Refugee community organisations in England. Realising potential.

Aims

The research aimed to identify and assess the exact nature of the needs of refugee community organisations [RCOs] to provide guidance to deliver sustainable infrastructure support to RCOs.

Methodology

The research combined a review of literature, 359 RCO questionnaires [including 24 respondents in Yorkshire and Humber], and unstructured interviews with RCOs.

Key issues

The report addresses key trends in the wider voluntary and community sector and positions RCOs within the broader context. RCOs face particular challenges in gaining access to funding and support in the context of funding pressure and competition between increasing numbers of voluntary organisations. Existing support for RCOs is reviewed, highlighting consistent themes in infrastructure issues facing RCO. The support needs of RCOs which took part in the survey are identified relating to size, geography, composition, services offered, and the development needs of RCOs. The report provides some benchmarking data for RCOs across the nine English regions and offers policymakers the opportunity to target infrastructure support in a way that can address the gaps identified and build on the strengths of the sector.

Conclusions

Limited specialist support currently exists to support RCOs and that which is in place is unevenly distributed and inaccessible to many or most RCOs.

Recommendations

A comprehensive support framework is required to allow consistent support to be provided to RCOs across England.