Special actions for young people

We don’t care what the tabloids say, we think young people are brilliant. And there’s lots of ways that you can get gee-ed up and get properly involved in some important issues.

Make newcomers feel welcome

Be friendly, show them around, introduce them to other people and make sure they know where everything is and who they can go to for help, if they need it. Remember that some of the really simple things you take for granted might be completely new to someone coming here from a different country.

Get friendly

Find out if your school, university, youth club or hostel has organised a befriending, mentoring or buddying scheme that you can sign up with.

Encourage a bit of good old group activity

Make sure that newcomers know about all the social, arts and sports activities and clubs that they can take part in or join at your school, college, university, community centre or hostel. If they’ve just arrived here, they probably won’t know what there is to do locally like leisure centres, sports centres, arts centres and all that.

Become a fully-fledged campaigner

If you care about the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and want to take action, find out more about joining a campaign group such as Student Action for Refugees (STAR). STAR has groups all around the UK for students and other young people aged over 16.

If you’re interested in global human rights issues, join Amnesty International’s groups for students and people aged 11-18. Their website also has lots of online campaigns you can get involved with.

Remember what’s it like to be new

Say hi to people you haven’t spoken to before and introduce new arrivals to other people you know – it can be really hard to make friends without someone to get you connected.