Refugee Youth Project
News
RYP recruiting part time project workers
Refugee Youth Project is recruiting for two part time project workers (up to 12 hours per week at £11.50 per hour) for our Bridging London Project supporting young refugees and asylum seekers in the London Boroughs of Barnet and Croydon. Learn more about these positions on our Get Involved page.
RYP seeking a Finance Officer
April 2013
Refugee Youth Project is recruiting for a part time Finance Officer. Learn more about this position on our Get Involved page.
Croydon Project!
March 2013
We are now running three exciting new young peoples groups in Croydon, as well as school/college holiday activities and Saturday trips! Please see the flyers for Croydon clubs, activities and trips and our brand new young mums group. If you have any questions, want more information or to make a referral please contact Alice Griffey, Croydon Project Coordinator, phone/text 07962 821144, or email croydon@refugeeyouthproject.org.uk.
RYP young mums group in Croydon
Opportunities to join Refugee Youth Project’s Board of Trustees
February 2013
Who we are:
Refugee Youth Project (“RYP”) is a young and dynamic voluntary organisation, which was founded in 2004. RYP works with community based partners to provide support and activities for young refugees and asylum seekers in the UK and overseas - in Nepal, Lebanon and Egypt. RYP encourages refugee youth participation in project planning, implementation and evaluation. RYP is run by a skilled and committed group of trustees and a small group of employees.
Opportunities to join our team of trustees:
RYP is seeking to recruit a Chair of Trustees to lead the organisation through the next stage of our development. RYP also has two further Trustee vacancies with a particular focus on our Lebanon project and on fundraising.
This is a great opportunity to contribute to a small but growing trustee-led organisation. We are deeply committed to our work with young refugees in the UK and internationally and proud of the results of our projects. We are currently reviewing our overall strategy and organisational structure with the aim of securing more funds and bringing more focus to our projects. The new Trustees would help shape this process and then carry the work forward.
We think that the Chair of Trustees role might particularly suit someone with significant experience managing people and projects, perhaps coming to the end of a career and now with the time, skills and networks to make a real difference to a small but ambitious and dedicated organisation. The other Trustee vacancies may appeal to people with less senior management experience but a strong interest and commitment, and perhaps specific experience in relevant sectors.
That said, we would encourage anyone with the time and appetite to apply. Our current trustees have diverse backgrounds, from academia to not-for-profit work, from teaching to the law, including recent graduates, and we are eager to continue broadening our skills, knowledge and experience.
Full person specifications for the vacancies are in the file attached below.
What we ask of you:
There are Trustee meetings every 6 – 8 weeks and all Trustees will be expected to attend the majority of these. There is facility for remote attendance at Trustee meetings (by Skype). RYP asks that applicants consider the commitment to the role to be for at least one year. The overall time commitment varies, but for the Chair of Trustees role we would estimate that it will average between half a day and one day per week, and for other roles 2-4 hours per week.
For further information:
For an informal, confidential discussion about the roles, please email us with an indication of when you may be able to speak and a contact telephone number, and you will be contacted by one of the existing Trustees.
To apply, please email us your CV and a covering letter. The letter should specify which role you are applying for and explain why you are interested and how your skills and experience could contribute to RYP.
Contact details can be found in the following file.
Job Descriptions: Chair, Fundraising and Lebanon Trustees
End of Term Party
December 2012
RYP's after-school club held a party to celebrate the end of the term, packed with games, prizes and food! Other activities in the last few months have included bag design, fencing and Manga drawing! We would like to thank all the fantastic young people and our amazing volunteers for a great 2012 and look forward to next year's activities!
The games included a 'wrap the (human) present' competition!
Fencing
A manga character conceived by the young people!
Refugee Youth Project's Christmas Catalogue!
November 2012
Back by popular demand, it's Refugee Youth Project's Christmas Catalogue!
RYP's Christmas Catalogue 2012
This Christmas, we're asking you to give your friends and family a gift that will help support our vital work with young refugees in Lebanon. There are lots of different gifts to choose from, including: healthy snacks, school books and transport for disabled children to attend the project, ranging from £5 to £20. You will receive a RYP gift card and envelope with space to write a personal message.
Children living in the Al-Bass refugee camp face very difficult conditions. There is no designated space in the camp for children to play safely and opportunities for children and young people to access organised activities outside school are limited. Most children with disabilities do not attend school at all because the official UNWRA schools are on sites that are not accessible.
RYP provides the opportunity for young refugees to learn and have fun in a safe, supportive environment. We're really proud that ours is the only project in the camp that is fully inclusive of disabled children.
