Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants as Volunteers

It is well recognised that volunteers themselves gain skills, life experiences and friendships through their time spent helping others. For these kinds of reasons, volunteering can be a valuable opportunity for anyone seeking to learn about and integrate into a new environment.

This theme of the Good Practice Bank brings together resources and helpful links for anyone working with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants as volunteers. While these different groups may often face similar challenges, remember that people will always have individual needs and aspirations. The article below also explains that some groups will be affected by restrictions on volunteering linked to their immigration status, while others will not be.

Articles

• Accepting Volunteers from Overseas - VE Information Sheet (PDF)

Volunteering England members

Information Sheets

• Who Is Allowed to Volunteer?

Examples, Samples and Templates

Good practice materials and pro-forma letters for CRB Disclosure checks

• Refugee and Asylum Seeker project - Voluntary Action Sheffield
  As part of its work supporting refugees, asylum seekers and local organisations, this project has produced a number of helpful resources which it wants to share with other volunteer-involving organisations
  - Translated volunteering materials (external link) in eight languages, including good practice guidelines and proforma letters
  - Pro-forma letters (external link) to help anyone who lacks sufficient identity documents apply for a Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure check in the usual way
  

Links

Links to Government guidance on volunteering as an asylum seeker

• UK Border Agency
  The UKBA has published guidance on illegal working, which includes Home Office guidance on when and where aslyum seekers can volunteer
  “Prevention Of Illegal Working: Immigration, Asylum And Nationality Act 2006: Comprehensive Guidance For Employers On Preventing Illegal Working” - February 2008
  

Links to support and guidance from the volunteering sector

• STAR - Student Action for Refugees
  A national network of university groups which supports refugees and asylum seekers in their local communities through volunteering and campaigns with and for the rights of refugees.
  http://www.star-network.org.uk/
  
• Tandem Communications Ltd
  This website contains links to a wealth of publications and research reports about working with asylum seekers, refugees and migrants.
  http://www.tandem-uk.com/
  

Publications and Toolkits

Free publications

• Working with Volunteers: A management guide for refugee community organisations - Volunteering England and The Evelyn Oldfield Unit
• A part of society: Refugees and asylum seekers volunteering in the UK - Tandem (external link)
  This report looks at the experiences of ten UK-based organisations which are successfully involving refugees and asylum seekers as volunteers
• Asylum Seekers and Volunteering in Europe: a transnational report based on experiences in Hungary, France and England (external link)
• Involve: Involvement of third country nationals in volunteering as a means to better integration - coordinated by the European Volunteer Centre (external link)
  This report includes good practice examples about migrants' volunteering activities in seven European countries

Priced publications

• The A-Z of Volunteering and Asylum - Volunteering England
  A practical handbook for people managing volunteers who are, or who work with, refugees or asylum seekers