People volunteer for many different reasons and expectations:
- It is a bridge building experience for host communities and people from other lands and in this way contributes to local community cohesion
- It provides volunteers the opportunity to become familiar with other local services through assisting clients with signposting and accompanying clients
- People want to give some of their free time to make newcomers feel more welcome and a little less confused
- Volunteering can provide people with the opportunity to grow in confidence, reduce their own social isolation and increase opportunities to improve language skills
- It can contribute to career development and work experience
A few months ago I was running a small volunteer outreach training session - the group was made up of; a man who could have been described as homeless by the way he looked and behaved, a woman born in Saudi Arabia who was a member of Amnesty International and speaker of many languages, a young travelling English woman and an Eritrean asylum seeker into her fifth year of waiting for an outcome of her appeal. The group were talking with such ease and comfort and I wondered to myself; where in the world would you get such a diverse group together - age, gender, social and educational, race and life experiences mix? Volunteering has this all-embracing structure to it that allows for such groups to gather and talk, share and support. The Refugee Council has a strong volunteering policy aimed at including recently arrived asylum seekers, refugees and host volunteers.
Nationally the organisation has up to 300 volunteers and in the Leeds office up to 50 active volunteers. In addition to enhancing existing services in the Leeds office, volunteers are also placed in a variety of outreach settings such as providing English conversation sessions in Induction Centres and additional support to the peripatetic NHS specialist health team that deals with the health needs of asylum seekers and refugees across the city.
The Home Office is keen for asylum seekers to do voluntary work whilst their claim for asylum is under consideration. At the time of removing the work concession (July 2002) the Home Office affirmed its commitment to asylum seekers volunteering in purposeful activities.
This work must not amount to paid or unpaid employment, but travelling costs and food expenses may be met, provided this is not at a flat rate. In addition to keeping waiting asylum seekers busy it offers opportunities to meet others from the host community, it encourages people to learn new skills and it can enhance people's opportunities to widen their work experience.
This commitment of the Home Office is demonstrated through their Purposeful Activities fund set up to encourage organisations working in this sector to apply. In September 2006 the Refugee Council was awarded a grant from this fund for the Talks Team programme. One of the aims of the project is to recruit and train asylum seekers for either actual presentations in schools and or preparation and research towards the talks, thus engaging asylum seekers with some purposeful activity, providing the opportunity to gain new skills and ones that they possibly could put to good use should they be returned to their country.
So, volunteering offers a number of positive opportunities and experiences for people both locals and those from strife-torn lands. It opens new doors to friendships, builds bridges between communities and develops skills including languages.
The good news too is that despite the often negative response in the media and sometimes from local communities, recruiting of volunteers is never in short supply, the waiting list of people willing to volunteer grows rapidly both from the host community and others.
What this positive response to volunteering from all groups does reveal however, is the Home Office's paltry response to a pressing need within the asylum seeking community; the right to work and seek vocational training. Having a job brings many benefits to combating social exclusion and furthering integration that volunteer work (and NASS support) cannot provide. Trained and professional asylum seekers can maintain their skills rather than watch them deteriorate. It sends a message to the wider community that asylum seekers want to contribute and not be a drain on limited resources.
We have heard of one national charity which was informed by the Home Office that they could not provide NVQ assessment and accreditation to asylum seekers helping in their shops. The charity was able to offer this to the other volunteers as they were UK citizens and had permission to work.
It is clear that such policies are socially exclusive, using the enthusiasm of asylum seekers to contribute to the life of their community but then discriminating against them by not officially recognizing the skills needed to do so.
The Refugee Council believes that integration starts at day one. The early experience of asylum seekers in the UK has a major impact on their ability to integrate as refugees.
Here in the Volunteering Department of the Refugee Council the number of volunteers we can manage and support at any one time is 50. Clearly an issue of capacity is self evident. Refugee Council supports volunteering opportunities for asylum seekers and refugees but the limitations of volunteering are also evident. Volunteering can develop soft skills (team working, time management) but not hard vocational skills that particular jobs need (construction, healthcare).
