Stories

Celebrating Solidarity at the ‘Migrant Connections Festival’

Photo credit: federivas.com September saw the triumphant return of the ‘Migrant Connections Festival’. Hosted by Migrant Connections, alongside SLRA as a partner, the festival serves as a platform to celebrate...

Celebrating strong women!

This story is written by our intern, Magda, who is with our team for a whole year. She works closely with our women’s group and is highly motivated and enthusiastic...

The Nest Project – Improving families lives through immigration advice

Our intern, Filip, interviewed our Nest Project Coordinator, Rebeka. The Nest Project started in August 2022 and is one of SLRA’s newest projects.   Take 3 minutes to learn more about...

The ‘City/Borough of Sanctuary’ Movement coming to Lambeth

In June 2022 Lambeth Council announced their ambition to apply to become a ‘Borough of Sanctuary’ – a welcoming and inclusive borough for asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. As the...

Recap one year of volunteering at the WATAn Men’s Group

written by our one-year intern, Hannah. During my one-year internship at SLRA I had the chance to become part of the ´Men’s group. They meet in person every Tuesday afternoon...

Let’s leave London – Let’s go to the Hempen Farm!   

written by Lisa and Yasmine (9 years old SLRA member) In August, around 30 people – families and adults – made their way from crowded and busy London to the...

It’s summer – It’s beach time!  

written by Amanda, community leader and volunteer and Lisa It is a tradition at SLRA that during our summer break, in which we do not have our weekly sessions, we...

English Classes at SLRA

This week, we met with our three dedicated and wonderful English teachers: Anita, Bel and Tracey. They have volunteered with our organisation for a few years now and during that...

Message of Solidarity and Love

written by Tamara Astor, community engagement worker On the 23rd of June, our women’s group met online due to the strikes. One of the ‘Simple Acts’ suggestions for Refugee Week 2022...

Action Day against the ‘Hostile Environment’

On the 16th of June, we joined the ‘Solidarity knows no Borders Network’s call for a nation-wide action week against the Hostile Environment which was declared ten years ago. Subsequent immigration...

#ItsOurCare Day of Action

written by Francess Horton SLRA’s care experienced young people were amongst 100+ young people in parliament on June 22nd for #ItsOurCare Day of Action. Three of our young people from...

UK Citizens Assembly in Lambeth

At the end of April, there was the Lambeth Citizen Assembly with the local candidates for the local election. Our community leaders and staff members prepared our task around the...

Behind the Scenes: Being a Youth Casework Volunteer

the blog entry is written by Lucy who volunteers with SLRA for more than a year and supports the Youth Casework Team. Read how her journey with SLRA is: My...

All about the amazing trip

Written by Bethelem – Daughter of an active member of our women’s group and joined many Kids parties on Zoom. The trip was lovely and epic, we got to craft...

We want change

Blog entry written by Shatha – volunteer, community leader and active member of our women’s group; and Lisa On March the 12th we hosted in collaboration with The Feminist Library...

Behind the Scenes: Interview with community leader Carla

Interviewee: Carla, community leader / Interview: Lisa / Interview via What’s app What was your motivation to join the Community Organising Course?“I joined because I wanted to gain a new...

Behind the Scenes: Interview with community leader Joseph

Interviewer: Lisa, SLRA volunteer; Interviewee: Joseph Joseph is an active member of our men’s group and joined our 4-Week Community Organising Course in February facilitated by CitizensUk. He is also...

Behind the Scenes: Interview with community leader Ornela

Interviewer: Lisa, SLRA volunteer; Interviewee: Ornela Ornela is an active youth client who regularly joins our Youth Club and supported our campaign “Taking Care”. Ornela joined our 4-Week Community Organising...

Behind the Scenes: Interview with community leader Mary

Interviewer: Lisa, volunteer at SLRA; Interviewee: Marry Mary is an active member of our women’s group and joined our 4-Week Community Organising Course in February facilitated by CitizensUk. I interviewed...

A trip to the Garden Museum

Blog entry written by Florence – a member of our women’s group The SLRA women group trip to Garden Museum was an exciting trip for me and my experience was...

