It takes a village! As of tonight, our caseworkers and wider team at West London Welcome have pulled out all the stops and ensured that the twelve of our refugee community members who were facing homelessness in the run-up to xmas are now safely housed.

Our community Centre:

Phew! Some weeks are so busy at our centre that we barely get to take a breather to talk to the world about what we’re up to… here’s the last three days alone:

A message to the Home Office: Family reunion is a cornerstone of humanity within the migration system. At West London Welcome we’ve proudly reunited a number of refugee families over the years and have seen the transformative effects on people’s lives of having their families back together.

In recent days we've heard so much news regarding protests about asylum hotels, but who is reporting what's it like to be living in such a place? MiCLU lawyer Esme Madill shares some of her clients' experiences: miclu.org/news/asylum-...

We're one of 200 orgs working with women and refugees who have signed this letter warning against the weaponisation of violence against women and girls. We must counter racist attempts to link sexual violence with immigration. Full letter to Government: www.refugeewomen.co.uk/weaponisatio...

We’re full of both joy and outrage this week.

Our Caseworker vacancy is still open to join our brilliant team and advise our refugee, asylum-seeking & migrant community members. Working hours = 4/5 days a week (increased from 2/3 days in our original advert) Deadline for applications = 1 July. Apply here: www.charityjob.co.uk/jobs/west-lo...

It's time to abolish the Home Office. It is not fit for purpose & has totally lost the trust of every stakeholder it serves - We knew that already. So I looked into how it could practically be done for @carladenyer.bsky.social My NEW report out today 👇👇

🚨 ACTION ALERT: The UK MUST protect ‘Madleen’ 🚨 The ‘Madleen’ is a UK-flagged civilian ship sailing to Gaza with life-saving aid as part of the #FreedomFlotilla. The UK has a legal duty to protect its vessel and the civilians aboard from Israeli interference. ..2/

The Freedom Flotilla is being followed by a drone, right above it. They should be free to deliver aid to Gaza.

- Open all day, four days a week - 9,730 delicious meals cooked by refugees in our community - 2,610 casework appointments - 132 foodbank sessions - 124 English classes with childcare - 62 community events and the list goes on. Our 2024 Impact Report: www.westlondonwelcome.com/our-impact-i...

This GMIAU blog is a vital read for understanding children's experiences of the National Age Assessment Board: tinyurl.com/2j8d5xnm 📣 A hostile and harmful approach to non-independent assessments - the NAAB must be abolished. 1/

The government talks about this country at risk of being an ‘island of strangers’ because of migration. We run our community centre for and with refugees and migrants every day and couldn’t feel less estranged from one another.

The rhetoric of this government threatens to create a more angry and divided world. What can we do? Every day, people are creating a different world on the ground. Today @westlondonwelcome.bsky.social posted this, reminding me we can hold faith with that world of connection and kindness:

especially now, these jobs are crucial

We're recruiting for a Caseworker (maternity cover) role to join our fantastic advice team and work with us at our beautiful refugee community centre at West London Welcome - advert live on CharityJob here: www.charityjob.co.uk/jobs/west-lo...

@wilsonsolicitors.bsky.social act in this challenge - my wonderful colleague Mala Savjani and myself, with Victoria Laughton & David Chirico KC @onepumpcourt.co.uk.

Two superheroes ran the #Londonmarathon for us braving heat, noise and the crowds. Our Director ran all over the course in the hope of catching them only managing after the finish line! Pls reward them for efforts.. localgiving.org/fundraising/... 2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/ned-sedgw...

Asylum camps like Wethersfield are dangerous, traumatising and cruel. Every day they're open is another day of suffering, at huge cost to taxpayers. We signed this letter to remind @yvettecooper-mp.bsky.social that people need to live in communities, not camps: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

The Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens (PRCBC) have updated their excellent booklet on children & their rights to British citizenship: prcbc.org/updated-book...

We’re so glad our friends @migrantsorganise.bsky.social have done such thorough research and reporting into the dire state of legal aid (if you can even find a lawyer that is). Read it and weep/help amplify this massive issue and take action!

We're one of 100+ refugee charities who have signed this open letter to the Prime Minister, calling for united communities and an end to hostile politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past: togetherwithrefugees.org.uk/press-releas... www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The govt locked people up in Manston. Then subjected them to abuse so bad it's now at the centre of a human rights lawsuit. This isn’t a failure of the system. This is the system. Detention is cruelty by design. Join us now to end it (link in comments).

Proud of our community members standing up for their rights after their experiences at Manston asylum camp in Kent. In 2022 we connected @dpglaw.co.uk @goldjenningsltd.bsky.social @wilsonsolicitors.bsky.social @jcwi-uk.bsky.social lawyers with our community. Refugees are now suing the government.

