Unit 3b, Park Place 10 12 Lawn Lane London, SW8 1UD Tel: 020 8133 8317 Mob: 07970924535 Email: contact@iars.org.uk Website: www.iars.org.uk Registered Charity No. 1124590 Company No: 5348191 Date 31/8/10 Dear Amna, RE: MIGRANT AND REFUGEE INTEGRATION: GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY Thank you for your request to submit case studies illustrating the value and contribution of youth led projects and organisations in the area of migrant and refugee integration in London. Please find attached two case studies on behalf of IARS. I hope you find our contribution useful. Any feedback we can pass on to the project partners who gave their time developing the case studies would be much appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Dr. Theo Gavrielides, Director, Independent Academic Research Studies (IARS)
Case study 1: Latin American Youth Forum (LAYF) Why is it youth led? LAYF is entirely youth led by 35 young people aged 14 19, they come from different migrant backgrounds (including Colombia, Ghana, Bolivia, Eritrea, Ecuador, etc). LAYF has set up a steering group which meets on weekly basis; at these meetings members are able to plan, decide and evaluate any activities or projects that they would like to undertake on Saturdays or any days set by them. The forum was created as a young people s and grassroots initiative to get young Latin American migrants and refugees actively involved in their communities and to integrate with young people from the wider community in order to engage in local democracy and policy making. To this end, LAYF uses the arts and critical thinking as the tool to express and create stronger links within communities therefore to become agents of social change. Where does it operate and what does it do? LAYF operates in South London within Lambeth and Southwark. It has created partnerships and links with a variety of organizations and communities to encourage and stimulate young people s leadership, participation and integration. LAYF provides fine and performing arts as well as educational and recreational activities including the following: - Theatre workshops - Music workshops - Stilts workshops (including carnaval skills) - Video and radio workshops - Drawing workshops - Painting workshops - Dance workshops - Recycling projects - Critical thinking sessions (Including history, Latin Americans in the United Kingdom, social enterprises, Cinema forums, etc) - Face painting Why is it important for the integration of young migrant/ refugee/ asylum seekers in London? It is well known that, young migrants, refugees and asylum seekers find it difficult to integrate to the wider community because of various circumstances including their socio political backgrounds. This is also the case for Latin American young people
coming under the same circumstances, in fact, it makes it more difficult for them as it is a fairly new community which is merging in the United Kingdom. By getting the Latin American youth actively involved in their communities, the project aims to promote a clear vision of their reality as citizens in a multicultural society to help them address issues concerning their identity by giving them the means to balance negative stereotypical images. LAYF offers a range of services including arts, critical thinking and recreational activities. These activities are all chosen and planed by LAYF members. Because of this, members feel empowered to integrate to the wider society and to become active members of their communities. Specifically LAYF host an annual Together as one is a yearly youth forum event which aims to bring young people together in order to debate and discuss around issues that concern migrant communities. In 2009, Together as one took place at Tate Modern on 23th and 24 th July, it was attended by more than 243 young people and 10 members of the Local Authorities. At Together as one, young people from migrant backgrounds exchange opinions and strategies face to face with local authorities, raising their major concerns relating to migration issues, from a youth perspective. Representatives of different groups expose important topics that are responded to by members of parliament, shadow MPs, metropolitan police members, researchers, community cohesion officers from different councils and unionists amongst others. The two day event is a gathering initiative aimed at reaching out to migrants, from the known hard to reach communities living in the United Kingdom. LAYF s main objective is to create awareness of young people s role in this society by providing spaces where young people are able to grow politically and use the arts as a tool to build community, integrate and act as one. Any funding issues they are facing? Indo American Refugee Migrants Organisation (IRMO), is the key supporting organisation for LAYF. IRMO is a small charity that mostly counts on with human capital, in actual fact, 95% of their activities are run on a voluntary basis. However, this human capital is not enough for small charities, which are not capable of securing significant funding because of their small size. The LAYF has survived through partnership work with organisations such as the British Museum, which hosted their Together as one annual event in 2009. However, the British Museum has now removed their support for 2010 due to an internal lack of staff due to the recession. If groups like LAYF lose their supporting partners then it will become increasingly difficult, if not impossible to host important events and activities that engage with
the Latin American migrant youth population in London. The LAYF are still currently looking for a new partner to host the event for 2010. Why is IARS interested in supporting this project and what would happen if IARS was not to put it forward? IARS has worked together with LAYF through the London Youth led Sector Policy Forum which IARS hosts. We are interested in LAYF as it is a genuine youth led organisation that provides its beneficiaries with creative and innovative ways for young people from immigrant and refugee backgrounds, or who are immigrants and refugees themselves to integrate into the community around them. With the unstable economic climate the service would be at risk of ending, this would cause a huge negative impact on the young people who depend on this service.
