10 Organisations Supporting Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Lewisham
Watching the devastating news coming out of Afghanistan over the last week, Lewisham Local wanted to highlight some of the local organisations within our network doing amazing work to support refugees and asylum seekers. There is a variety of ways you can support these groups, through volunteering your time, donating money or essential donations.
1. Action For Refugees In Lewisham
AFRIL was fo
unded in 2006 in order to support asylum seekers, vulnerable migrants and refugees in south east London. We work with our service users to ensure that we provide services that meet their real, complex needs.
Donate – AFRIL or Volunteer with AFRIL
2. Afghanistan & Central Asian Association
Works with Afghans and Central Asians living away from their homeland, providing the support, skills and knowledge to live and prosper living in the UK. The small number of ACAA staff and many many volunteers are currently working tirelessly and on an unprecedented scale to organise resettlement for Afghans trying to reach the UK.
Donate to Afghanistan & Central Asian Association‘s Crowdfunder
3. Create Without Borders
Create Without Borders promotes and celebrates the work of creatives with lived experience of forced migration by collaboratively creating digital and physical spaces that showcase their work.
Support their upcoming events or volunteer: hello@createwithoutborders.co.uk
4. GRACEaid
We support those who have lost everything and are rebuilding their lives from scratch.
Our large storage facilities enable us to receive, store, sort and package aid, ready for distribution by others. Our centralized approach creates a peer-to-peer hub for the many charities and grass-root groups we work with, both locally and abroad.
Volunteer with GRACEaid: details on our volunteering opportunities page or Donate
5. Lewisham Churches for Asylum Seekers
LewCAS is composed of representatives from churches of all denominations in the London Borough of Lewisham who share its aim of relieving poverty and advancing education amongst asylum seekers in South East London. They provide weekly food parcels to local families along with basic essentials. Everybody in the organisation serves in a voluntary capacity.
Find details of how to donate food or financial support here
6. Lewisham Donation Hub
We are a voluntary project set up in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We collect and organise donations of all kinds, which we then share with those facing hardship.
Find what items (second hand or new) you can donate on their website or Facebook page. They recently featured in a Guardian article: UK volunteers hurry to sort donations for Afghans escaping the Taliban | Volunteering | The Guardian
7.Lewisham Refugee Migrant Network
We empower people and families who are destitute, homeless or have No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF), from refugee, asylum seeker and migrant communities. LRMN advocates for people’s rights, campaigns for wider change, meets their basic needs and helps them improve their wellbeing.
Find out about the ways you can support their work here. They also campaign on a number of issues, including the campaign for Lewisham to become a Borough of Sanctuary.
8. Refugee Cafe
Formed in 2019 to bridge the divide between refugees, asylum seekers and the wider community. Refugee Cafe create delicious international food whilst providing training and employment opportunities to local refugees. Opportunities for refugee chefs to create products. We will also be launching a food-and-work skills training for refugees seeking employment in the hospitality industry.
9. Refugee Council
The Refugee Council is working in partnership to provide life changing support to some of the world’s most vulnerable refugee families as part of the London Borough of Lewisham’s Refugee Resettlement Programme. The will support refugee families displaced from their homes who are resettled in Lewisham, south east London, under an extension of the existing Vulnerable Person’s Resettlement Scheme and Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement schemes. They have created a crisis information hub for Afghans .
10. Lewisham as a Borough of Sanctuary
The Lewisham Migration Forum is continuing to coordinate the collective effort behind Lewisham becoming a Borough of Sanctuary, welcoming those fleeing violence and persecution in their own countries and protecting the rights of all migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees.
Our aim is to get individuals and businesses in the borough to join us in enacting the principles of the Cities of Sanctuary movement. These are to:
- Offer a positive vision of a culture of welcome and hospitality to all
- Create opportunities for relationships of friendship and solidarity between local people and those seeking sanctuary
- Recognise and encourage partnership working and network development across localities
- Identify opportunities for practical action and work on common cause issues to effect change within and across communities (turning empathy into action)
- Celebrate and promote the welcome contribution of people seeking sanctuary
- Engage people seeking sanctuary in decision making processes at all levels and in all activities promote understanding of asylum and refugee issues, especially by enabling refugee voices to be heard directly
Pledge your support as an individual, business or local group in support of the campaign.
Find more community groups doing amazing work on our community directory
There are many more small groups and organisations supporting refugees and asylum seekers in Lewisham than we can list, including Forest Hill and Sydenham Welcome Refugees, GCDA, Kath’s Place and Lewisham Islamic Centre. Find more community groups doing amazing work on our community directory.
Last but not least Lewisham Council!
Lewisham has a proud history of supporting refugees and migrants. At a time of increased pressure on those with uncertain immigration status, Lewisham have been recognised as a Borough of Sanctuary by the national charity ‘City of Sanctuary’, who awarded Lewisham Council the title of ‘Council of Sanctuary’ in May 2021. Read more on about what this means on Lewisham Council’s website.
Calling all Lewisham Landlords
If you are a landlord Lewisham Council is looking for local landlords who may be able to provide a safe haven for refugees. They are looking for landlords to provide 24-month tenancies at Local Housing Allowance rates or lower to help provide homes for refugees fleeing conflict and persecution. In return landlords will receive a steady income plus the peace of mind knowing their property is being put to good use and a support network for their tenants with a dedicated support worker to ensure a successful tenancy. Read more about their call to landlords to help support refugees on our website.
Inspired and looking for more ways to give?
There is a network of projects providing food and basic essentials to those in need in our local community. Find a project local to you here. Find more ways to get involved and stay connected with your local community by signing up to our newsletter . Find more volunteering roles on our volunteering page.