Can you imagine a future where refugees and people seeking asylum are welcome in the UK – where they get justice, live free of poverty and can successfully rebuild their lives? This is what we at Refugee Action are working towards.
We are delighted to share highlights from our work over the past year. We are immensely proud of what we have been able to achieve by standing with people seeking asylum and refugees in the UK.
The people we work with have seen the very worst of humanity. During these difficult times, we have the chance to show them the best.
HUMANITY CAN WIN
Angela, Ukraine
I’m thankful for the great work Refugee Action is doing to support hosts and people like me who were forced to leave Ukraine.
I arrived in the UK in April. The family I live with helped me a lot. They introduced me to Refugee Action, which provided financial and psychological support. They connected me with my caseworker – she makes sure that I’m comfortable and that I have everything I need. Her support helped me find a new job and volunteer opportunities.
Mohamad, Syria
In a new country, different culture, different background, it is hard to build your life.
When I met my mentor at Refugee Action, everything started to change.
The team helped me work toward my dreams so I could use my knowledge in engineering. They listened to what experience and qualifications I had. I wanted to move my career forward by completing a PhD. My mentor helped me with my university application and cover letter so I can be one step closer to making this happen.
I started with nothing – now I have a job as an engineer.
Sara, Middle East
I wish I could live independently, a normal free life, I could choose.
I had a home, a job, a family, and friends in the Middle East but didn’t have the freedom to practice my religion. If I wanted to live in safety, I knew I had to leave.
I have been stuck in hotel accommodation for eight months. I never received the financial support I was entitled to. I kept contacting the Home Office but no one gave me a clear answer.
Then one of my friends introduced me to Refugee Action. They helped me get my Aspen card and ensured I received back-dated payments.
Together we have been fighting poverty and injustice and have transformed many lives. We helped by:
THANKS TO YOU…
Thanks to the support of our donors, funders, partners, and campaigners:
3,000 PEOPLE
in the asylum process have received critical support
247 ORGANISATIONS
were supported to improve the lives of refugees and people seeking asylum
1,700 REFUGEES
were resettled in the UK and supported to rebuild their lives in safety
52,000 PEOPLE
campaigned to end the ban on work for people seeking asylum
We spent over £10m to change lives and create a fairer and more effective asylum
A link to our accounts will be available when they are published on the Charity Commission
THE FUTURE IS FAIRER
BY TIM NAOR HILTON
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
This year, the environment surrounding our work has become even more challenging. The Nationality and Borders Bill passed in April 2022 and the
government attempted to implement the Rwanda deportation policy; an immigration processing centre was fire-bombed; and people arriving in the UK for safety were housed in unsuitable, unclean accommodation. At the end of this year, the Government introduced the Illegal Migration Bill.
Throughout this, our focus was on the people that these policies, laws and media stories were affecting. People seeking asylum have been forced to live in hotels for months, even years and banned from working, forced to survive on asylum support which pushes them further into poverty and isolation. They have been subject to far-right attacks and a relentless media campaign against them.
In full awareness of the challenges that people seeking safety were facing, our staff, volunteers and Experts by Experience have shown unwavering commitment, resilience, and compassion. Read on to see all the incredible work that’s happened at Refugee Action over the past year.
Our current strategy comes to an end with this report, and our next strategy will take us to 2030. A key aim of mine has been to ensure that people with lived experience, and our Expert by Experience groups, have been involved in the strategy right from the beginning, informing our plans and bringing their skills and experience to the process.
I have full faith in the remarkable staff, volunteers, and Experts by Experience at Refugee Action in working towards our new vision of bringing about a welcoming, anti-racist society where every refugee can thrive. We look forward to working with our supporters and the many others committed to achieving this.
THANK YOU
Our partners and supporters play a vital role. Together, we are changing the system and transforming the lives of those seeking safety in the UK. Thank you to our service partners, our good practice and partnership partners, and to all our funders, including those who wish to remain anonymous.
On top of the struggles inherent in building a new life in a new country, people seeking asylum in the UK are at the mercy of a system that is too complex to navigate, as well as hostile policies which punish people fleeing from war and persecution for trying to seek safety. They are prohibited from working and are failed by a dehumanising asylum system, which is rooted in institutional racism.
In 2022-2023, we tackled these issues through direct interventions, campaigning and partnering up with a network of like-minded organisations across the country to take a coordinated approach.
3,000 PEOPLE
seeking asylum accessed advice, casework and support
37,000 PEOPLE
signed a petition standing up for the rights of refugees
247 ORGANISATIONS
directly supported to increase their abilities to work with the communities they serve
LAST YEAR’S HIGHLIGHTS
DIRECT SUPPORT AT THE ASYLUM CRISIS CENTRES
Months and months of waiting in hotel accommodations is now the norm for people seeking asylum.
Refugee Action worked in 11 hotels across the country. People in hotel accommodation often do not have access to legal advice for their case – our staff and volunteers went into hotels and helped people to understand letters from the Home Office, explained the different stages of the asylum process, and ensured that people are aware of their rights.
CAMPAIGNING FOR CHANGE
We aim is to change the system for good, so that people seeking safety are treated with fairness and dignity. It’s not enough to provide support when needed; we also need to tackle the root of the problem which is punishing legislation and a dehumanising asylum system.
This is made possible thanks to our amazing supporters, with thousands of people taking action to stand up for the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum – over 37,000 people signed a petition supporting our work and almost 15,000 people emailed their MP.
SHARING KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
Our vision is a joined-up and collaborative ecosystem of support for refugees and people seeking asylum. We worked to help other organisations increase their ability to support the communities they serve and shift power to those with lived experience.
