Action for Refugees

 

take action

Hosting a Refugee

Several charities already do great work facilitating and supporting sponsorship schemes or refugee hosting, for example:

  • Refugees at Home do amazing work in helping UK households to host individuals who have attained refugee status and who are in search of longer-term accommodation.

  • Sanctuary Foundation is looking to facilitate matching hosts and refugees.

  • Reset is doing similar matching work and has experience supporting refugee sponsorship schemes.

  • Gloucestershire Nightstop also help locate overnight accommodation for people whose asylum claims have been granted and need to urgently find short-term housing while they transfer from state support.

Donate

One of the quickest and simplest ways of making an impact is to support the organisations already working hard to support people.

GARAS (Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) are helping bring families to safety in Gloucestershire, dealing with legal issues and housing. They’re currently seeking funds to support their work, so any contributions make a big difference.

You can support Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees financially or perhaps via a store voucher, as some essentials (e.g. underwear) cannot be provided second-hand.

Volunteering abroad

Several CWR volunteers have taken time out to volunteer with various charities working in Europe or further afield to provide practical frontline support to refugees on their journeys to safety. One of our volunteers, Noama, wrote about her experiences in Northern France with the charity, Roots. If you are interested in potentially volunteering in this way, you can read about Noama’s experience here.

Previous ‘Take Action’ guides

Following crises in 2021 and 2022 in Afghanistan and Ukraine, we compiled some accessible resources targeted at taking action on these issues. Find them at our pages: Take Action for Afghanistan and Take Action for Ukraine.

Understanding the Issues and campaigning

The UN Convention on Human Rights and the Refugee Convention, ensures that nobody in the world can ever be 'illegal' - we all have the fundamental right to seek asylum wherever in the world we choose.

This is a useful starting point from City of Sanctuary for busting some of the most toxic ideas about refugees and migration.

This is an interesting insider look at present operations within the Home Office too, fact-checking the beliefs that a lot of people take for granted when speaking about immigration and asylum.

There are reading recommendations on our Books and Reading page for a deeper look into some of the issues. You could sign up to our newsletter or join our book club to find out more and keep yourself up to date.

One of the best ways to stay informed, if you're not ready right now to take a lot of new things on, is to subscribe to organisation updates through email or social media.

Campaigning for a more generous and welcoming refugee policy is one of the most important actions we can take here in the UK.

Here's some organisations we recommend for staying updated on changes and suggestions for action.

Refugee Council
Liberty
Detention Action
Women for Refugee Women
Stand Up To Racism

This is also a really interesting examination of solidarity and what it means in terms of supporting marginalised communities today.

And this is a good article on taking small steps to counter prejudice and encourage empathy through conversation.

Remember:

  • There’s no such thing as an “illegal refugee”. The right to seek asylum when experiencing displacement is enshrined in international law, no matter how you travel or which countries you pass through along the way. Refugees in small boats on the Channel are just as legitimate in their needs and claims to safety as people in camps who go through the laborious and years-long process of applying remotely for asylum - and honestly, both these routes to safety are inhumane and untenable. We need to fight for better asylum laws in the UK.

  • We should - and can - accommodate whole families. No family should be traumatised by having to leave loved ones behind simply because UK laws have been dismantling routes of reunification. We shouldn’t selectively grant asylum only to women and children - entire family units deserve to find safe new homes together without abandoning anyone to violence.

  • We have space and resources for everyone who needs them. You can help to keep refugee rights on the agenda by correcting misinformation, by boycotting any media outlets using migrants as scapegoats, or by asking the Government to accept their international responsibilities of compassion and mutual support.


    Thanks so much for all you do, and if you have any further suggestions or requests for ways we can help you tackle prejudice and systemic harm, please let us know.