Case study 2: Active Horizons Why is it youth led? Active Horizons is a B.M.E (Black and Minority Ethnic) youth led organisation set up to create a platform for young people to promote active participation, advance young leadership and develop skills and capacity for young people in Bexley. They work with young people from deprived backgrounds, refugees, migrants and those not in education or employment. Active Horizons practices a youth led approach in that all its work, meaning that all young people are involved to lead on all activities carried out. Active Horizons has established a youth forum to internally steer the organisation and what activities and programmes are run. Where does it operate and what does it do? Active Horizons operate from a community centre in Belvedere, in the London Borough of Bexley. The organisation runs a Citizens in Action programme for the young people who want to be actively involved in their communities and to work towards making a positive difference. The programme empowers young people to take up social action initiatives of issues that affect them. This programme actively runs youth led activities and workshops to develop young people s skills, especially those young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). They actively promote leadership amongst the young people in order to develop community leaders and a voice for young people in the area. This is done with the aim of allowing young refugees and migrants to mix with other young people, and develop their identity and voice within their new communities. Why is it important for the integration of young migrant/ refugee/ asylum seekers in London? Active Horizons believe that for the benefit of all communities, in terms of safety and cohesion, that young people from all backgrounds should be actively engaged and treated equally. Active Horizons was set up specifically to support young migrants and refugees to develop themselves and integrate into their new communities in Bexley. Young migrants and refugees often face a lot of barriers to integration including lack of confidence and communication problems. Active Horizons believes that equality of opportunity will lead to greater inclusion and integration for young refugees and migrants. Providing the opportunity to learn leadership skills and to develop projects
and workshops that are aimed at their peers also encourages greater communication confidence. The Citizens in Action programme is specifically devised to promote the needs of young people in their communities, as well as take into the account of the positive impact young people can have on other members of the community. It is activities like these that help these young people to integrate better into mainstream education, into existing communities and enables them to feel a part of things rather than outside of communities. Active Horizons also provides a safe space for these young people to mix together, to seek support for any problems they may have, and to develop their own identity in relation to the place and communities they find themselves newly living in. Any funding issues they are facing? Active Horizons are struggling to finance their activities because community cohesion is not a funding priority within Bexley. In addition to this the Youth Fund is also not a priority for the Local Authority and has been cut in the recent reviews around budgets. Without this funding available, Active Horizons will have to look for a new source of income. The organisation constantly struggles to secure funding that will pay for a staff member, they are often only able to access project or short term funding which means the organisation is not sustainable in the long term. The organisation is run by one very dedicated volunteer, but without funding it is becoming very difficult to continue. Why is IARS interested in supporting this project and what would happen if IARS was not to put it forward? IARS is committed to supporting small, community based and youth led organisations that have no voice in policy. Active Horizons has been recognised as making a significant difference to the lives of the young people they work with and to the surrounding community. They do this through engaging in youth led work based around young people s needs and they spend their time, energy and money on carrying out these vital activities to help young migrants and refugees become an integral part of Bexley s communities. If IARS did not support Active Horizons, they would not have their good work or needs recognised by those outside of the immediate community within which they work. Active Horizons have no capacity to promote the youth voice of the migrants and refugees they work with and so have approached IARS to do this on their behalf.