International, Interconnected

This week is Refugee Week and this year’s campaign focus is on Community as Superpower. As migration and asylum continue to dominate political headlines we are taking the time to reflect on our values and reaffirm the power of community within NHYC.

No-one is unaware of the current conflicts and enormous human suffering across the world at the moment, whether that’s ongoing violence in Yemen, South Sudan, Eritrea, Palestine or many more. NHYC is not an international aid organisation or an expert on international politics, nor do we intend to be. There are a wealth and breadth of brilliant organisations doing that. But what is happening in those countries is affecting us, a small youth specific homeless day centre based in London, in enormous ways and causes a real impact on our staff and the young people we support. It’s important to us that we acknowledge this and share what we’re doing to make sure our centre remains an inclusive and compassionate space.

New Horizon has always been an open door to anyone under the age of 25 who finds themselves homeless or unsafe in London. London has a rich and brilliant mixture of people from every background and culture, it’s what makes it such a fantastic city to live in. Because of our open access model, we’ve always worked with a broad intersection of people, and we have seen a particular increase in the past 18 months of young people who have experienced enormous hardship in their home countries and undergone unbelievable trauma to access a safer life in the UK.

We believe that no one goes through that if they have any other option and we stand by and support all young migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Some of the stories we hear in our day centre are heart breaking and we stand against the hateful rhetoric and discrimination that is peddled by a small but particularly loud section of people in the UK. NHYC is, and will always remain, a safe and welcoming space for young people, no matter their background, culture or lived experience. We’re proud to stand in community with each other and to uphold and honour the voice and humanity of every young person who walks through our doors, no matter their background.

How we’re responding and living our values in an increasing hostile environment:

We continue to learn and upskill on how to better support young people, including refugees and asylum seekers, across all of our services. Some of the actions we’ve taken are:

• Increased campaigning around housing for refugees and migrants, including several pan-London groups and pushes on central government to ensure refugee rights are honoured. For example, we were part of the movement to increase the notice given to newly granted refugees before leaving their Home Office accommodation from 28 days to 56 days. We’re still campaigning for that change to be made permanent.
• Developing partnerships and drop in clinics with specialist partners, including Praxis (for immigration advice) and RAMFEL (for support with registering for e-visas)
• Offering regular ‘Supper Clubs’ where we offer evening meals cooked by staff or external chefs to combat loneliness and celebrate different culture’s cuisines
• Expanding our ESOL offer, including recruiting specialist team members who speak multiple languages
• Increasing our resourcing and availability for translation and interpreting services
• Working closely with community and faith groups/charities to communicate clearly how we can help and how our processes work. We’re also working on bringing more community groups into our centre to upskill our staff and offer young people more opportunities to engage with diaspora communities
• Making sure our website, social media and partners are clear, accessible and consistent so young people know what to expect of us, as well as offering resources in multiple languages

We haven’t always got things right on this front, and we know we’ll always have room for improvement, but we are committed to learning and developing our offer to meet every young person where they are. London will always have a mixed and everchanging make-up and we love that about this city. New Horizon exists in the middle of this fluid and fantastic ecosystem, adapting to need and growing to include everyone who needs us. That’s a privilege, not a burden. For Refugee Week and well beyond, our centre will always have open arms, the willingness to listen and the belief that every young person deserves a safe, sustainable and fulfilling future.