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Making a difference: volunteering at Refugee Action

Monday, December 31st, 2012

Volunteers receive their packs after signing in at Refugee Action's annual volunteer day, RAVE.

A new year is a great time to try new things.  If you’re passionate about human rights, want to make a difference and care about the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, why not try volunteering with Refugee Action? 

Here’s Miriam’s story.  She helped out at our head office this summer.  What could you do in 2013?

I’d heard a great deal about Refugee Action, but I had no idea of the scale of its work.  I didn’t know about the number of employees and offices, nor about the extensive commitment of the case workers and the huge number of clients they see every day.  Volunteering at head office showed me how much work goes on behind the scenes to help people seeking safety.  And I learn a lot about how this work changes people’s lives.

Volunteering at Refugee Action was my first experience of what goes on inside such an extensive charity.  The prospect of working in an office, completing the odd administrative task, was daunting!  But from the first day, I felt valued and useful.  Those six weeks gave me a keen insight into the workings of such a large organisation, giving me a peek into future opportunities.

Most of my time as a volunteer was spent with the Fundraising and Communications team, helping to inspire Refugee Action’s supporters and keep them informed.  I helped with some early planning for World Food Night 2013.  It’s an exciting event that could raise more than £20,000 – potentially funding groundbreaking new work with refugees in the UK.  I also helped Refugee Action’s Partnerships Officer, Gemma.  She’s looking at new ways for businesses to support refugees and make their neighbourhoods nicer places for everyone.

My six weeks at Refugee Action was a great way to end my gap year of working, travelling and volunteering.  As I headed off to university I was  eager to continue to help in such a rewarding way.  I’m hoping to volunteer with a local refugee charity and I’ll definitely be holding my very own World Food Night!  If you’re interested in refugee issues and you’ve got a few hours a week to spare, you should definitely think about volunteering in 2013.

Inspired?  If you’d like to volunteer with us in 2013 – at our frontline services or in our head office – please email us or tweet us with your details. 

And finally – a very Happy New Year from everyone at Refugee Action!

Posted by Eleanor Dean

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Posted in fundraiser, fundraising, Supporters, Volunteers | No Comments »

What’s cooking for Refugee Action’s World Food Night?

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

As our World Food Night fundraiser approaches, here’s a round-up of what’s being planned around the country, and how you can join in too.

 
With less than three weeks to go until World Food Night, our supporters up and down the country have been trawling the Internet for recipes, dusting off their oven gloves and hunting down obscure ingredients like pickled Burmese tea leaves.  We can’t wait to see what everyone serves up!  In the meantime, here’s a round-up of a few of the exciting events people like you are planning around the country.

Samina Irfan is hosting an evening of Pakistani food at the Liverpool Kensington Community Fire station.  She and her friends are planning to cook chick pea rice, chicken curry, kofta curry, vegetable and naans.  The event is open to anyone from the local community, but please email us if you would like to attend to ensure there is enough food to go round!

Yesim Patisserie

In Leicester, we’ve been very kindly supported by the staff at Yesim Patisserie, who are holding a unique evening of Turkish cuisine in support of our work.  On the menu is a selection of Mediterranean mezes, traditional Anatolian hot pastries with various fillings, with delicious Turkish baklavas as desserts.  Food is available for a suggested donation of £20, with half of all donations raised going directly to our work.

In Manchester, our first (and possibly our only) fancy dress World Food Night is being planned by Nathan Powe, with guests encouraged to come dressed in the traditional attire of a particular country.  Nathan himself will be dressed as a traditional English gent, complete with bowler hat, three piece suit and umbrella.  We like to think he’ll be wearing this when cooking up his planned meal of chilli con carne, plantain chips and Cumberland sausages and mash…

A workplace World Food Lunch is being planned at Liverpool Innovation Park, with a food hamper on offer for the best dish submitted to their cookery contest.  Hungry office workers will then receive a tasty international lunch for a small donation, choosing from what promises to be one of the most varied menus of any World Food event!