Ukraine – How we can all help…

You are not alone! There are refugees everywhere and we are with you.” SLRA Women’s group participants message to those fleeing Ukraine. The scenes we are seeing from the war...

The Power of the WE  

Community Organising Course with Citizens UK  During February, around 30 people we work with, joined our community organising course facilitated by Abigal and Elsie from Citizens UK. Every Thursday morning...

Social Tuesday

written by Hannah (ARSP intern) On Tuesdays the Woodlawn Centre next to the SLRA office becomes a social space for migrants and asylum seeker. Last year, we started the Social...

How you create change locally! – Citizens delegates assembly  

SLRA is a proud member of the Lambeth Citizens Alliance. Citizens UK is a community organising network of many different local organisations, charities, churches, and schools. They run different campaigns...

SLRA Women Group at the South London Gallery in March 2022

Come and see our exhibition, 4-25 March! The SLRA Women Group’s quilt will be displayed at the South London Gallery in a group exhibition ‘We are a group of excellent...

Report Launch: ‘Taking Care: How local authorities can best address immigration issues of children in care’ 

written by Francess and Lisa On Care Day – the 18th of February 2022 – we finally launched our report together with Coram Children’s Legal Centre: ‘Taking Care: How local...

Behind The Scenes – SLRA counsellor Sarah talks about her work

Blog entry written by Sarah and Lisa At SLRA, we are extremely proud to have Sarah, our resident counsellor, who offers private, free counselling session for internal referrals. Counselling and...

Applying under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) as a Zambrano carer, or non-EU-Citizen primary carer of a British child

This blog entry was written by our Immigration Manager, Boris. Who is a Zambrano carer?   The term ‘Zambrano carer’ comes from a case decided in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in 2011, involving a couple who were non-EU...

Behind the scenes – adult casework & men’s group with volunteer Thomas

This blog is written by Thomas who is one of our amazing volunteers at SLRA! I have now been volunteering at the SLRA for a little over a month and...

Local Homelessness Support Project

written by Sophie Beech In May 2021, SLRA secured funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA) to work in partnership over the next twelve months with local homelessness support services...

SLRA and London Challenge Poverty week

#LNDChallengePoverty #povertyfreelondon #ifnotnowwhen London Challenge Poverty Week is a London-wide campaign that aims to shine a light on the experiences of those living in poverty in the city, show what...

Migrant Connections Festival

Last Saturday, the Woodlawn Center next to our office in Streatham was changed into a magical and colourful place full of joy, relaxation, and community. Many people came from all...

Youth Participation

Francess Horton interviewed by Lisa Merker In the beginning of this year, the Department for Education published an independent review of Children’s social care. The evident was that children and...

10 marathons in 10 days …. at 62!!!

To celebrate South London Refugee Association’s 30th anniversary Celestine Agbo, our Foodbank coordinator, will run an incredible 262 miles over 10 days – a full marathon each and every day starting on Saturday...

Youth Group Enjoys Weekly Adventures

In the last three weeks, the youth group was busy exploring London and going on many adventures!   It’s tradition that over the summer break, SLRA staff and all of the young people who attend the Youth Club...

New Project at SLRA

written by Francess, Youth Participation and Policy Officer In January 2021, the Department for Education launched its independent review of children’s social care which was set out to radically reform...

ESOL Garden Party

written by Sarah, one of the ESOL teachers After almost 86 online lessons on Mondays and Thursday over 16 months of Lockdowns the ESOL team finally got to reunite with...

Learning from Lived Experience: Making the NRPF Videos.

This weekend the SLRA base was transformed into a film set, as we went about capturing the footage for the NRPF videos which have taken shape over months of collaborative...

First Display of the Women’s Group Community Quilt

Take your chance and visit the women’s group community quilt that many of the SLRA women group members have made last year during lockdown, at the Woodfield Recreation Ground.   We’ve already wrote quite several stories about our community quilt that...

What is better than going kayaking on a hot June day?

On a lovely Thursday in half-term, eleven young people and staff members met in the morning to start their journey from Lambeth to South Hackney to go on a new adventure. Our destination was the Labernum Boat...

