Organisations that can help This page always open to development. Please send us more ideas to add!
Various organisations and individuals have assembled lists and we aim to provide links to these lists and to key organisations here. Many projects are pleased to recruit volunteers to help with their work.
AVID - Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees. The network of voluntary organisations providing support for people in detention.
Citizens Advice provides links to information about a wide range of useful topics.
Citizens-UK runs a variety of projects, and topics for action appear on a series of changing illustrations (if you wait and watch) at the top of this page. Its initiatives include Refugees Welcome.
City of Sanctuary is a movement to build a culture of hospitality for people seeking sanctuary in the UK. Their goal is to create a network of towns and cities throughout the country which are proud to be places of safety for people seeking sanctuary and helping them integrate with their local communities.
The Community Sponsorship Scheme is a pathway that the government offers to community groups who want to become involved in supporting the resettlement of vulnerable families fleeing conflict.
Freedom from Tortureprovides specialist psychological therapy to help asylum seekers and refugees who have survived torture to recover and rebuild their lives, and training for professionals working with survivors. Campaigns with survivors for change in the UK and worldwide, raising awareness and influencing decision-makers about torture and its impact.
Helen Bamber Foundationgives survivors of trafficking and torture the strength to move on.
Housing Justice operates a Hosting Scheme and also convenes the London Hosting Network, with which it organises regular Open Evenings for people to find out more about hosting.
KRAN (Kent Refugee Action Network), working with separated young refugees and asylum seekers, known as UASC (Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children): young people aged 16 to 24 who have arrived in Kent alone and are claiming asylum. KRAN provides them with a safe, positive space and support them to succeed. They are supported to look after themselves well and we work with local education providers to ensure places in statutory education as soon as possible. We also run a mentoring project which links young people with volunteers in the community, along with an advocacy project to help them resolve any problems they may run into.
Kent Refugee Help. KRH supports refugees and migrants held in London and Kent prisons, helping them to access legal advice and representation to fight their cases and standing with them throughout. After release KRH continues to help in other ways – signposting to services, supporting them and providing small cash sums for emergencies. Telephone legal advice for immigration is offered via an advice line, open two days a week, and also one -to-one immigration legal advice either by prison visits or by video link. (KRH is regulated by the OISC to give immigration legal advice and representation.)
The Migrants and Refugees Section is part of the Vatican's Dicastery for Integral Human Development. As well as organising Days of Prayer and exhibitions, it produces documents, often inspired by the Pope's concerns, providing guidance on many topics and reports on initiatives in various countries. Anyone can receive its monthly bulletin.
The Refugee Council provides practical support and advice on matters such as health, finance, housing, education and training. Asylum seekers are directed from a network of regional offices to offers of counselling and English classes and Destitution Support via practical advice, pastoral care, emergency provisions and time limited projects. Their Services Directory lists organisations providing specialist advice, or campaigning or advocating on their behalf of refugees and asylum seekers, or which link to broader debates on migration and human rights. (The Directory is too large for convenient browsing and it's best to use the site's search engine to check its scope – instructions are provided using the search facility!).
The Red Crosssupports refugees in a wide variety of ways, such as offering emergency food, clothes or small amounts of cash to those facing severe hardship, as well as helping refugees to access services and offering friendly advice to the most vulnerable. They take a particular interest in family reunion, with qualified caseworkers in several parts of the UK who can help.
RefuAid can provide interest free loans to pay for the cost of completing the licensing or training that refugees may need to return to work in their fields.
Refugee Resource Centre for Churches " R2C2". Part of Jubilee+, with a vision to see churches increasingly playing a major role in welcoming, loving and supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, both through practical action and as a voice for justice, so they can integrate, flourish and play a full part in society.
Refugees at Home is a charity aiming to connect those with a spare room in their home with asylum seekers and refugees in need of accommodation across the UK.
