Known as FOSS, this charity aims to help New Scots integrate into Falkirk and remove barriers to accessing service. It is a befriending charity, working with any newcomers to the area, in the majority supporting resettled refugees and people in the asylum system. FOSS is based in Falkirk in the Forth Valley.

In February 2023, Allen Lane has agreed funding of £4,000 per annum for two years towards the salary of the part-time project manager. This role works on projects specifically with asylum seekers who have been placed in a hotel in Falkirk and have little other community support. The project manager organises weekly ESOL sessions, and group support. They will also start up and progress new projects including a public transport voucher scheme, volunteer-led walks games and activity sessions, and befriending. Aims of the position are to increase the efficiency of the charity, to help more asylum seekers learn and improve their English, to help them take advantage of education and prepare for employment, and to help them form local relationships and networks.

www.fossfalkirk.org.uk

Living Vital is a community gardening project based at Stanmer Park on the outskirts of Brighton. The organisation aims to improve mental and physical wellbeing through socialising and connection with nature. It offers the opportunity for people to learn about growing food sustainably, improving local biodiversity, nutrition, simple woodwork and bushcraft skills, and cookery and runs regular sessions with various groups in the community. Its main project is ‘Common Ground’ – an organic food growing community project benefitting around 60 individuals from the refugee and migrant community.

In October 2022, the Foundation made a grant for £5,000 to be split equally over a two-year period. The funding is to contribute towards general running costs of the Common Ground project. The project works in partnership with Voices in Exile, a refugee charity in Brighton that will refer individuals. Regular therapeutic gardening sessions will help to improve mental and physical health, boost confidence and reduce people’s isolation. It is also an opportunity for the refugee and migrant community to make new friends and connections in the local community.

www.livingvital.co.uk

Bristol was one of the first cities across the UK to be involved in creating the national movement of ‘City of Sanctuary’ organisations.  Bristol City of Sanctuary, like others, offers welcome and sanctuary to people fleeing violence or persecution, and aims to create a supportive community across the city involving charities, businesses, individuals and groups, the council and other agencies.

At the Foundation’s June 2022 meeting, Trustees agreed a grant totalling £7,500 split across three years. The funding is towards salary costs, and will directly help administer the charity’s Transport Fund. The Fund was initiated by Bristol City of Sanctuary and works in partnership with First Bus, Bristol’s transport provider. The Fund enables around 75 asylum seekers and refugees to access free bus tickets so they are able to access appointments, services and activities.  Bristol City of Sanctuary has a working arrangement with key refugee agencies across the area which make referrals to the Fund.  Since the first instalment of the grant, the charity has reported that First Bus has agreed to expand the number of tickets it offers which will help even more destitute and vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees.

https://bristol.cityofsanctuary.org

This Manchester-based group works to support survivors of torture that come to the UK as asylum seekers. The Activity Fund offers support on a long-term basis, and aims to ease the physical and mental pain often experienced by survivors of torture. Work includes encouraging and assisting people to access community facilities, helping people to source practical items they need such as equipment and books for college courses, helping with jobs information and advice, and accessing volunteering opportunities, training or suitable jobs. Overall the work improves survivors’ emotional and psychological wellbeing, supports positive mental health, and helps with their rehabilitation. It provides a friendly face in an otherwise quite frightening world.

At the October 2021 Trustee meeting, a grant totalling £5,000, split equally over two years was made. The funding will go towards two projects that the group runs – supporting people to access local leisure centres with passes; and assisting with practicalities through its Positivity Building Project. Outcomes of the work include that survivors of torture will have improved physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing; and that they will feel more positive, confident, and start to alleviate their difficulties.

www.stafund.org.uk

Asylos is an international network of volunteer researchers who help asylum seekers worldwide assert their right to asylum. The volunteers research in-country background information to evidence persecution of an asylum seeker. The overall aim is to ensure that the asylum procedure is evidence-based and unbiased – providing access to crucial information for asylum seekers to substantiate their claims. Over 100 volunteers are trained and supported to undertake the research and provide detailed reports – in 2020, 74 (of which 22 across the UK) were produced for use by various charities, groups and legal bodies.

At the February 2021 meeting, Allen Lane trustees agreed a £10,000 grant to Asylos. This will contribute towards the organisation’s UK work.  Over the next year, this is expected to include at least 25 new case-specific country-of-origin research reports for UK asylum seekers; expand the base of beneficiaries in the UK by at least 10%; and increase the number of downloads from Asylos’ website from legal practitioners in the UK by at least 10%.

www.asylos.eu