The NCADC (National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns) welcomes the Community Fund's decision to finally release the grant of £336,261 that was agreed in August this year. It is to be regretted that the hate campaign 'encouraged' by some sections of the press, together with the unwarranted intervention by the Home Office, caused the grant to be delayed by more than two months. However, we are grateful for the overwhelming support we have received from the voluntary sector and the other organisations working with refugees and asylum seekers.

National Spokesperson and NCADC vice chair Pete Widlinski said, "While we never doubted that the Community Fund would make the grant, we find it unacceptable that staff and trustees of the Community Fund and our own workers have been subjected to a sustained campaign of misrepresentation, race hate and threats. We hope that this difficult period is now at an end and that we can again concentrate on our role of giving advice and support to those campaigning against deportation. The allegation that we 'encourage' criminal activities has been proven to be completely unfounded."

The funding will ensure that NCADC continues its work of advising and supporting people who often have no one else to turn to, and maintaining our website, which is a source of invaluable information for groups and individuals in Britain and elsewhere. The NCADC is a very small organisation that attempts to assist people to access all options available to them.

The NCADC has successfully assisted over 100 families and individuals to campaign against deportation. We advise people on how to campaign, that is, on how to communicate the facts of their cases to the Home Office, and bring their cases to the attention of those who might be able to influence the Home Office. These people have been allowed to remain as a result of Home Office decisions and their own tenacity and courage.

Although the majority of the people we help are not 'political' and our assistance is confined to their anti-deportation campaigns, media attention has focussed on a small number of our campaigns, including Paramjit & Mukhtiar Singh, Ragbhir Singh, Karamjit Singh Chahal, Ajit Singh, Shafiq-ur-Rehman and Hikmet Bozat.

NCADC can confirm that all of the above named individuals have been allowed to stay legally in the UK as a result of decisions by Jack Straw or David Blunkett, following campaigns supported and advised by NCADC. This proves that the work we do is completely within the law.

We are convinced that the measure of a mature democracy is that it is not threatened by lively and engaged groups that seek to improve their society and the lives of those that reside within it. We hope that the Community Fund's decision is a signal that the independence of the voluntary sector and its funders is safe from government interference.