Safe Passagebelieves every person has the right to be safe: safe to be with their family and safe to rebuild their lives. It champions the rights of refugees and displaced people as they flee persecution, using the law to help them access a safe route to a place of safety. It works alongside refugees to campaign for change and build public support for safe passage for all. Among their concernsh are helping child refugees reunite with their families through a safe routes, supporting Afghan refugees at risk, and campaigning for change to a system that cruelly punishes refugees seeking safety.
Samphire has a national Ex-detainee Project providing support and advice via a Freephone helpline 0800 9179397, open five days a week, and also runs a local community engagement project in Dover working with migrant and British communities to improve social cohesion, and better inclusion of migrants at the town and surrounding areas.
Sources of Support and Advice for Newly Arrived or Dispersed Asylum Seekers. This links to a list of organisations and groups who can help with advice, advocacy, food and clothing, English classes and social isolation, in the Initial Accommodation Cities that asylum seekers who need accommodation get sent to for a period, immediately after registering a claim.
Action by Christians against Torture – ACAT-UK – supports Christians of all denominations to pray and to write letters of appeal to governments and others in countries where we know abuse and torture are practised.
The Catholic Church provides suggestions of organisations – not exclusively from the Church – that need funds to help refugees of all faiths at home and abroad, or encourage aid and advocacy for those stuck in northern France, or offer shelter, time, skills or advocacy in the UK. There is also a list of local contacts in each diocese around England and Wales. Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) provides links to its member organisations who are concerned for migration issues.
The Church of England has a series of Refugee Resettlement Factsheets, which include links to local and national initiatives. Also, guidance on supporting people applying for asylum, and links to asylum campaigns.
CTBI offers information on organisations that are registering offers of accommodation and helping those who are matching offers of hosting with local needs. This is alongside more general reports of practical action.
The Jesuit Refugee Service - UK (JRS-UK) is the UK section of an international Catholic organisation with a mission to accompany, serve and advocate for the rights of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons. JRS UK has a special ministry to those who find themselves destitute as a consequence of government policies and those detained for the administration of immigration procedures. All work is carried out in the spirit of mutual respect, dignity and solidarity with the refugees and forced migrants, and in collaboration with other organisations.
The Joint Public Issues Team (Baptist, Methodist, URC, Church of Scotland) offers guidance for those called to provide evidence to support applications at asylum tribunals. It also has produced a document about how many people each council has relocated under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme over the last two years – and you can congratulate them or urge them to do more, as appropriate.
The London Churches Refugee Fund (LCRF)enables churches and individuals to donate to multiple charities helping destitute refugees and asylum seekers in London. From donations it makes grants to front-line projects, typically for phone credit, hygiene items, food or fares to access drop-ins, language classes, solicitors, etc. To date, over £250,000 has been raised and distributed.
The Medaille Trust seeks to empower women, men and children, who have been freed from human-trafficking and modern day slavery in the UK, enabling them to regain their dignity and self-worth. They can provide safe housing in safe locations across the country and offer opportunities for physical and psychological healing, rehabilitation and victim protection.
Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN). Members work to change the way that Asylum Seekers and Refugees are treated, to ensure that justice and compassion are the guiding principles. Some work directly with people seeking asylum and refugees, providing support, practical help and advocacy; others give time to networking and attend meetings of national campaigns on issues like detention or destitution; some make their main role raising awareness within their local and area meetings.
The Salvation Army offers a specialist support programme to preserve the dignity of survivors of human trafficking, to protect and care for them in safe accommodation, and provide access to confidential client-based support services such as counselling and advice on legal matters, health and education.
SUPPORT AND ADVICE FOR NEWLY ARRIVED/DISPERSED ASYLUM SEEKERS A link to a list of organisations and groups who can help with advice, advocacy, food and clothing, English classes and social isolation. These are both in the initial accommodation cities that asylum seekers who need accommodation get sent to immediately after registering an asylum claim, to stay for a short period of time before being moved on, and in towns in the NASS dispersal areas and elsewhere.