🚀NEW REPORT🚀 ❗This week we launched a new report highlighting how the crisis in legal aid is leaving people without good quality legal advice at a time when they need it most. ➡️ Access it here www.migrantsorganise.org/new-report-t...

The "legitimate concerns" narrative told us that opposition to immigration was popularly held, a fixed reality to be deferred to, and that support for immigration was marginal and elitist. Wrong on multiple levels, and also helped radicalise big chunks of the political class towards the far right.

Today Keir Starmer wrote in the Mail that the public 'has a right' to be angry about illegal migration. We have a right to be angry our Prime Minister is fanning the flames of far-right narratives; angry that under Labour there are still no safe routes for people to come here fleeing war. 1/

Today Keir Starmer wrote in the Mail that the public 'has a right' to be angry about illegal migration. We have a right to be angry our Prime Minister is fanning the flames of far-right narratives; angry that under Labour there are still no safe routes for people to come here fleeing war. 1/

'Return hubs': here we go again. We know externalisation leads to human rights violations. We've seen that with Australia, Italy/ Albania, Rwanda. It's incredibly costly to the taxpayer (£700m to the UK), ties up the courts in legal challenges and leads to arbitrary detention.

⚡️Why we took action: After 30 years of neglect, the legal aid system is in crisis. We need more than sticking plaster solutions! The Government must go further and listen to people who have been left without access to justice. We demand a sustainable, well-funded legal aid system for all! ✊🏽

Finally a Home Office subcontractor held to account for relentlessly poor performance. From bullying of asylum-seeking people to undercooked food, for years we gave authorities and media endless evidence about Stay Belvedere’s conduct. Praying for a better replacement… www.bbc.com/news/article...

We’re so proud that our Senior Caseworker Alison has passed her Immigration Advice Authority Level 2 exams with flying colours (88%!) to give advice to our community on asylum matters 👑 We're becoming ever more skilled in-house to enable access to advice and justice locally. Happy day! 😍🤸🏽‍♀️

Modern slavery survivors turned away from support now only have *30 days* to challenge a refusal Charities are working against the clock to get justice for survivors who shouldn't have been rejected in the first place. Read our briefing with @antislavery.org: afterexploitation.com/2025/03/20/r...

Migrants have been paying 7 to 10 times the actual processing costs of visas for years, and many have been forced into destitution by extortionate fees. Now this government has increased them again. Migrants are not a magic money tree for politicians to keep exploiting. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Given that we're already in a permanent race against time trying to find lawyers for people appealing their asylum refusals (who have often never had a lawyer or had extremely shoddy legal representation), this puts us and people trying to access their *right* to a lawyer in an impossible situation.

Our smallest community member not working particularly hard in fitness class 🤸🏽‍♀️ happy weekend friends!🌷

We aren't shy to point out that it's grassroots community refugee charities like us, who do frontline casework but also run a community centre *every day* to enable integration on a local level, that are providing this essential preparation for UK life - with no national or local government funding.

The Home Affairs Committee of MPs has just published all the written evidence received for its inquiry into asylum accommodation, including one from provider Serco giving some interesting observations on how 'service users' experience the asylum system committees.parliament.uk/work/8763/as...

Big thanks to MPs @nadiawhittomemp.bsky.social @johnmcdonnellmp.bsky.social @jeremycorbyn.bsky.social & others for this Early Day Motion expressing deep concern about the government's proposed refusal of British citizenship to refugees. Exceptionally cruel policy. edm.parliament.uk/early-day-mo...

Childcare funding is being expanded but migrant families working will be locked out of it. Brilliant work from Praxis showing how it will ultimately limit the power of the policy to help women work. Glad to have supported this work from @jrf-uk.bsky.social.

How far can you run in five minutes? Huge thanks to the @royalcourt.bsky.social for generously providing us with tickets to Khawla Ibraheem’s incredible play, A Knock on the Roof, which explores the horrifying realities of life for Palestinians in Gaza under constant threat of bombardment. (1/4)

ONS data shows work and study were the main drivers of immigration to the UK in 2024. Despite record-high asylum applications (Home Office stats), only 8% of non-EU arrivals came to the UK to seek asylum.

📢 Clearsprings - an asylum accommodation provider- is making bumper profits, and now MPs are calling for an ❗urgent investigation into millions of pounds in offshore transactions made by the company So, why is it so hard for them to provide decent housing? 👀 www.opendemocracy.net/en/clearspri...

Another week, another distressed asylum-seeking family thanks to chaos of Home Office and subcontractor Clearsprings Ready Homes. Vulnerable mum and baby we support packed up everything, said tearful goodbyes, travelled 2 hours to new housing - only to be told it wasn't ready. Sent back to London.

New from FM: Supreme Court adopts “nuanced” approach in deprivation of citizenship appeal | Sonia Lenegan