Here is a photo from our successful 2012 summer project. We hope that RYP makes it onto your Christmas gift list! Thank you for your support.
Hiring Part-time Project Co-ordinators for Barnet and Croydon
November 2012
Refugee Youth Project is recruiting for two part-time Project Coordinators to lead and facilitate our programme of social and skills based activities for young refugees and asylum seekers in the London boroughs of Barnet and Croydon.
For more details please download the following information or email info@refugeeyouthproject.org.uk.
Person Specification - Barnet and Croydon Coordinators
Job Description - Barnet Project Co-ordinator
Job Description - Croydon Project Co-ordinator
Letter from London Project Co-ordinator
5K Fun Run for After School Club
November 2012
Our After School Club Session Facilitator, Hannah, and three of her friends (Alia, Dom and Joe) took part in a 5K fun run to raise urgently needed funds to help the After School Club continue into 2013. The race took place on Saturday 3rd November 2012 in a sunny Victoria Park and the team got many admiring glances for their wigs and fancy dress! They are very grateful for the generous donations received so far. The fundraising page is still open if you would like to donate.
Weekend Away!
October 2012
Refugee Youth Project's half-term Residential weekend was a great success - we had 17 unaccompanied young asylum seekers aged 16-19 from both Barnet and Croydon; Woodrow High House kindly let us have extra spaces as the trip was so popular! Young people took part in orienteering, swimming, football, frisbee and a night walk, and we celebrated Eid together on the Friday evening. Young people took part in four workshops, two run by young refugees, on Independent Living Skills - An Insider View, Cultural Awareness, Rights and Entitlements and Employment and Writing a CV. Young people who attended the weekend will receive an ASDAN Activities award for their participation, well done to everyone who took part. Thanks to staff Roz, Alice, Shannon, Anna, Indrit, Yusef and Sidi, and the funder Awards for All.
New Legal Advice Service
September 2012
Refugee Youth Project is starting a new service in London. The Migrant Children’s Project is holding a FREE and CONFIDENTIAL monthly legal advice surgery for children, young people and their families at Refugee Youth Project, Whitefield School, Claremont Road, NW2 1TR for children, young people, or families, that would benefit from receiving free and confidential immigration or asylum legal advice. For more information, or to book an appointment, please visit What's On In London.
Summer Together
August 2012
This summer Refugee Youth Project (RYP) facilitated four weeks of summer holiday activities for young refugees and asylum seekers aged 11-18 who live in Barnet and Croydon, London. RYP worked in partnership with Whitefield School’s Extended Schools programme and Paiwand Afghan Association to deliver two weeks of activities in the Summer Together project. We ran workshops including photography, archery, arts and crafts, fashion design, multi-sports and Kids Out ‘World Stories’ recordings with BBC staff… as well as brilliant trips to the cinema, Brighton, Aquasplash and Thorpe Park.
RYP provided some additional activities specifically for unaccompanied young people (young people seeking asylum who are alone here in the UK). We partnered with JCORE (Jewish Council for Racial Equality) and their JUMP project to run a day trip to Lambourne End outdoor activities centre, and with The Children’s Society New Londoners project to run a one night camping residential there. Young people had a go at archery, a ropes course, team building, climbing (which they were incredibly good at), raft building, swimming and cooking. We saw a working farm and baby piglets, went for a night walk in the woods, and many young people camped for the first time, unfortunately on the coldest August night on record…!
Our Girls Group in Croydon had a day out to central London where we went on a cruise on the River Thames and visited Southwark Cathedral.
Thanks to all the young people who attended activities, and to RYP’s volunteers and partner organisations, who made summer 2012 so much fun.
For information on upcoming London project activities September onwards please visit our ‘What’s on in London page’, or contact - Alice, 07962821144, london@refugeeyouthproject.org.uk.
Cycle fundraiser
August 2012
Here's an important announcement from RYP's very own sporting heroine, Laura!
The Olympics are over.... but my sporting attempts are yet to begin!
On Friday 18th August we set off on our silly cycling adventure from Land's End to John O'Groats - 15 days of non-stop cycling, almost 1000 miles.
This is my justgiving page. The money raised from this cycling trip will go to our Bhutanese refugee project in Nepal. Every single penny will be spent directly on next year's project.
This will include:
- Bicycles! Project staff conduct regular visits to refugees' huts to monitor the young refugees' living conditions and distribute items including school books, pens, paper, lamps and soap. Camps (and huts within them) are far apart, and 5 new bicycles will enable staff to do this much more efficiently, including letting them respond quickly during emergency situations.
- Lots of the items mentioned above, which we select carefully and provide only to the most vulnerable young refugees, including those living without parents or with disabilities.
- Other activities including sports and music competitions, homework support, creative writing and computer classes, for these same most vulnerable young refugees.
A really huge thanks in advance. I will let you know if I make it; if not, well, it's been a pleasure!
Laura
Help us out by sponsoring her ride.
Refugee Week 2012
July 2012
For Refugee Week 2012, Refugee Youth Project partnered with the Springfield Community Flat to train volunteers to visit London schools and raise awareness of the problems faced by refugees and asylum-seekers in the UK and elsewhere. Our fantastic volunteers taught approximately 690 primary and secondary school pupils and both volunteers and pupils learnt a lot!
Charlotte Bailey, one of our volunteers, describes her experience in the article below. If you'd like to volunteer, please do contact us.
“Refuge” the boy reads from the dictionary his teacher has just tossed across the room, in response to the disconcerting silence that hangs over the classroom after I have asked the class if they have any idea what a refugee is.
“A condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger or trouble”.
He continues: “Refugee: a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster”.
Well, I’m pretty sure the boy did have an idea of what a refugee is, and rather it is the early morning start that inspires the silence.
We went through the same process for the definition of “asylum seeker” before I showed the class the video included in the Refugee Week lesson – a DVD of a young refugee’s first day at school, followed by a discussion about what the kids could do to make someone in a similar position’s day a little easier. They were pretty forthcoming with some kind-hearted responses.
I handed out stories of refugees to the children, along with pictures, and asked them to consider the similarities and differences between their lives and the lives of refugees. The stories were all of children aged between 13-14, living in different refugee camps around the world, such as a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, and an Afghan in Pakistan, all struggling under heartbreakingly difficult conditions.
When the time came for feedback, their answers ranged from the detailed:
“They don’t have electricity and we do”
“He has a family like I do, but he is separated from his”
To the more general:
“I feel quite safe but his life is filled with fear and terror”
We finished by ordering the UN Convention on Children’s Rights according to what they felt was most important, which was followed by a lively debate.
At the end of the class I asked everyone if they had any questions, and was delighted when one girl asked me how she could get more involved in refugee rights.
Finally, I asked: “have your views of refugees and asylum seekers changed at all after this lesson?”
One boy responded: “I used to think an asylum seeker was a crazy person. Like you know… an asylum… like a mental asylum… you know…”.
Interesting. I think.
I am very pleased to have busted that particular myth.
-- Charlotte Bailey
10K Sponsored Fun Run
May 2012
Well done to ten RYP runners - Rosie, Hannah, Camilla, Rachel, Tung, Lionel, Hiba, Manjeet, Chand and Alice - who completed the Peckham 10K fun run on Saturday 5th May, 2012. Especially well done to Lionel, aged 17, who came tenth in the race! Thank you to our supporters who came along on the day or who have been so very generous in their donations. You can still sponsor our runners who were raising urgently needed funds to support the work of the Nepal and London projects and young refugees and asylum seekers who benefit from this support. Please sponsor the team on their JustGiving page.
Education project
May 2012
Volunteers needed for the Education Project and Refugee Week 2012. Click here to find out more.
Songwriting project
April 2012
Well done to all the young people who took part in our songwriting and drumming workshop in Barnet over the Easter holidays, have a listen to the brilliant song 'Ain't no average Londoners' written by them!
Thanks to musician and workshop facilitator Bronwen and our volunteers too.
More London fun!
March 2012
Young refugees and asylum seekers in Barnet have had an experience packed March with the chance to learn lots of new skills. We have been on two trips - one to nearby Hampstead Heath, a beautiful open green space where young people went for a hike, shared a picnic and had energetic games of rounders and football, well done to team captains Tung and Bashir for their excellent leadship skills and to all the young people taking part. We were also lucky enough to visit the British Museum Hajj exhibition, followed by a chance to design our own Islamic tiles, and a lunch outside in the sunshine!
Islamic tiles created on the British Museum Hajj exhibiton trip, March 2012
Tuesday clubs have seen a volleyball workshop and an ever-popular cooking workshop, both held at Whitefield School.
The girls group, run in partnership with Barnet Refugee Service at London Academy, have created lovely pieces in arts and crafts workshops and enjoyed a dance workshop, with more planned next term.
For information on what's next, visit Whats on in London
London Fun!
February 2012
So far in 2012 young people in Barnet have had the chance to take part in a wide range of Saturday and half-term activities and trips. We've visited the Science Museum and Tate Modern art gallery in Central London and been up on the London Eye to enjoy spectacular views of London's historic and cultural sights. We've also seen amazing dancers on the Southbank, had a brilliant Basketball workshop run by the Barnet Bulldogs and been go-karting!
