‘Surviving to Thriving’ is a partnership between UpRising, British Red Cross, and the Refugee Council, funded by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, to support young refugees and people seeking asylum in becoming active and valued members of their communities.
Last week the Surviving to Thriving project ran a week-long programme for young people from Eritrea, Sudan, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran and Albania, all of whom fled traumatic circumstances in their home countries and arrived in the UK alone. The aim of the programme was to build confidence among the participants, and empower them to bring about change in their new communities.
Daniel Zeichner MP joined other local politicians and community figures including Cambridge City Councillors Anne Smith, Lewis Herbert, Rosy Moore, Mike Sargeant and Mike Todd-Jones, at the programme’s graduation event at the Castle Hill Council Chamber on Thursday.
As part of the programme, participants looked at leadership and social action, learning new vocabulary to help them develop these skills and concepts in English. At the end of the programme, the 17 young people produced two short films which highlighted issues they have faced in the UK.
One film is focused on post-18 education opportunities for young people going through the asylum process. In the film, one boy said: “I feel confident in myself and want to get a good education so I can have a career in something I am passionate about, something I love that makes me happy when I wake up every morning”. In the second, the young people highlight the difficulties of waiting to hear about receiving asylum in the UK.
The first of its kind in Cambridge, the programme was delivered during the February school half-term by UpRising, a national youth leadership charity challenging issues surrounding diversity, social mobility and equality.
Mr. Zeichner said: “Nobody could fail to be moved by the films produced by these young people about their investment in education and their future, and the difficulties of navigating the asylum process. I think they will be great assets to our community and I hope people in Cambridgeshire will recognise the contribution they are making.”
Surviving to Thriving aims to improve the lives of young refugees and asylum-seeking children by providing workshops on rights and entitlements, group sessions to build confidence, skills and social networks, one-to-one and group therapeutic counselling, and personal development and social action schemes.
Lucy Caldicott, Chief Executive Officer of UpRising, said:“Through this fantastic project, UpRising has so far supported 65 young people across Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Birmingham in developing key skills and learning how to highlight refugee and asylum seeker issues.
"We’re incredibly proud to see how this partnership is building these young people’s confidence and ensuring their voices are heard in the Cambridge community. Refugees and asylum seekers shouldn’t just survive in the UK, they should thrive.”
To find out more, visit http://uprising.org.uk/programmes/surviving-thriving