There are now 1,239 members in the Good Practice & Partnerships meet-up group. Additionally, 67 organisations have participated in the training, projects, and co-production network in order to engage Experts by Experience meaningfully in service development and organisational development.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
When fighting for change, it is crucial that we can gather evidence about how unjust the system is. In 2022-2023, we released key reports demonstrating the challenges refugees and people seeking asylum face in the UK.
Insight Hub Reports
A source of insight and connection for refugee, asylum and migration focused organisations in the UK
Together we have been fighting poverty and injustice, and have transformed many lives. We helped by:
In 2022-2023, Refugee Action’s resettlement service continued to offer support to refugees from around the world. Over the last year refugees, including those from Ukraine and Afghanistan, have received support from Refugee Action, helping to integrate into their community and rebuild their lives in safety.
Our teams take a tailored empowerment approach to resettlement. We recognise the skills and talents of the extraordinary families we work with and support them to realise their own aspirations.
Over 1,700 resettled refugees
received support
More than 11,000 actions
carried out by staff on the Homes For Ukraine scheme
100% of clients
on Pathways to Work project had increased confidence in their approach to the job market, improved well-being and self-esteem
LAST YEAR’S HIGHLIGHTS
HELPING REFUGEES RESETTLE IN LIVERPOOL
Refugee Action has provided wraparound support in an Afghan Bridging hotel in Liverpool, with around 250 clients accessing our services during this period. This included families evacuated from Pakistan arriving to the hotel, some moving out into resettlement accommodation and other bridging hotels closing and families being moved into the Liverpool area.
The wraparound service covers every aspect of settling in the UK, including housing, health and welfare, employment and education. We also started an Experts by Experience Resettlement group in Liverpool, bringing together resettled refugees in the city to share experiences and socialise.
PATHWAYS TO WORK
Refugee Action’s digital pre-employability programme has gone from strength to strength this year. Alongside 1-2-1 support, we ran a series of online 8-week courses to introduce refugees to the UK job market; provide expertise on the functional English language needed; support them to plan their employment journey; set targets and complete practical tasks to achieve them. We then matched participants with a mentor from industries appropriate to their individual aspirations.
Clients on the project were able to express their aspirations and create a plan to reach jobs that match their experience and interests. Everyone who took part felt more job-ready and the wider impact has also been vital. We’ve supported people to improve their English and increase their confidence, self-esteem and wellbeing.
Together we have been fighting poverty and injustice, and have transformed many lives. We helped by:
Our work is shaped by the experience of refugees and people seeking asylum – we stand alongside them to call for change. Ensuring that people with lived experience have equal access to power within Refugee Action and the wider sector is key to our work. Through consultation with our Experts by Experience (EbE) networks, we have reassessed how we speak about this work. We now refer to ‘removing barriers to power’ rather than ‘shifting power’.
70% of Experts by Experience
said they feel safer speaking about their experiences after joining the network
80 MEMBERS
of our Expert by Experience groups have accessed wellbeing support
30% increase
in the percentage of staff with lived experience, increasing from 25% to 32.5%
LAST YEAR’S HIGHLIGHTS
WORKING WITH EXPERTS BY EXPERIENCE
Throughout the process of renewing our organisational strategy, Experts by Experience were the first group of people to be consulted about their hopes, dreams and needs and the role that Refugee Action can play. Their voices are central to our new strategy.
RECRUITING STAFF WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE
To help increase the representation of staff with lived experience at Refugee Action, we developed and implemented our new Tacking Employment Disadvantage Policy. This policy creates the framework for Refugee Action in certain circumstances to ring-fence job roles for people with lived experience.
ANTI-RACISM WORK
Refugee Action’s Anti-Racism Support Network (ARSN) has transformed into a safe space for Refugee Action staff from racialized and/or ethnic minorities. The group is now a peer-led supported space rather than a consultative one on race/racism-related matters.
The network played a key role in supporting staff on the Homes for Ukraine programme who had experienced racism, and in raising this within the organisation.
Together we have been fighting poverty and injustice, and have transformed many lives. We helped by:
83% of staff
felt we demonstrated that we care about their well-being
96% of staff
are proud to be a part of Refugee Action
Over £10,000,000
raised to support people seeking safety
Whilst the rest of our objectives focus on how we can have the biggest impact on the lives of people seeking safety in the UK, this is only possible if our staff and volunteers feel able to do their jobs. This fourth objective focussed on ensuring this was possible through infrastructure and support. In a staff/volunteer survey 83% felt we demonstrate that we care about their well-being. Whilst this is positive, the target was 85%, so we have since instigated extra annual leave, and duvet days and will look into other actions we can take in 23/24.
Ultimately, we can only run as an organisation and achieve all the impact shown above if we receive donations from our incredible community of supporters. We wanted to finish our 2022-2023 impact report by saying a final thank you – thanks to all of you, we raised over £10,000,000 to ensure people seeking safety in the UK were able to get justice, live free of poverty and successfully rebuild their lives.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
For the last seven years, Refugee Action has been calling for a fair asylum system for people seeking safety, but this is no longer enough. Racism has shaped the asylum and immigration system in the UK and the dehumanising narratives used to justify it. It is this system, and the society it functions in, that has created the hostile environment people seeking protection in our country face. To end this, we need to see systemic change. Our new strategy sets out to do this, through collaboration and collective action, to bring about political and societal shifts.
Our new vision is that every refugee can thrive as part of a welcoming, anti-racist society. Our goal for 2030 is to end the hostile environment for refugees.
Together we have been fighting poverty and injustice, and have transformed many lives. We helped by: