Refugee Action Kingston (RAK) is an independent, frontline, specialist charity with 30 years of experience supporting refugees and asylum seekers in Southwest London. We have grown from a small group of volunteers to a well-established charity with a leading role in the area providing a holistic portfolio of services. Our mission is to empower our clients to build fulfilling and independent lives through skills development, advice, counselling and assistance in access to services and employment. We support refugees with a range of immediate interventions as well as providing long-term guidance around their resettlement in the UK.
We’ve supported refugees and asylum-seekers in our area for over 30 years. Each year, we help over 1,000 clients with: Legal advice Counselling English language skills Housing, health and education Career services and Volunteering opportunities
We offer free and confidential advice and support with immigration, welfare benefits, education, utilities, health access, housing and more to refugees and asylum-seekers in Kingston and neighbouring boroughs. We offer a mix of regular face to face and online classes from pre–entry beginners to Level 2. We run a Homework Club for school age children to receive help with English, maths and other schoolwork. The club also offers crafts, music, and educational games. There are face to face classes after school plus some online classes for older children. We support children in school and we help parents to understand the education system so they can speak with confidence to their children’s teachers. We offer a free counselling service for refugees and asylum-seekers who are suffering from emotional distress as a result of trauma, separation, displacement and bereavement. We give impartial information, advice and guidance about career options for refugees and asylum-seekers. We offer: one-to-one career guidance sessions group workshops information sessions on employment terms and the UK labour market guided job search sessions We also raise awareness amongst employers about the right of refugees in the UK to work, to undertake work experience, and to be included in work trials.
We are looking for a volunteer solicitor/immigration adviser to support RAK with its provision of immigration advice.
