our work > community development
Introduction
Where we work
Are you a refugee community organisation or group?
Do you provide services or are involved in refugee and asylum issues?
What we can offer
Our values
Further resources
Introduction
Refugee Action’s community development services support and promote positive integration and long-term settlement of refugees and displaced people in different parts of the UK.
Bosnian refugee dance group
We assist refugee community organisations and support groups to develop services and build their organisations to help the integration of refugees. We also run projects and activities around specific areas of need such as voluntary return, employment, gender and oral history projects.
In partnership with other organisations, our staff take a proactive role in shaping policies and raising awareness about refugees and asylum seekers, both nationally and locally.
Last year, our community development officers worked with 1,450 service users and stakeholders. This included 547 refugee community organisations and refugee-led groups, more than 650 voluntary and statutory organisations, and a diverse range of local consortia, networks, forums and funders.
Where we work
We provide expert advice and assistance to refugee community organisations and others helping refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK in the following places. Follow the links for contact details and more information about local services.
London (head office for community development and services for the South of England); Birmingham; Bristol; Derby; Leeds; Leicester; Liverpool; Manchester; Nottingham; Plymouth; and Portsmouth.
Are you a refugee community organisation or group?
If so, we can help you with:
- Setting up an organisation
- Preparing funding applications
- Recruitment of staff and volunteers
- Producing a long-term plan (eg a business plan)
- Developing organisational policy
Do you provide services or are involved in refugee and asylum issues?
If so, we can provide expertise to enable you to:
- Make links with community leaders
- Assess the needs and priorities
- Understand cultural sensitivities in dealing with different communities
- Share models of good practice
- Assist in identifying priorities and methodology for research
What we can offer
We produce a wide range of handbooks, publications and other resources related to integration and community development. Many are available to download from our website or otherwise you can contact us to obtain copies. For more details go to Information.
Our community development officers around the country can also provide:
- One-off advice
- Longer-term consultancy around projects
- A skill-sharing day
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We offer training on various issues to agencies who wish to work with asylum seekers and refugees.
Our values
We work towards sustainable integration of refugee communities and individuals. We focus on giving voice to refugees in their communities and on local and regional issues that affect them.
It is important to us not only what we do but also how we do it. We believe that:
- Refugees should be helped to things for themselves
- We should work together to better use scarce resources
- Every individual should have an equal role and opportunity in society
Further resources
Building capacity
Refugee Action recently embarked upon an ambitious and innovative consultation programme to evaluate its community development and integration work and to identify gaps in services in the different regions.
We consulted with all our key stakeholders, from funders and partners agencies to refugee community organisations and individual service users.
The report , Building capacity, outlines the key findings from the consultation as well as ideas for future developments.
Bosnian refugees in the UK
The experience of Bosnian refugees in the UK illustrate what can be achieved by strong refugee communities. Refugee Action helped with the reception and settlement of Bosnian refugees and went on to assist the development of Bosnian community organisations.
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"I knew that the best way to help vulnerable people would be to establish a strong community"