How you can support Afghan refugee families in the UK

From charities appealing for food, clothes, smartphones and toiletries to networks looking for Londoners with spare rooms, there are many ways to help the thousands who have newly arrived in the UK
Rooms for Refguees

Since Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, thousands of families have been forced to take refuge in the UK and ministers have pledged to welcome as many as 20,000 over the coming weeks and months. Their stories so far have been mixed, but the reaction from readers here in the UK is consistently the same: what can we do to support these families and what’s the best way I can help?

The concerns refugees face are wide-ranging. In the short term they need food, clothes, smartphones, toiletries and baby items but longer term, they need jobs, housing, schools and community. “We need social gatherings and cultural programmes so we can feel part of the community,” Sayed Hashemi, a father-of-three living in a hotel in Canterbury, told the Evening Standard this week.

For Hashemi and his family, the response to their arrival in the UK three weeks ago has been mixed. “People look at us like we are refugees and we’re not part of the community, which we are not,” he said from his hotel room last night. But one interaction with the people of Kent has given them a glimmer of hope: a few days ago an English family with four children approached them in the street and invited them to their garden for a barbecue.

“They showed us real humanity, expressing their sympathy for Afghanistan and crying when we told them our story,” says Hashemi. “It was amazing. They even gave our children games and offered us their bikes to cycle to Whitstable. That kind of thing never happens in Eastern communities.”

Sayeed Zaman Hashemi

Several readers of Hashemi’s story have reached out with similar invitations, and a London-based career coach has generously offered him pro bono support. But these are just two of a myriad of ways you can help, wherever you live. Here are some of the fastest and most effective ways you can show your support for Afghan refugees today.

Donate money or items to charity

London Refugee Response

Launched by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on Tuesday, the new “London Refugee Response” fund aims to support the resettlement of Afghan refugees following flood of donations from Londoners.

It’s a collaboration between City Hall, London councils and The London Community Foundation and wants to be a “one-stop shop” for people to donate to the resettlement effort and help refugees build a new life. Check out this Twitter thread to read more about it.

Refugee Council

The charity has an appeal to help Afghans currently resettling in the UK. Donate today and you could help provide life-changing services for refugees arriving in the UK who have lost everything, including mental health support, children’s services and education, employment assistance and English language and integration classes.

A messaging campaign welcoming refugees launched in Piccadilly Circus today.
City Hall

British Red Cross

The Red Cross is already supporting hundreds of people newly arrived from Afghanistan in Leicester, Chelmsford, Hampshire, Cheshire, Birmingham, Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and Wrexham in Wales. Donations are welcome.

Upbeat Communities

A Christian charity helping refugees rebuild their lives in the UK. It has been giving welcome boxes to refugees and hosting a variety of different activities from English classes to community integration.

Head of Fundraising Vicki Offin told the Press Association: “That welcome box we give is like the first contact that we have introducing refugees to all the things we can help them with. The box contains things such as toiletries and pens and useful general bits and pieces.

“It is the opportunity to befriend someone and just to let them know that we are here and can support them, help them find community and be a friendly face and knock on the door. At the moment we’re still at the very early stages of things… getting to know people and understanding where their needs are so we can offer individual help.”

Companions of the Order of Malta

Voluntary organisation the Companions of the Order of Malta — which was running three weekly soup kitchens across the capital before the Covid crisis hit — has launched a new appeal for clothes and toiletries for Afghan refugees. Ten days ago they delivered 4,500 items to the Plaza Hotel in Victoria where they had recently received 215 refugees newly arrived from Afghanistan, and the group is now coordinating hub deliveries across London and the UK.

You can support using the donation button on their website, by bank transfer or by cheque. Details on the website here.

Order of Malta

Care4Calais

The charity is running collection hubs across the UK and is specifically asking for good quality shoes and coats for adults and children, unlocked smartphones and baby items from buggies to carriers. Check out this map to find your nearest drop-off point.

