Hillingdon Refugee Support Group

About HRSG

The Hillingdon Refugee Support Group (“HRSG”) is a registered charity and Limited Company established in 1996 with charitable objects of welcoming and providing care and practical support to young unaccompanied asylum seekers and refugees aged 16-21 years in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The beneficiaries are all looked after unaccompanied refugees and asylum seekers aged 16-21 who have come to Britain seeking refuge/asylum. All will be separated from their families and a significant number will have experienced childhood trauma and have lived in areas of conflict. This includes those who have independent minors.

The Company is registered as Hillingdon Refugee Support Organisation however continues to trade as HRSG.

Mission statement:

To bring, hope, dignity, and empowerment to unaccompanied refugees and asylum seekers aged 16-21 in Hillingdon. To work with individuals regardless of background, providing a welcome reception and both care and practical support in order to enhance their quality of life.

The objects of the Charity are

To advance education and relieve financial hardship amongst those seeking asylum and those granted refugee status, primarily young people aged 16 – 21 residing in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in particular by the provision of:

a) food, clothing, basic living equipment, advice and support services; and

b) facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation with the object of improving their conditions where they have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, financial hardship or social and economic circumstances:

With a view to advancing them in life and to assist them to adapt within a new community

It also provides educational and recreational activities to enhance their quality of life and integration into the local community and strives to raise awareness in the wider community to ensure a positive presentation of asylum seekers and refugees.

HRSG was started in December 1996, following a Crisis at Christmas in response to the needs of local young refugees (16 – 18 year olds in the main) living in bed and breakfast accommodation in West Drayton. The host church was St Martin’s West Drayton; the Vicar who founded the organisation was Rev Theo Samuels.

In July 2005, HRSG established the successful peer Befriending Hillingdon Unaccompanied Minors Project (“BHUMP”) which offers friendship, practical support, and training to our young clients in order to combat their isolation and aid integration in the community. It is a partnership with; LBH Social Services Asylum Services who provide referrals of young people; British Red Cross provide Volunteer Training ; Brunel University – Volunteer Recruitment through their student body, peers drawn from V Volunteering and the; YMCA-provide their purpose built youth facility. These partnerships are of great value, are well established and enable us to jointly work to provide more ways of supporting asylum seekers and identify gaps in social welfare provision.

HRSG was supported by the London Borough of Hillingdon from 1998 to 2010.

HRSG received 2 year funding from the Paul Hamlin Foundation (PHF) July 2005 to July 2007 to pilot a peer befriending project in the London Borough of Hillingdon: BHUMP (Befriending Hillingdon Unaccompanied Minors Project). The project links young unaccompanied minors (refugees and asylum seekers) to local students and to local young people who are trained as volunteer befrienders.

In November 2007, HRSG received funding from the Big lottery Reaching Communities April 2008- September 2011 and Paradigm Housing (2008), Trust for London (2008- 2010). This was for a new project in 2008, called ‘BHUMP into Opportunity’. This was built on two years of good practice offering friendship and socialisation in order to combat isolation and help young people. It was extended to offer access to practical activities, including residential courses, outdoor activities, informal and formal education and training including ICT, practical living skills and cooking. The project is delivered from Hayes Middlesex. Our current partners assist us to deliver this project by offering training, Red Cross, Recruitment, Brunel Univ. Referrals, Social Services, Facilities and professional support, YMCA. We administer the project from our headquarters providing project coordination and delivery to funder’s requirements.

In November 2011, HRSG received continuation funding from Big Lottery Reaching Communities for three years; Trust for London for two years for the continuation project. This is the continuation and development of the existing project BHUMP that aims to bring hope, dignity and confidence to unaccompanied young refugees and asylum seekers in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It provides safe opportunities for skills and social development of young people to enable their integration into British society.

The primary focus of the project is a befriending service which offers friendship, practical support and training to young unaccompanied refugees and asylum seekers in order to combat their isolation. Young volunteers from the local community are matched with young unaccompanied refugees and asylum seekers to support them to integrate into society. It is run in partnership with LB Hillingdon Asylum Services who provide referrals, Brunel University who help with volunteer recruitment from their student body, British Red Cross who provide volunteer training and the YMCA who allow use of their purpose built youth facility.

Activities include a weekly drop-in at the YMCA facility for Young People and their befriending volunteers which include a range of social activities, group discussions, sharing experiences and educational workshops. Leisure activities including swimming, ice skating and football are also arranged at the request of Young People themselves. Young People also lead projects of their own, including a grant making scheme and research projects into the needs of young asylum seekers.

The project has provided recreational and educational outings to places like the Tower of London, Natural History Museum and Buckingham Palace. Annual residential courses are held to encourage young people to participate in activities specifically designed to assist in the development of greater self-reliance, confidence, independence and team-working skills. A large number of supplementary workshops and courses are provided including cookery, IT, arts, dance, literacy, entrepreneurship, sexual health awareness and drug and alcohol awareness.

The project also includes young refugee and asylum seekers care leavers who were previously looked after by Social Services but are no longer provided with statutory support, in addition to existing beneficiaries who are currently in care. To meet the needs of this group the project will provide further outreach life skills courses to enhance understanding of life in the UK. Courses will incorporate peer mentoring from local volunteers and ex-service users. It will cover areas essential for independence such as healthy living, learning, employment, health and hygiene, housing, job applications, manners, formal letters and managing money.