: “This is the first time in the UK and even in the world that a survey has gone right down the supply chain to see how much waste is avoidable.

“The key thing is to really understand the scale of the problem – that focuses the mind. What we need to do is actually have a lot more infrastructure that means there is collaboration between industry, retailers and charities. It takes some organisation.”

The report, ‘Quantification of Food Surplus and Waste’, found that almost £300 million could be saved every year through better use of surplus food. More food currently being thrown away could also be used as animal feed, the report added.

Food safety procedures will have to be strict and supermarkets must not simply “transfer the waste problem” over to charities, Mr Swannell said.

“I am fairly confident that the combination of this report and other changes means we are going to be seeing a dramatic increase in the amount of redistribution in the next two or three years,” he said.