The refugee charities bridging borders in Bristol

In the midst of an unsettling debate around illegal immigration in the UK, it seems refugee organisations in Bristol are standing firm.

A determined network has banded together across the city, with ever-more inventive and creative ways of uniting the refugee communities they support.

Refugee organisations in Bristol operate under BRASP, the Bristol Refugee and Asylum Seeker Partnership, a network of 15 organisations including Aid Box, Ashley Community Housing, Borderlands and Refugee Women of Bristol.

One member is Bristol Refugee Festival, which holds an annual event in Queen Square every year, celebrating the contribution that refugees and asylum seekers make to the city.

Bristol Refugee Festival supports refugees in Bristol all year round – photo: Bristol Refugee Festival

The festival also runs a year-long community engagement programme, holding events, workshops and meetings to connect refugee and asylum seeker communities in the city.

Danny Vincent, Bristol Refugee Festival’s ambassador coordinator, told Bristol24/7 finding a community in the city can be hugely difficult for families.

“People hear about the deportation and detention side of the refugee experience, but less about dispersal – that’s what Bristol Refugee Festival is about,” he said.

Staff work with refugees staying in temporary accommodation like the government’s holding hotels. There are five of these hotels in Bristol hosting refugees and asylum seekers, with one in Filton, another in central Bristol, and one near Bristol Airport.

Asylum seekers and refugees living in the hotels are given £9 a week to live off, the price of a bus ticket from the airport, while those living in self-contained accommodation are given £35 a week, which goes towards food, clothes and bus tickets.

Managing money can be tricky, and financial fears can mean some are less likely to travel to meet people that can support them.

“They’re stuck in hotels far away from support agencies, with some people isolated in places like Avonmouth and Weston-Super Mare, with little contact with their own language group,” said Danny.

Bristol Refugee Festival works to make this process smoother, with refugee ambassadors that act as role models, helping others with practical hurdles such as searching for jobs and working through the asylum application process.

Joel Zuniga is one of the festival’s ambassadors. After fleeing political unrest in Nicaragua, Joel arrived in Bristol in 2020 during the lockdown, and gained refugee status in the UK earlier this year.

Joel Zuniga came to Bristol from Nicaragua in 2020 – photo: Mia Vines Booth

He now organises Bristol Refugee Festival’s first Latin American event, uniting communities from the subcontinent who are living in Bristol. Nearly 500 people attended the event last year. “It was a beautiful experience,” he reminisced.

“It’s hard when you come to a new country. There are different people, different languages, and different cultures. It’s not easy to integrate, but it’s not impossible. I learned this lesson through charity and through living with other people.”

Ashley Community Housing has also found a novel way of supporting refugees in Bristol, working with Socius Development housing, who are in the middle of a project to develop an integrated care home in central Bristol.

ACH is using the space while developer Socius goes through the planning process. The building houses up to 12 refugees who are looking to take the final step into either securing their own property or opportunities in the private renting sector.

Tamika Williams is one of the senior housing officers at ACH. She works closely with the refugees they support.

Since moving into ACH’s Hampton Lodge accommodation, Hossein, originally from Somalia, has taken up a position at Bristol Royal Infirmary – photo: ACH

“We have many different refugees from different countries. They start off in supported housing which is shared housing,” she said.

“So having this opportunity to move on independently is fabulous for them especially because it’s affordable rent so our tenants are now able to work full time and how somewhere safe and secure to call home.”

Since moving into Hampton Lodge, many of the tenants have secured long-term employment. One member, Houssein, who is originally from Somalia, works at the Bristol Royal Infirmary full-time. He said the accommodation feels safe and secure, and the staff are friendly.

The accommodation has enabled him to keep his job secure and easily travel to and from work. Residents have also found jobs as chefs, bus drivers, laboratory technicians, security officers and personal trainers.

“Bristol is easier than many other cities to work in because there is such support because of BRASP,” Danny said. “There’s a lot of energy and motivation here.”

Bristol24/7’s summer 2023 magazine is being distributed to pick up free across our city

This is an unedited version of the article that originally appeared in Bristol24/7’s quarterly magazine

Main photo: ACH

Read next:

• The Bristol women supporting refugees and asylum seekers
• The refugee-owned farming business with dreams to expand
• Bristol charity advent calendar 2022, day 19: Bristol Refugee Rights

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