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Refugee Volunteers bring skills to Salford and Trafford

18 November 2004

A vital scheme linking refugees and asylum seekers with volunteering positions will be extended into Salford and Trafford thanks to a £93,000 grant.

The Horizons Project is run by Refugee Action, an independent national charity working with refugees to build new lives in the UK. The project has already matched 100 asylum seekers and refugees with volunteering opportunities in Manchester since it started in September 2003.

The latest grant, from the Volunteer Recruitment Fund financed by the Home Office, will pay for a project worker for the next two years to help more refugees and asylum seekers access local opportunities.

Asylum seekers are not allowed to work while they are waiting for their applications to be processed. Many want to use their skills and make a contribution to their new community but do not know where to start.

Some people awarded refugee status are also looking for work experience while they apply for jobs or retrain.

Tim Hilton, project manager, said: "We are delighted that our funding application for this vital project has been successful. Refugees and asylum-seekers with backgrounds in medicine, nursing, business, law, accountancy and teaching want to use their skills and make a contribution to life in Salford and Trafford.

Others have less direct skills but are just as keen to make a difference while their asylum applications are being considered. Horizons places refugees and asylum-seekers in good quality volunteering positions, giving people the chance to integrate into their host community and make a real difference."

For more information please call: Julia Ravenscroft, Press Officer, on 0161 233 1956 or email juliar@refugee-action.org.uk.

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Notes to editor

• For more information see the Home Office press release on the Volunteer Recruitment Fund released on November 17th or contact Andy McGuffe, Home office Press officer, on 0207 273 4588.
• In a survey by Personnel Today almost 30 per cent of refugees surveyed had a university degree and a further 25 per cent possessed A-level or GCSE equivalents.  More than half had more than three years’ relevant work experience in their country of origin and 61 per cent had more than three months’ work experience in the UK. (Personnel Today, Nov 2001)

• Asylum seekers do not currently have the right to work while their claim is being considered, but the Home Office has told refugee agencies: “We are keen to see asylum seekers take an active interest in the welfare of their own communities by undertaking voluntary activity while they are in the UK.”  (Letter from Home Office to Refugee Action, 9 October 2002)

• Refugee Action is an independent, national charity working with refugees to build new lives in the UK.  We provide practical advice and assistance for newly arrived asylum seekers and long-term commitment to their settlement through community development work, and received 30,000 visits from asylum seekers last year.  As one of the country’s leading agencies in the field, Refugee Action has 22 years’ experience in pioneering innovative work in partnership with refugees.

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