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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 […]
11
Feb
Feb
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 […]
11
Feb
Feb
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 […]
11
Feb
Feb
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. […]
11
Feb
Feb
I am a first year MA Social Work student. I am currently doing my placement with Refugee Action – Colchester. As a social worker, I am keen to work with asylum seekers and refugees, particularly in the context of families and unaccompanied children. Social workers play a key role in ensuring that asylum seekers and […]
08
Dec
Dec
Table Tennis We have been so pleased to be able to continue the Men’s table Tennis at the 6th Form college. The 6th Form College is a College of Sanctuary and as such considers us to be part of their wider community. Consequently Table Tennis has continued with the use of masks, no ‘doubles’ and […]
07
Dec
Dec
During the first lockdown we found clients continued to contact us with urgent issues so we re-opened the office earlier than planned. This lockdown we have kept the office open and continued to see new clients arriving – we now have clients from more than 50 countries! Some clients are referred by social services, some […]
07
Dec
Dec
I am so pleased to confirm that after a number of postponements owing to Covid 19, the exhibition ‘My Name is Not Refugee’ is now showing at Firstsite. It is the latest in the series of exhibitions sponsored by the Arts Council in which the gallery are required to work with a local community group. […]
07
Dec
Dec
We want to share the ongoing story of a new client and her experience in accessing housing support. Jasmine is now a British Citizen, originally from Asia, and has been living in Colchester since 2003. In late October she and her three children became homeless. We helped her approach the local housing team. Initially, they […]
04
Oct
Oct
We receieved a wonderful email from Colchester Borough Council’s Community Services Team this week, it read… “I am delighted to announce that Refugee Action – Colchester has been nominated by various people for a Community Recognition Award. Thank you for making a difference within your local community, Refugee Action – Colchester thoroughly deserves this recognition.” A lovely acknowledgement of the […]