Student Action for Refugees (STAR) is a national charity made up of 34,000 students welcoming refugees to the UK. Together we: volunteer at local refugee projects, campaign to improve the lives of refugees, and educate people about refugees and asylum. We, Essex STAR, have the pleasure of facilitating a Conversation and Craft Club in partnership […]
Miscellaneous My last report on Community and Volunteer activities was in November 2020. Since then, volunteers have continued to do what they can “In a time of Covid” in terms of support of the families and individuals with whom they are involved, teaching English, having Zoom conversations, delivering food to families, running Whatsapp groups and […]
Remaining open for face-to-face appointments throughout a pandemic has advantages and disadvantages. 15 Queen Street now has a fourth office which doubles up to house the Food from Home Foodbank. At the office, we have 4 caseworkers, a part-time operations manager, and a full-time fundraiser who also takes on housing casework. We are hoping to acquire […]
Amongst the really difficult cases we are currently dealing with, it’s nice to reflect on those that are coming out the other side of what was an incredibly tough time for them. One of our clients who we have worked very closely within the last year, has had her life transformed in the 16 months […]
I’m Grace, a 25-year-old from Colchester. I have a politics degree and have just completed my legal studies. I was due to start my training contract in September 2021. Like so many, plans changed, and my training contract was delayed for a year. I returned to Colchester and started working at Community 360 (a partner […]
I’m Beth and I’ve been a volunteer here at Refugee Action – Colchester for the last two years. Since graduating from my master in International Human Rights Law at the University of Essex, I have been working with RA-C on a research project funded by the National Institute for Health Research. The project aims to […]
RA-C’s “Food From Home” Foodbank has been up and running for about a month now and is such an exciting and essential extension of our organisation. Many of our clients from African and Middle Eastern countries can now access ingredients that are expensive to come by and would not be found in Colchester’s general food […]
If you read about what support Asylum Seekers are able to access via the National Asylum Support System (NASS for short), you would think it’s basic, but mostly adequate. Unfortunately the reality for most is far, far different. Commonplace is bed bugs, heating issues, sharing rooms and bathrooms even during the Pandemic, and for those […]
I’m Mathilde, I’m a new case worker here at Refugee Action – Colchester. I volunteered last summer while finishing my human rights masters at Essex University. I was part of the Craft & Conversation club during lockdown. I graduated from my masters in October, after finishing my dissertation on the lack of gender sensitivity in […]
Domestic violence is always a shocking and difficult issue for anyone to survive. For our clients there is often a layer of immigration related difficulty woven into the story that makes it even more complex. In the first lockdown we saw, as reflected in the national trend, a rise of around 45% in DV cases. […]
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