Creating Safe, Happy and Productive Lives for Refugees in Bradford

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1 Creating Safe, Happy and Productive Lives for Refugees in Bradford Mariam Ali Project support worker Children and families project & At home in Bradford Project Refugee Action

2 Refugee Action: Visions and Values We survived; let us live At Refugee Action, we help refugees who ve survived some of the world s worst regimes. We get them the basic support they need to live again with dignity. Then we help them build safe, happy and productive lives in the UK. Refugee Action s Values 1. With refugees and people seeking asylum Our work is shaped by the experience of refugees and people seeking asylum. We stand alongside them to call for change, and empower them to realise their aspirations. 2. Courageous We re bold and creative in all that we do. We re driven by our determination to ensure that all our work enables refugees and people seeking asylum to successfully rebuild their lives in the UK. 3. Collaborative We cannot succeed alone. We believe in collaborating with other organisations that share our vision, benefitting from their skills and strengths.

3 Refugee Action History: Founded in 1981, Refugee Action was set up first to help with the resettlement od Vietnamese refugees in the UK. In the 1990s, Refugee Action helped to welcome Bosnian refugees, refugees from Montserrat Island who fled the erupting volcano, and then refugees from the Kosovo conflict. In 2000, its role expanded to include giving advice and support to asylum seekers about the asylum process and the asylum support system. The mission of Refugee Action includes dispelling myths about refugee and asylum seekers, campaigning for right first time asylum decisions, challenging the Home Office about how it supports asylum seekers and working to prevent asylum seekers from falling into homelessness and destitution and campaigning for better ESOL provision for asylum seekers and refugees. More information about Refugee Action Campaigns can be found on

4 Refugee Actions: Services Refugee Action Services Include: Information and Advice Resettling refugees under the Gateway and Syrian resettlemtn programmes Working to promote Good Practice and increase the capacity of other organisations in the sector Refugee Action is present in four main locations in the England which are London (HO), Birmingham, Manchester, and Bradford, as well as having a few smaller offices offering resettlement support.

5 Children and Families project: Our Children and Families project ensures that asylum seeker and refugee children and their families can develop friendships and support networks that allow them to be healthy, safe and more active in their new communities. Our project does this via a range of different activities such as: Advice Drop in; Welcome Club and Home Visits. The Children and Families project offers one to one support for refugee and asylum seekers families arriving in Bradford, about housing, education, benefits and accessing legal advice, as well as information about social life and culture in the UK. Our staff and volunteers also run regular support groups for families, including a weekly after school club, and regular trips during the school holidays for families. Our Welcome Club offers a place for asylum seeker and refugee children to play together, make friends and experience days out. It also gives refugee children a supportive environment to practice their English, learn more about British culture and get support for their school work or ask for help in a supportive environment. These activities help to build emotional resilience and local friendships, which helps to build respect, understanding and cohesion in communities where refugees are based. Who does this service support? Our service focuses on asylum seeker and refugee children and their families in Bradford who require help to establish themselves, make friends or improve their English.

6 At Home in Bradford is a new project working with newly arrived refugees/asylum seeker children in Bradford who are of school age but are not in schools yet. The project aims at helping these children to feel less isolated and anxious about the new move in their lives and to integrate in the community. We try to get them ready to start school in the UK and to build their confidence.

7 Children in newly-arrived asylum seeker and refugee families will feel "at home" in Bradford; more settled and able to integrate more quickly

8 Children will feel less isolated and anxious as they and their families move through the unsettling transition from arrival and applying for asylum to living with refugee status in Bradford

9 Newly-arrived asylum seekers and refugee children will have improved learning outcomes and be better equipped to engage with school. Special focus will be on developing English language skills