Special actions - For every group

Make sure everyone knows their facts from their fibs

With a helping hand from our RAP teams, you can go about this by rolling out RAP workshops to everyone, booking a RAP talk for your away day/annual conference/monthly meeting and making RAP materials available to all staff, volunteers, members. You could also spread the word locally by hosting an asylum pub quiz or bingo night.

Unleash the power of multi-lingual marketing

Send local refugee support agencies and refugee community organisations promotional materials highlighting the services and activities you offer. If you can, get some materials about your service translated into key languages and find out how to access interpreters.

Take care of the extra pennies and pounds

For those living on very low incomes, the cost of transport can be daunting, so perhaps consider covering the travel expenses of people you want to get involved as volunteers, service users or group members.

Offer mums and dads a helping hand

Single parents with young kids may not have any family support networks in the UK, so think about what childcare provision your organisation might be able to offer.

Remember everyone's different

Try to make your services culturally appropriate. Women from certain countries may prefer to participate in women-only groups or activities, and staying aware of religious festivals or days of prayer lets more people attend your event or activity.

Make room for others

Offer up your office space, community hall or meeting space to refugee community organisations and projects that need a weekly venue to meet.

Get newcomers socialising with their neighbours

Organise an event or new scheme to bring people together, like a ‘let’s make friends’ scheme for new arrivals, a welcome barbeque, an evening of music from around the world or a great local day out for families.

Give stuff a new lease of life

Start a collection of toys, adult and kids’ clothes, and equipment for new parents and their babies, or organise a food collection for destitute asylum seekers.

Help people be fluent in our lingo

Set up an informal English conversation club and get people chatting. You don’t have to be a professional teacher to help someone, just talking about the footie will really help.

Put hobbies and interests to good use

Put the various hobbies and interests of people in your group to good use and set up a sports team or tournament, arts or cookery club.

For example, the CLEAR project runs bicycle workshops where asylum seekers and other locals renovate second-hand bikes for others. Other projects have helped asylum seekers share allotments with others or discover the local countryside through walking groups (see www.ben-network.org.uk).

Make money matter

Organise a fundraising activity such as a fun run, raffle, auction or dinner and dance, and donate the proceeds to Refugee Action. You could even choose us as your ‘charity of the year’ and go all out for one charity.

Get arty about asylum

The arts are a great way to help people understand what’s it’s like to be a refugee.

Invite Actors for Human Rights to perform Asylum Dialogues or Asylum Monologues at a local venue, organise a film night with a showing of a film like Hotel Rwanda, Persepolis or the Kite Runner or invite a refugee musician to perform at a local concert.

Support Refugee Week

Organise, host, support, sponsor or attend a Refugee Week event. Refugee Week takes place every year across the UK in June, so even if you do nothing for the rest of year, there’s no excuse not to get involved in Refugee Week. Lots of businesses like Waterstones, WH Smith and Lush have done special displays in their shops, while faith groups and membership groups often organise events or offer venues for free, and schools always do loads to celebrate the week.