If you can, place your donation in a bag and label it with its size or age - items will then be sorted according to the number and age of people in nearby hotels. The charity is also asking for money for new underwear and socks and hiring storage units and transport.

On top of physical donations, the charity is also desperately in need of volunteers to donate their time, whether it’s sorting donations or ferrying goods around the country.

Kent Refugee Action Network

A Kent-based charity supporting young Afghan asylum seekers. Support its crowdfunding appeal to support the mental health of young refugees here.

Care4Calais

Refugee Action

The 35-year-old charity is supporting new arrivals in the UK from Afghanistan through its new emergency fund. Louise Calvey, who headed our its welcoming Afghan refugees during their first moments in the UK, was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour recently outlining the support her charity is offering - they are urgently trying to raise £215,000 to meet the needs of the coming weeks.

Donations will go towards welcoming newly arrived refugees, advice and safeguarding.

Breaking Barriers

A charity empowering refugees living in the UK through education, training and employment. Donating £15 monthly could cover the travel expenses for a refugee to attend its employability programmes. £25 a month could support a refugee to improve their language skills through one of Breaking Barriers’ English courses.

Meanwhile £50 monthly could provide a refugee with bespoke one-to-one employment support with one of the charity’s skilled advisers.

Refuweegee

A community-led charity that gives people a way to welcome and embrace those newest to arrive. It is currently taking monetary donations and items including: non-perishable food, toiletries, welcome pack items, tech items, board games, colouring books and pens, clean toys, adult rucksacks, blankets and books for teenagers.

Refuweegee

Trussell Trust

London’s 2,000 foodbanks are reporting a fall in donations: use the Trussell Trust’s website to find your local branch.

Hopscotch Women’s Centre

Support for women and girls in London from minority communities to be well, safe and ambitious. The group is currently fundraising and accepting donations to coordinate the purchase of essential items for Afghan refugees.

Your local council

Camden, Ealing, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kingston, Lambeth and Lewisham councils are all reportedly looking for help for refugees in London. You’ll be asked whether you can offer housing, fostering or donations.

Become a community sponsor

The government’s community sponsorship scheme allows groups of friends and neighbours, charities, and faith groups to support a refugee family as they restart their new lives in the UK.

Read more on the government’s website here.

Rooms for Refguees

Offer your spare room

Refugees at Home

The NGO connects those with a spare room in their home to refugees and asylum seekers: it has homed about 2,5000 people since 2016 but hosting plummeted during the pandemic. Currently, it is hosting just 40 guests and none are from Afghanistan, according to staff.

“We are not suggesting it is a permanent solution to the housing crisis, but it’s infinitely better than staying in a hotel after quarantine – both much more comfortable and also more integrating,” says co-founder Sara Nathan. “Hosts often eat with their guests and very quickly they learn so much about life in the UK.”

Rooms for Refugees

The Glasgow-based network is currently accepting applications from people with second homes or spare rooms in London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Glasgow - the cities it expects to be most popular with refugees and asylum seekers.

In the last month, it has already received applications from 2,000 potential hosts.

Reset UK

Reset UK

More than 29 million people around the world have been forced to leave their homes and countries because of war or persecution. Community Sponsorship gives you the opportunity to welcome a refugee family into your neighbourhood and support them as they restart their lives, here in the UK.

Use your voice

Sign a petition

Online petitions, such as this Change.org appeal demanding the Government accelerate an asylum plan for Afghan women and girls, are a quick and easy way to show your support if you are unable to donate.

Write to your MP

Demand action or simply register support by writing to your local MP or reaching out to them on social media.

Set up a network in your area

Afghan refugees are being housed all across the country and a key concern for many is how they will integrate culturally. If you live in an area taking refugees, setting up a network or community support group could be a brilliant way to welcome them in.

Don’t forget the children: many charities have an over-18 age limit on volunteers- a concern for many refugee parents worried about how their children will make friends and learn cultural values.

To offer more information on ways to help, please email katie.strick@standard.co.uk

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