Services
This section aims to provide information on different services and projects aimed at improving asylum seekers and refugees' experience in Leicester.
Housing
In 2006, the Home Office awarded accommodation contracts to the Refugee Housing Accommodation in East Midlands.
The Leicester Council has a number of initiatives under a general Refugee Housing Strategy. The first one was set up in 2002, and prioritised translating information on housing in the languages spoken by the main groups of asylum seekers arrived in Leicester. Currently, the Leicester& Leicestershire Racial Equality Council operate the RASAP scheme to help asylum seekers who have been granted leave to remain. The Refugee and Asylum Seekers Project Refugee Resettlement Officer provides assistance and advice to refugees who have to vacate their NASS accommodation and relocate to private-type accommodation.
Employment and training
Leicester Fair Employment Initiative (LFEI) is a partnership project of private, public and voluntary sector organisations which aims to increase the quality and quantity of ethnic minority participation in the workforce. This project has come about as a result of racial equality work in major organisations in the City of Leicester.
NIACE conducted the UPSKILL project, a skills Audit with asylum seekers who had been dispersed or refugees who had settled in East Midlands. After a preliminary Audit in 2001, they concluded that asylum seekers and refugees had valuable skills but that lack of information, government restrictions and financial barriers to further training were hindering their possibilities to find suitable jobs. After this audit, in 2004 a national partnership was set up to run the UPSKILL project, which provided training, advice and support with the aim of placing refugees into work experiences and paid employment suitable to their skills. The project ran its course in 2007 having helped over 119 refugees and migrants in Leicester.
The Somali Development Service started as a 6-month pilot project to provide women from the Somali community with culturally-sensitive training to start their own business. The Service now provides information on education and employment services and works with other key service providers in health and housing.
Education
The local authority has reported that there are now 100 languages represented in the city schools. Languages spoken in Leicester include English, Gujarati, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Kutchhi, Bengali, Serbo-Croat, Polish and Ukrainian amongst others.
The "Refugees into Libraries" is a well-known project that started in 2006 and earned the Leicester Council a Beacon award. The aim was to give refugees work experience through volunteering in the library service to give them the chance to develop and share skills for achieving their potential. The library service has continued and evolved beyond the end of the project, supported in part by Neighbourhood Renewal Funding.
The Engaging Refugees & Asylum Seekers (ERAS) Project is a national project. The project aims to raise awareness of issues affecting refugees and asylum seekers and to use innovative methods to bring refugees and asylum seekers into museums. The project runs activities to create awareness on issues facing refugees and asylum seekers for local schools and participates in cultural events around Leicester.
Health
The Eastern Primary Care Trust has a set up scheme for asylum seekers. Working with people in emergency accommodation sites/hostels, a specialist nurse runs services for asylum seekers by liaising between the community and GPs, arranging new patient checks and facilitating GP registration.
The ASSIST Project, set up by the Leicester PCT, registers asylum seekers and provides immediate and necessary health care. The specialist team see people to identify health related problems and provide information on the network of voluntary sector organisations that exist to respond to the needs of individuals.
The Assist Service is the only specialist health service for refugees and asylum seeker in Leicester. (They are no longer based at Prince Philip House, Malabar Road).
Integration
The Leicester Council has won eight Beacon awards for its schemes on integration, community cohesion and racial equality. It is especially renowned for its projects on education and sports for hard to Reach Groups, as detailed above in the Education section.
National volunteering charity Timebank has devised a mentoring scheme called "Time Together". This project is co-ordinated by Refugee Action in Manchester and Leicester and offers refugees the chance to spend five hours a month with a mentor from the local community.
Capacity building
Refugee Action in Leicester provides independent impartial advice to asylum seekers, refused asylum seekers and new refugees living in Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire County. This is delivered through their One Stop Shop advice service, which has been awarded the Legal Services Commission Quality Mark. They also provide a confidential service offering information, advice and support to asylum seekers and refugees who are considering voluntary return to their country.
Refugee Action also provides training, support and resources to advice providers.
Community cohesion
Leicester & Leicestershire Racial Equality Council (LLREC) was created in 1991. Their aim is to eliminate racial discrimination and promote equality of opportunity. Their services revolve around the areas of community development, public education policy development and advice and support. These services are aimed especially at asylum seekers and refugees.
The Leicester Council operates a New Arrivals Strategy aimed at easing the transition into life in the city. In 2001 extensive consultation with residents and cultural providers was undertaken in Leicester and formed the basis of the city's Cultural Strategy - ‘Diverse City: A vision for cultural life in Leicester'. Originally it was conceived for asylum seekers and refugees but as of 2006 the Strategy broadened its mandate to include economic migrants. The strategy is implemented by the Cultural Strategy and Improvement Team in Leicester City Council as well as a multiagency Cultural Strategy Partnership with a membership of 50 partners from the public, private, community, voluntary and education sectors. The team also engages in the development of Council-wide policies by ensuring that cultural issues are highlighted in Leicester.
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Last Updated: 06/10/09