First Face-to-Face Family Fun Day

Written by Tamara On the 1st June, we began a new era of our Saturday Kids’ Club on a Tuesday.  It was half-term and restrictions had lifted enough for us...
SLRA women's group

Women’s group Manifesto

Written by Amanda  In a recent Friday session facilitated by Lisa and Tamara, the women’s group were tasked with getting creative and updating the SLRA manifesto that was written June 2020. We...

Report Launch: Learning from migrant families’ lived experience in Lambeth

SLRA is excited to invite you to our virtual report launch about access to support & advice for migrant families facing destitution as a result of hostile immigration policies. When:...

SLRA Men’s Group is Back!

Since February, SLRA’s Men’s Group have got together online every Wednesday. Around seven attendees meet up each week and we have quickly grown as a supportive unit!   Some of the...

Asylum-seekers in ‘temporary, emergency’ hotels

Over the past month, there have been several reports in the media of the numbers of asylum seekers who remain accommodated in hotels, more than one year after the Home...

New Immigration Bill by the UK Government

Many of you will have seen the Government’s ‘New Plan for Immigration’ which sets to overhaul the UK asylum system. At SLRA we have been working hard with colleagues across...

A Story-Telling Community Quilt

Last year, when the Lockdown started, the SLRA Women’s Group decided to make their own community quilt. A quilt is a large piece of fabric made up of smaller pieces...

Camera on, microphone connected, join the SLRA Youth Club on Zoom

Since the end of September, SLRA’s youth club project, Global Youth, has re-started its in-person sessions. Around 12 young people have been joining the youth club each week. The youth club is...

Access to the COVID-19 vaccination for migrants and refugees

In the beginning of December 2020, the UK started with the vaccination program for COVID-19. Since we live in a pandemic, there has been much (mis-)information around and about COVID-19...

Planning our first Awareness Workshop about the hostile environment and NRPF (no recourse to public funds)

This morning we held a meeting where we worked through the itinerary for our upcoming NRPF awareness workshop next Wednesday on 10th February 2021. A few of the SLRA team...
Together we will stand

SLRA Women’s Group Session: “Should colonial statues be removed and what should happen to them?”

Two weeks ago, Samina, a member of the consultation team for Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Charity, facilitated a listening exercise with our women group. The aim of the session was...
SLRA Zoom kids' party

There’s nothing like dinosaur dancing around your room, to wake you up on the weekend!

Our weekly ZOOM Kids’ parties with our most amazing kids facilitator Tamara Astor have been running since mid-March and will continue to cheer us up throughout the grey and cold...
SLRA women's group

A message from SLRA’s women group

At South London Refugee Association (SLRA), we have not only continued our immigration advice services remotely during the COVID19 lockdown, but also looked at ways to make people still feel...
Behind the scenes

Behind the scenes – Women Group and Kids activities volunteer Tamara

Our staff and volunteers at the SLRA work on such a personal level, they often end up bringing more to the role than even they expected. Tamara is one of...
Smiling cyclist

Behind the scenes – ESOL volunteer Sarah and how to teach during lockdown

Our clients are at diverse stages on the journey to lay new foundations for themselves and their families here in the United Kingdom; seeking safety and build independent lives for...
Pink stationery

Behind the scenes – Meet our local community bringing in donations

An important part of what we do here at the SLRA, is liaising with other charities, businesses, local community groups and wonderful individuals; to adapt to the unexpected circumstances during...
Behind the scenes - delivery volunteer driver Mick

Behind the scenes – delivery volunteer driver Mick

One of the SLRAs’ most recent recruits is the charmingly candid, Mick. Being only four weeks into his time with us, Mick serves as a Volunteer Driver during the COVID...
Volunteer portrait: Celestine Obiora Agbo

Looking behind the scenes – Volunteer portrait: Celestine Obiora Agbo

Here at the SLRA, we assist clients from origins that span the globe, and who have so many intricacies in their needs surrounding asylum, immigration and refuge. If you were...
Donated goods

First weeks working during COVID 19

The last weeks since the COVID19 Corona virus outbreak have been very challenging for all of us. But while we had to come up with completely new ways to continue...