Volunteering Among Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Leeds – a report with recommendations

By Jon from LASSN on 23rd September 2020 in Resource, Volunteers

Truly excellent report from Beth Kay (via Voluntary Action Leedsa) into the state of play in Leeds, drawing on a load of research done with some of the larger refugee and asylum focused organisations in Leeds. Essential reading for anyone involved the recruitment and deployment of volunteers in Leeds

The Abstract Reads

This qualitative sociological research explores the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees who volunteer in charities and organisations delivering refugee services. It examines their motivations for choosing to volunteer in refugee services, revealing strong shared identities as service users as a main factor. Qualitative narratives and experiences obtained through telephone interviews expose the barriers and challenges associated with the mainstream voluntary sector in Leeds, UK. The findings show that this can lead to the overrepresentation of refugees and asylum seekers among volunteers for refugee services and, in contrast, an underrepresentation in mainstream volunteer roles.

If you’re short of time skip to

p31 5.2) Motivations for volunteering in refugee services: shared identities and experiences as refugees, service users, and volunteers,
p33 5.3) Barriers to mainstream volunteering
p41 6) Conclusion and recommendations