Finally, we’re really excited about another Liverpool-based event, as it’s being planned, prepared and hosted by our Get Connected youth group.  The young people in Get Connected are all unaccompanied young asylum seekers, and they’ve been taking part in a cookery and independent living project to help them to cope with life in the UK.  They’re going to be cooking food from around the world for some special guests who have supported them in the past, and we’re very excited to have them involved.

Don’t forget, if you’d like to host your own World Food Night and be part of the fun on February 24th, you can sign up here.  We’ll send you everything you need to get started, including free recipes from around the world.  Once you’ve registered, let us know what you’re planning and you might just feature in our next blog!  We’ll see you in the kitchen…

Posted by Eleanor Dean

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Posted in Events, fundraising, In depth, Supporters | No Comments »

All we (still) want for Christmas

Saturday, December 24th, 2011

Long-term readers of the Refugee Action blog might remember our Christmas blog from way back in December 2009: “All we want for Christmas is you!”.  Festively soundtracked by Mariah Carey, it asked our staff what they were hoping for that Christmas and New Year (serious wishes and not-so-serious wishes).

This year (to save them from tears) we’ve asked our teams that very same question.  Here’s what they told us…

Nouri, Assistant Caseworker, Manchester: “I’d like there to be enough funds to support destitute people.”

David, Deputy OSS Manager, Manchester: “For Christmas, I’d like all children whose parents have fled persecution to feel safe and secure.”

Ronnie, Supporter Development Officer, Liverpool: “I would like to thank all our ace supporters and ask them to recruit one more supporter each so that we can deliver the extra services that our clients need.  I would also like an end to cruel and completely ineffective destitution.”

Hassan, Caseworker, Manchester: “I would like to ask Santa to persuade the Home Office to increase support for people choosing to return to their home countries.”

Julia, Press Officer: ‘I would like to see the media write balanced pieces on asylum and help to give refugees a louder voice.”

Catherine, Deputy Manager, Manchester: “I’d like some pushchairs for clients with very young children.”

And finally, from Salma (our Fundraising and Comms Assistant): “I would like to reach or exceed the £12,000 target for our winter destitution appeal.  I’d also like Ryan Gosling wrapped up in a pretty red bow.”

Thank you to everyone who’s supported our work and spoken up for refugees and asylum seekers this year.  We look forward to seeing you all in the new year.  Happy holidays!

Posted by Carys

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Posted in Awareness raising, fundraising, In depth, Refugee Action staff | No Comments »

The secret diary of a Refugee Action intern

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

Ever wondered what it might be like to be an intern at Refugee Action?  As his internship draws to a close, we asked Sam – our most recent intern – to write about his four weeks with us.  Here’s his blog.

I think being an intern for a month can offer a unique insight into an organisation from an outsider perspective, and that’s exactly what I feel my four weeks interning at Refugee Action has given me. Having dabbled in some local refugee campaigns work as a student in Sheffield, I wasn’t prepared for such a dauntingly massive operation as Refugee Action. The scale – the number of staff, the number of offices, the number of projects and the number of clients – is like nothing I’ve ever experienced when volunteering for local refugee organisations. That such a huge organisation can still react so quickly to the cat-and-mouse chase of the changing asylum system is greatly to their credit.

The team in communications and fundraising are incredibly friendly and lovely, and seem to have that amazing ability to appear relaxed and cool as ice yet somehow get an extraordinary amount of work done. Although I was dreading the possibility of four weeks of that most persistent cliché, the intern tea-boy, I seem to have spent most of the month with people making tea for me. Drafting letters to celebrity chefs, researching MPs, and sitting in on a parliamentary all-party group were just a few of the interesting and varied jobs the team set me which made the month seem to fly by.

I spent a day shadowing Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) caseworkers at the Waterloo office which was a really rewarding experience, though it can be quite moving at times. Waterloo can feel a bit chaotic with clients and staff rushing around, but that can only be a testament to the extraordinary success of the organisation and the trust its clients have in it to deliver services like AVR so well. The team keep calm under stressful conditions, which I think helps the individuals they work with feel calm as well.

