What we do

Or rather, now that the project has finished, what we did …

Public speaking is not to be entered into lightly - it’s a daunting task at the best of times (hands up who’s had to sit through a bum-clenchingly inappropriate best man’s speech?). And when it comes to talking about one of the most controversial topics around, it’s easy to see why being a RAP volunteer isn’t easy.

It’s vital then that our training programme builds volunteers’ confidence and skills. They first complete our training programme; getting to grips with current facts and figures, learning to develop their presentation skills and practicing planning a workshop. Additional training is then offered: advanced presentation skills, participatory methods, cultural awareness and a dash of broadcast media training is thrown in for good measure.

Our volunteers come from a lovely mix of backgrounds and roughly half are at various stages of the asylum process. Since the project began in autumn 2005, nearly 120 people have been trained up as volunteers. Most have worked as volunteer speakers but some have also supported the team as administrators and researchers. And all of them we might add, have been brilliant.

Once brimming with all the right information, our volunteers and project coordinators give interactive workshops and talks. We’ll happily visit any group who wants to hear from us and we’re not fussy where; schools, museums, places of worship, fire stations or sports clubs - you tell us and we’ll follow.

Our free sessions give you the chance to sort the asylum facts from the fibs, have your burning questions answered and all the basic terms explained.

Using a mix of activities, film, discussion and first-hand accounts from our refugee and asylum seeker volunteers, the workshops are tailor-made to each group’s individual needs and let you:

• Cut through the legal jargon
• Hear first-hand why people up sticks and flee their homes
• Get the real facts and figures on asylum (instead of the scary made-up ones)
• Bust through the common myths and questions
• Have access to a wealth of information on services and groups in your area
• Find out what you can do to help and welcome newcomers

We find that people have a lot of questions and want the chance to get their teeth into the issue, so we give our workshops time. Most last two hours or half a day but what we really like holding is all-day sessions because they work best. Check out some of our typical sessions for a flavour of what we offer.

Over three years, RAP delivered 548 workshops and talks to 10,592 different people.

48% of workshops and talks were delivered to groups working with young people, such as youth workers, school children, students, youth probation teams, teachers, and youth groups.

Words are great aren’t they? They’re so powerful that they can make you laugh, fall in love and buy too-small shoes. Once you’ve had the chance to hear the facts about asylum from us, we’ll show you how to pass on these words to everyone and anyone.

So if you happen to hear any big fat fibs bandied about in the office, school or gym locker room, we’d love it if you could take the time to help others get their facts straight like you. We can help by arming you with our handy guide Mobiles, Money and Mayhem: the facts and fibs about asylum and as many infosheets as your index finger can command.

And if you’d like to do something more to spread the word and do a bit of myth-busting or workshopping yourself, then we can provide the resources, advice and support to make it that much easier.

We also encourage anyone who’s taken part in a workshop with us to take everyday actions that will make a big difference to the lives of newcomers to our communities.

Our booklet Make Your Neighbourhood Nicer: how to welcome refugees and asylum seekers in 11 easy steps gives you lots of ideas on how you can make asylum seekers and refugees feel more at home and better understood in your neighbourhood.

Our local teams are also on hand to provide any extra information, ideas and support you need to help your neighbourhood (and the UK in general, and who knows, maybe the world…) become a friendlier place where people can get on and can achieve their full potential.

To find out more about the actions you or your group can take to make your neighbourhood nicer, check out our What can I do? ideasvault.

We want to tell as many people as possible about what it’s really like to flee your home and seek asylum. So as well our interactive workshops, we try to look for other interesting ways to help spread the word…

We’ve enjoyed great collaborations with Actors for Human Rights, organising local performances of Asylum Monologues in which the personal stories of people seeking asylum are movingly performed by actors.

We’ve brought Banner Theatre’s production of They get free mobiles… don’t they? to our project regions and Music for Change to schools, helping young folk understand asylum through music.

Global Link’s interactive installation Escape to Safety, is an interesting exhibition we bring to our cities that helps you to experience what it’s like to be a person seeking asylum.

To find out about more about upcoming events, have a little look at the latest news.

Refugee Week celebrates everything that’s good and great about refugees in this country and the brilliant contribution that they’ve made, so it’s only right that we get stuck in.

It’s a UK-wide programme of arts, cultural and educational events (and lots of great food in-between) held in June. It’s one big lovely aim is to promote friendliness between different communities – which is just really nice, isn’t it?

Some of the many highlights that we’ve been proud to be involved in include:

Bristol RAP supported the performance of Asylum Monologues within a concert. Zoe Rahman, the headline act, very nicely sported one of our ‘Refugee Friendly’ t-shirts throughout her performance.

In collaboration with Bristol Children and Young People Services Equalities Team, the citizenship coordinator and Ethnic Minority Achievement Service, RAP Bristol organised a sung or spoken word competition for secondary schools on the theme of refugee awareness. The finalists were judged by rap star Emmanuel Jal, and Nickens, the leader of the band Kasai Masai. The winners got to strut their stuff on the main stage.

In collaboration with Actors for Human Rights, performances of Asylum Monologues were held at Liverpool cathedral, Nottingham’s Vine Centre and at the Young Vic and National Portrait Gallery in London. Juliet Stevenson was part of the cast at the National Portrait Gallery and Sir David Hare introduced the event.