Blog

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Give up a lunch a month

by: Catherine Gladwell

Give up a lunch a month to support our mentoring programme for girls trafficked into the UK.

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In October 2010 and May 2011 a case entitled AA (unattended children) Afghanistan involving a 17-year-old young person from Afghanistan found that separated children can be at risk of serious harm if returned to the country. The evidence considered by the tribunal and its final judgment has the potential to affect future claims for humanitarian protection by unaccompanied minors. We show why it is important to take note.

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Much of what we do at RSN is rooted in local communities.

One of the ways we do this is in trying to match newly arrived unaccompanied minors with educational mentors who live in their local communities, as much as possible. We love to see people get to know those who are new to the country, who could be living just down the road from them! Here are a few reasons why we think that this dynamic is so special.

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A guest blog post by Laura, a teacher at the College of North West London.

I have never run 10k without stopping before, and I have never been sponsored to do something, so when I got the chance to do both of these, I knew exactly which charity I wanted to run for.

Refugee Support Network has become an integral part of many of my students' lives, helping them to make the most of the opportunities and  challenges they meet.

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18 and alone

by: Hannah Elwyn

We have watched many of the young asylum seekers we support turn 18 in the last few years.

Right at the age when life can be most confusing, unaccompanied asylum seekers are also applying for extensions of their temporary leave to remain, and living with the reality of possible forced return to their countries of origin. Seeing young people go through the process of ‘becoming adults’, whilst also passing through the complexities and anxieties of the asylum process, has at times been heart-breaking and difficult.

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Three journeys in film

by: Mary Mitchell

It’s often difficult for us to understand the multifaceted experiences of the young refugees and asylum seekers we engage with, as they all have unique stories and have undergone unique journeys to arrive in the UK.

With this in mind we thought we’d share with you three incredible films that all reflect aspects of the stories of the young people we work with, but in different ways.

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Following the release of our research paper, "I just want to study", we have received queries from individuals and organisations wondering how they can best support the young refugees and asylum seekers they work with to access University. As there are very different support pacakges available for different applicants depending on their immigration status this can be rather complicated! This blog post breaks down these categories to provide a basic guide of entitlements.

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Three tips for partnership

by: Catherine Gladwell

We are feeling very loved at the moment.  Why? When chatting to a friend about her work managing partnerships at another charity, and all the difficulties she faced, it became clear that we are very fortunate to have built up so many positive partnerships with many wonderful organisations over the last three years! 

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When Lydia Met Anna

by: Hannah Elwyn

One of the most enjoyable parts of my role as RSN’s Mentoring Coordinator is matching volunteer mentors with the young people who have been referred to us by colleges who believe that having one-to-one support could make a real difference to their educational progress. It’s a privilege to be able to watch these relationships progressing and the way it impacts both the mentor and the mentee, who are able to learn from each other’s experiences.

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My Top Five Lessons

by: Sarah Lyall

Recently I was given an unexpected Physics lesson from Arman*, a young asylum seeker from Afghanistan and a budding civil engineer. It got me thinking about the other lessons we have learned from the young people we meet here at Refugee Support Network.

This is our current Top Five: