Resources
This list of organisations offering support to refugee and asylum-seeking women based in London is a reference resource only and is not evidence of partnership or formal endorsement.
Creative support
Counterpoints Arts is a leading national organisation in the field of arts, migration and cultural change. They support the arts by and about refugees and migrants and they produce a range of programmes in the UK and internationally, including Refugee Week, PopChange and Platforma festival. Their mission is to support and produce the arts by and about migrants and refugees, seeking to ensure that their contributions are recognized and welcomed within British arts, history and culture.
Contact: hello@counterpoints.org.uk
Compass Collective assists unaccompanied minor refugees and young people seeking asylum to build resilience and integrate into the UK through theatre, music and film projects and arts-led professional development programmes.
Contact: hello@compasscollect.com
West London Welcome is a community centre run for and with refugees, migrants, people seeking asylum, and other locals. They work together with local people to provide a safe, positive experience of community to reduce isolation, build inclusion and confidence, and challenge injustice.
Every week they provide community support, English classes, advice, hot food, a foodbank, clothing, childcare, and social and creative activities.they take a holistic approach to support the needs of their members, from the practical and social to the emotional and playful.
Contact: hello@westlondonwelcome.com
Bringing refugees, people seeking asylum and local residents together over food and stories. They are committed to changing the narrative about migration and building a more welcoming society, where hope can flourish.As well as weekly creative workshops and their ongoing allotment project, they are always innovating to find new ways to come together over food and stories, while challenging negative migration narratives. From books to videos, textiles to gardening, suppers to song – they create spaces of solidarity and welcome where radical hope can flourish.
Contact: info@storiesandsupper.co.uk
At the core of LegalAliens' vision is a theatre that includes migrants as artists, creatives, participants and audiences and foregrounds creative women, onstage and off. Since 2018,they have created a free, safe, weekly space at The Engine Room in Tottenham Hale for migrants and refugees to make theatre together. This project, unique in the U.K., has earned us Theatre of Sanctuary status. They are proud to have solidarity and inclusion as their core mission.
Contact: info@legalaliens.org
Phosphoros Theatre is a London based company that makes political performance starring refugee and asylum seeking actors.
Contact: phosphorostheatre@gmail.com
Career building support
Through the Routes Community, they support and champion women with experience of the hostile UK Asylum System to grow in confidence, build relationships and access opportunities.
Through their Corporate Training and Mentoring, they work with organisations across sectors to develop compassionate, purposeful and authentic professional leaders.
Contact: hello@routescollective.com
Migrateful’s mission is to celebrate refugees and migrants on their journey to integration by supporting them to run their own cookery classes. Chefs can work in person or online.
Contact: hello@migrateful.org
Breaking Barriers welcomes refugees into meaningful employment with one-to-one advice and guidance, education, and training. They currently provide support to refugees over the age of 18 years across Birmingham, Glasgow, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and London.
Contact: 020 4541 0155
General support
City of Sanctuary UK coordinates, supports and grows networks of welcome for refugees and asylum-seekers. From community groups to schools and universities, local councils to libraries and theatres, they work with individuals, groups and organisations in every area and in every sector to encourage inclusivity, solidarity and compassion for people from a forced displacement background.
From coordination, collaboration, practical training and opportunities for people with lived experience of the asylum system, to vital resources and unmissable webinars, they do all they can to support and grow these networks of welcome.
Contact: ops@cityofsanctuary.org
The British Red Cross offer the following services:
Emergency help
One-to-one casework
Information and signposting on where to get help
Help with family reunion
Sexual and gender-based violence support
The VOICES network
The VOICES network is a collective of refugees and people seeking asylum. Together, they speak out about issues that affect them. As people with lived experience, VOICES Ambassadors share unique insights into what it’s like to seek asylum in the UK and contribute to their communities.
Contact: 0808 196 3651
Hackney Migrant Centre delivers a free, weekly advice and support service for vulnerable migrants on immigration, housing, welfare and access to health. They support visitors to their service to resolve their immigration problems and move out of homelessness and destitution in the long-term, as well as assisting them to address immediate issues. Most of their visitors lack secure immigration status and are destitute as a result of that and the Hostile Environment.
Contact: 07856632796
The Baobab Centre is a non‑residential therapeutic community that offers holistic support to young survivors of human rights abuses seeking refuge in the UK. Baobab use psychotherapy, community events and group activities to support young people to learn to own their narrative and construct new pathways for their future.
Contact: 0207 263 1301, info@baobabsurvivors.org
Give expert advice and guidance to those struggling to navigate the failing and unfair asylum system. Help those with refugee status to settle into their new homes and communities – everything from helping children into schools, to support booking doctors appointments, and ensuring they get a hot meal when they arrive.
Support people who suffer violent attacks or other hate crimes, to ensure they know their rights and get the help they need. Campaign for change, collaborating with those who have direct experience of the systems we are working to improve.
Contact: info@refugee-action.org.uk
Welcome refugees and migrants who have been displaced from their countries of origin, wherever they have come from, whatever has happened in their lives. Their mission is to offer people the emotional support, practical tools and sense of community they need to be happy and have a decent quality of life in the UK. The Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants welcome people, talk with them, listen to what they need, and respond to that. Whether someone tells them they need English lessons, advice on housing, accessing healthcare, applying to college, or any of the many challenges of being a migrant in London – they are there for them.
Contact: find their contact form here.
Hibiscus enables marginalised migrant women trapped in the immigration and criminal justice systems to rebuild their lives. Their vision is to build a fair and just society where inequalities are eliminated from the criminal justice and immigration systems. Their mission is to:
provide advocacy, support and specialist services to marginalised, vulnerable foreign national and BMER women.
enable informed choices.
promote social justice and respect.
reduce inequalities.
Contact: info@hibiscus.org.uk
Women focussed support
Support women & children who are refugees, seeking asylum, victims of trafficking, destitute, to shop clothes with the dignity and agency they deserve, for free, via their online platform of donated clothing.
Contact: enquire@giveyourbest.uk
Fight for menstrual equity and the rights of all women and people who bleed, so that no one is held back by their period or society's warped perception of the menstruating body. Everybody should be able to care for their period in a way that works for them, and have the products, information and support they need.
Contact: hello@bloodygoodperiod.com
Women for Refugee women Drama programme
Empowering women who have sought asylum in the UK is the heart of their work. They support women who are seeking refuge from persecution, including rape and other torture, to rebuild their lives and communicate their own needs and stories.
To make change, women’s voices need to be heard. Through their programme of empowerment activities, they support a network of over 300 refugee and asylum-seeking women to develop their confidence and skills. A woman who joins their network will find a welcoming and supportive space in which she can meet other women and begin to rebuild her life, whether that be through speaking her first words of English or leading campaigns for a more just asylum process.
Contact: admin@refugeewomen.co.uk
Emotional support
Provide specialist psychological therapy to asylum seekers and refugees who have survived torture, helping them recover and rebuild their lives in the UK. With survivors, they campaign for change. Together, they raise awareness and influence decision-makers about torture and its impact.
Contact: referralslondon@freedomfromtorture.org