London

Our volunteers have a number of different roles within the various departments of our London office. Volunteering is divided into two main areas: working directly with clients and working in our offices.

When completing the volunteer application form please make a note of which areas you are particularly interested in. We are always looking to broaden the range of our volunteer activities and welcome ideas for new volunteer projects. If you have a specialist skill or interest that is not included in the list below, please mention it when you are completing your application form.

Direct services

Day Centre Volunteers – daily
At our day centre for asylum seekers we provide advice and practical support, including daily hot meals, clothing and showering facilities. Volunteers provide a welcoming environment for clients. Good communication skills are essential to this role, and languages are very useful.

Access and advice team – daily (except Wednesday mornings)
Our advice workers provide support and information relating to clients’ NASS applications and subsequent decisions. Volunteers work alongside them, as well as on the telephone information line, which provides information to clients and agencies.

Specialist team – flexible
The specialist team gives information about health entitlements and supports individual cases when necessary. Volunteers assist staff in supporting clients to use health services and carry out tasks in general support of the team.

Children’s section – daily
The children’s section advocates on behalf of clients and is responsible for explaining the complexities of the asylum process to children, offering emotional as well as practical support. Volunteers are involved in identifying and screening clients and also in identifying young people's needs.

Separated children's social evening – Tuesdays 5.30-8pm
Volunteers help to run a weekly social drop-in for asylum-seeking and refugee children. They organise activities and games as well as setting up and tidying up the room. The drop-in also runs daytime outings in the summer, which volunteers help to organise.

English Teaching – Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings and Wednesday afternoons
TEFL/CELTA qualified teachers run classes in the day centre. This can include teaching groups as well as one to one teaching.

Office-based volunteer roles

Below is a range of office-based volunteering roles that we offer. When completing the application form, please state whether you are interested in any of these activities and we will be able to contact you when a suitable role becomes available.

Policy and research volunteers
Volunteers assist our policy and research staff with surveys, reports and questionnaires. This can include holding interviews, writing reports and processing questionnaire responses. Some research experience is desirable but not always essential

Campaigns and marketing volunteers
Volunteers based in our Communications Directorate work across a variety of different areas. These include assisting with event and conference organisation, developing and contributing to our website, promoting Refugee Council campaigns as well as supporting our campaigners and our lobbying work.

Refugee Week volunteers
Refugee Week is an annual national week of arts events celebrating the contribution of refugees to the UK, and promoting understanding about the reasons why people seek sanctuary. Volunteers help the team to promote the week as well as supporting people to hold their own events. They also help the team to organise a large annual event in London.

Administration
Volunteers also assist many of our teams with general administration. This is a good opportunity to gain work experience as well as learn more about the Refugee Council. Admin roles vary but can include filing, updating web pages, contributing to newsletters, collating information and photocopying.

General information

We have three offices in London: our head office in Brixton, one in west London (Hounslow) and one in east London (Spitalfields). Our volunteers have a number of different roles within the various departments of our London offices. Volunteering is divided into two main areas: working directly with clients on an outreach basis and working in our offices, both directly with clients and in a back-office capacity.

Direct services volunteering

Refugee Integration and Employment Service

Volunteer Integration Advisers - daily during office hours only
Volunteers work with our client advisers to provide support and information to newly recognised refugees. This includes dealing with immediate welfare needs including benefits, education and practical support.

Volunteer Employment Advisers - daily during office hours only
Volunteers work across our three offices to provide employment support to newly recognised refugees - this can include help with searching for jobs, CV writing and interview practice.

Volunteer Advocates – flexible but availability during office hours essential
Volunteers accompany clients to various appointments outside of Refugee Council and advocate on their behalf to ensure that they get access to services they are entitled to. The purpose of the role is to provide some moral as well as practical support by being a friendly face who helps clients to navigate statutory services.

Volunteer English Teachers – daily/flexible during office hours and/or evenings
ESOL/TEFL/CELTA qualified volunteer teachers run one-to-one or small group tutoring every day. Clients will be refugees who have leave to remain in the UK and have asked for one-to-one ESOL classes. Volunteer teachers usually offer one or more mornings, afternoons or evenings a week to teach their classes.

Volunteer Administrators
Volunteers also assist many of our teams with general administration. This is a good opportunity to gain work experience as well as learn more about the Refugee Council. Admin roles vary but can include filing, updating web pages and spreadsheets, answering phones, collating information and photocopying.

Refugees Into Teaching

The Refugees into Teaching project is a national project based at the Refugee Council and funded by the Training and Development Agency for Schools. We provide information, advice and support to refugees who are attempting to qualify or re-qualify as teachers in this country.

We are currently looking for teaching professionals to act as volunteer mentors to refugees to help them overcome these barriers. Supported by the Refugee Council, you would draw upon your own experience to provide regular one-to-one mentoring to a refugee from our database. A mentor could be anyone with experience of working in primary or secondary education in England. You may be a teacher, teaching assistant, ex-teacher, supply teacher, teacher trainee or newly qualified teacher. Alternatively you might work at a teacher training provider or in another related profession.

Refugees into Teaching Volunteer Mentoring role:

To work sensitively with a mentee from a refugee background
To arrange and conduct regular one-to-one meetings with a mentee, in a suitable public location
To be able to commit a minimum of one hour a fortnight for at least three months
To complete a mentoring action plan in consultation with the mentee and the Mentoring Co-ordinator
To regularly update the action plan and activity record with progress made
To provide mentoring input (drawing upon your own experience of UK primary or secondary education and, where necessary, using other suggested resources)
To keep in regular contact with the Mentoring Co-ordinator, reporting any problems as they arise
To work within agreed boundaries
To maintain confidentiality where necessary
To attend the initial briefing session at the Refugee Council offices
To take part in ongoing development
To complete feedback and evaluation forms as required

For more information, and to apply, please visit the project website on www.refugeesintoteaching.org.uk