One of the big communications jobs during my month here was a campaign to highlight the work of our Manchester office, to tie in with “I Love Manchester” day over the bank holiday. Collecting quotes from staff and volunteers about their passion for their work and the city was a joy, as well as hearing all the positive feedback on the resulting blog entry. I think the glowing quote from caseworker and former refugee Hassan really made the piece special and I was really proud of the way it turned out – and the way it highlighted one of the organisation’s largest regional operations.

I’m hugely grateful to the FR and comms team for giving me a chance to hopefully make some positive contributions to this fantastic organisation instead of spending my summer asleep like a typical student. Hopefully I can take some of what I’ve learnt into my volunteering with refugees in the future. I’d love to return to the voluntary sector someday, after discovering what satisfying and fulfilling work it can be. I recommend volunteering at a charity to anyone, not just because of the experience you get but because of the warm gooey feeling inside it gives you. I’ll miss London, and I’ll miss everyone at RA when I move back ‘oop north!

Posted by Eleanor Dean

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Posted in fundraising, Refugee Action staff, Volunteers | 3 Comments »

Want to fundraise for refugees? Our supporters show you how…

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Have you ever thought about fundraising for Refugee Action?  Here’s a guest post by Salma, our fundraising assistant, about some of the great things our supporters have done for us recently…

This year, we’ve had some fantastic fundraisers doing their bit to help us raise much needed funds for refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.  Check out some of our most recent fundraisers, all of whom are achieving great things in support of our work…

Catherine Annabel – The BUPA Great Yorkshire Run

Catherine is donning her running shoes and taking part in the 10K  BUPA Great Yorkshire Run in October 2011. She’s doing this event in honour of the work we do with refugees, an issue which has been close to her heart since she was young.  She says: “it seems to me that privileged as we are in the UK, we should be ready to offer sanctuary to people who arrive here having fled persecution and danger in their home countries.  There is so much ill-informed hostility out there towards refugees, and government funding has been drastically reduced – I wanted to do what I could to raise funds and awareness.” You can sponsor Catherine’s run via her JustGiving page.

Felix, George and Eric – Driving the Mongol Rally 2011

When we heard that three young men from Stratton would be attempting to traverse a 10,000 mile drive to Ulaanbaatar to raise money for our work – well, you could say we were a little surprised.  The boys are taking part in the world renowned Mongol Rally, and have been sending updates from the road as they go.  Last we heard, they were somewhere in Kazakhstan…  Their adventure has already raised an incredible £780, and there’s still time to donate and help them reach their target of £1000.

Chris Knighton – Virgin London Marathon 2011

Chris completed his first ever marathon for Refugee Action this April.  As well as running an impressive 26 miles, he raised over £3000. When we asked why he’d chosen to fundraise for us, he said “I was looking to support a progressive charity which contributed to supporting multiculturalism in the UK. I believe that one of the best things about England is the multiculturalism. I think that if you want to feel good about your country, you should be welcoming people, and obviously Refugee Action does that.”

So, what can I do?

We have loads of exciting opportunities for any would-be fundraisers this year, all of which could really help us to change the lives of refugees and asylum seekers.

There’s still a chance to enter the BUPA Great Yorkshire Run in Sheffield and run with Catherine, and there’s also The Great South Run in Portsmouth, with its fast, flat course along Portsmouth’s historic naval dockyard.  Both races take place in October, so there’s still plenty of time to enter. 

If cycling is more your thing, a group of Refugee Action staff from our London office are planning to cycle to Leicester in the spring.  It’s a trip of about 120 miles, and we’ll be raising funds for Fresh Start, a project which supports destitute women asylum seekers and helps them to find sustainable solutions to the difficulties they face.

If you’re feeling especially adventurous, sign ups for the 2012 Mongol Rally open on August 25th at 2pm UK time – but get in quickly, as spaces are limited!

Whatever you’d like to do, you can be sure that the money you raise will go right to where it’s needed most – helping vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers across the UK. If you’d like some tips on getting started, feel free to contact our Fundraising Team – we’ll be happy to help!

Posted by Eleanor Dean

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Posted in fundraising, In depth, Supporters | No Comments »