support us > volunteering

The free time and expertise given by more than 60 volunteers of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds is an enormous asset to our work. Many of our volunteers are themselves asylum seekers or refugees. Volunteers are assigned specific roles within each office, ranging from fundraising, administration and research, to befriending clients and interpreting. If you are interested in volunteering or would like to know more, please contact a volunteer manager in your nearest Refugee Action office.

advice session

Tina, Southampton

Tina started volunteering at Refugee Action’s Southampton office in mid-August 2001, and volunteers in reception to help new clients by taking their details, finding out what problems they have and collecting their files for the caseworkers. She works half a day each week.

Tina heard about Refugee Action through her local volunteer services bureau and was drawn by the huge transition asylum seekers face in the UK.

“What interested me most is the idea of working with people to help them build a new life,” she explains.

“I have had a hairdressing business for about 20 years and am quite used to dealing with people. I enjoy knowing that I’ve helped people when they’ve had a problem.”

Aram, Bristol

Aram began volunteering with Refugee Action’s Bristol office in September 2000. He volunteers for two days each week.

An asylum seeker himself, Aram fled the Kurdistan region of Iraq and arrived in Britain in August 2000. He was dispersed from Dover to Bristol.

“I would have preferred to have gone to Birmingham or Manchester, where I knew some people. In Bristol I knew nobody. It was very lonely,” he says.

Volunteering at Refugee Action in Bristol is very important for Aram.

“I like volunteering at Refugee Action for so many reasons,” he says.

“It gives me self respect and makes me happy. I get stronger every day. It has definitely helped me settle better in Bristol. I help new asylum seekers learn how to get by and live their daily lives in Bristol.”