Young people attending our Tuesday after-school club, held at Whitefield school, have created some stunning graffiti art, created some great sounds in an African drumming workshop and learnt some new steps in a Hip-hop dance session.
Graffiti artwork created by the young people at the after school club, January 2012
Thanks to all the young people who came along and made it so much fun. A big thank you to all our session workers and volunteers who have taken part so far this year.
For more information on exciting upcoming activities and trips, check out What's On In London.
Film Launch: Life Beginning
Refugee Youth Project is proud to present Life Beginning, a film created by Bhutanese refugees and British young people living in Greater Manchester.
After spending almost two decades living in refugee camps in Nepal, the Bhutanese group came to Greater Manchester in 2010 as part of the Gateway Protection Programme, which resettles some of the most vulnerable refugees in the world and is jointly run by UNHCR and the Home Office.
With funding from First Light, Refugee Youth Project worked in partnership with Refugee Action, Student Action for Refugees and Chesham Fold Community Centre to run the Sharing Stories project from March to July 2011. The young people worked with filmmaker, Justin Rhodes, to create a documentary about their experiences, culture and history.
We hope you enjoy the film!
Refugee Week
June 2011
Trustees Alice Griffey and Victoria Ing trained and coordinated fifteen enthusiastic volunteers to visit inner city London schools during Refugee Week 2011. The volunteers delivered lessons to London primary and secondary school pupils on topics including - what do that words asylum seeker and refugee mean, what is it like to be an asylum seeker or refugee in the UK or internationally, what are child rights and do all children have access to these rights.
Thank you so much to our brilliant volunteers and also to the schools who invited our volunteers in to deliver our lessons and workshops! Thank you also to Springfield Community Flat for supporting our work on this project.
If you would like further information on the Education Project please contact Alice at education@refugeeyouthproject.org.uk.
Fundraising
June 2011
More runners raised funds for our Lebanon project in May and June. Thanks to:
Gemma Richards for raising £135 completing the South West Run in May.
Catriona Pennell for raising £660 running in the Berlin 25km road race on May 8.
Sarah Lincoln for raising £53 while running the Flora Women's Mini Marathon in Dublin on June 6.
Photo Exhibition
May 2011
Young people's photographs and artwork will be displayed at an open evening at Compass youth club on Thursday 19th May from 5-7pm. There will also be a chance for young people and professionals to play a giant graffiti board game created by the young people and to share their views on support and services for young refugees and asylum seekers in Croydon. All welcome, please contact us for more details.
Croydon Workshop
April 2011
The four day workshop in Croydon was a great success, with young people attending photography, drama and graffiti art sessions. Lots of fun was had by all.
Fundraising - 2011
April 2011
Catriona Pennell is running the Berlin 25km road race on 8th May 2011 to raise funds for our Lebanon project. Sponsor her at JustGiving.
Refugee Youth Project supporter Gemma is running the Great West Half-Marathon on Sunday 1st May 2011 on behalf of our Lebanon project and the Cats Protection League. Please sponsor her.
Congratulations to Roz Evans, Rachel Mayer and Guy Hayes for raising over £1,300 for Refugee Youth Project in the Brighton Half Marathon on 20th Febuary 2011 and to Sarah Jeavons for raising over £400 for Refugee Youth Project in the Brighton Marathon on 10th April 2011. And thank you to everyone who sponsored them!
March 2011
Thanks to the Vodafone World of Difference UK programme, Roz Evans and Sarah Jeavons were successful in winning two of 500 places to volunteer full time for the charity for two months.
During her placement Roz will be initiating new creative activities for young asylum seekers and refugees in London and Manchester. Sarah will be working with young refugees in London to help Refugee Youth Project better target their services. That means finding out what the kids feel they need, not just what we think is best for them.
You can follow their progress by visiting their blogs: Sarah Jeavons, Roz Evans
Or by following them on Twitter @sarahandroz
February 2011
Trustees and Supporters of Refugee Youth Project - Roz Evans, Rachel Mayer, Guy Hayes and Marc Lewis - are running the Brighton half marathon on Saturday 20th Febuary 2011. They aim to raise £2,000 to help vulnerable young refugees in Lebanon and Nepal. Help them achieve their target.
Thank you for your support
Alternative Christmas Catalogue!
January 2011
Thank you to all our supporters who purchased an alternative gift from Refugee Youth Project's Christmas catalogue. The Christmas 2011 catalogue raised over £700. Your generous gifts will support our vunerable young refugees in Lebanon and Nepal.