Get involved
Transforming the lives of refugees will require a team effort. We need all kinds of organisations and individuals in Elmbridge to make it happen – from businesses and schools, to charities and churches. There are lots of ways you can get involved in our work, from sponsoring a family to volunteering with Elmbridge CAN.
UPDATED Nov 23 2021 - Afghan crisis
Since the August Afghan crisis so many people have got in touch with kind offers of help so a big thank you. As you may or may not know, there are approximately 200 Afghan refugees including approximately 120 children being temporarily accommodated in a hotel in Elmbridge. So as you can imagine, the workload for our small core team has gone through the roof, as we are trying to support Elmbridge Borough Council who are leading on this, to the best of our abilities.
By far the best way to keep up to date with our needs is to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on facebook so please do this if you haven't already.
Our current needs in order of priority:
1. Rental Property - We have an urgent need to secure one more rental property for the third Afghan family that the council has agreed to relocate as part of the ALES scheme. So one of the very best ways you can all help at the moment is by sharing our Let Your Property page within your networks, or even popping into local estate agents.
2. Paid Vacancy -We are looking for a paid Administrator/Volunteers Coordinator role, click here for more info and for who to contact. Deadline for applications December 8th 2021
3. Volunteering We are very keen to fill specific current vacancies, including the bridging hotel, as well as our existing resident families we are supporting, so please find out more here in the volunteer section If you are just expressing interest for general occasional volunteering outside of these specific vacancies, please bear with us because applications need to be vetted and it takes time to process when there's a lot of high priority other things going on, in our small team.
4. Financial donations to help to pay for things like the cost of moving bulky items, school uniforms, and broadband for new families so that they can keep in touch with distant friends and family, who they will no doubt be very worried about. Donate - Elmbridge CAN refugee volunteer support.
5. Material donations , our needs our limited to specific items because we don't have storage, but you can see our latest info here- Donate - Elmbridge CAN refugee volunteer support.
6. Read up on issues relating to refugees - there is some great material here Take Action - Elmbridge CAN refugee volunteer support, but also on the pages of the larger charities, such as here Refugee & asylum facts - Refugee Council
ALSO - Latest news & updates on Support for those fleeing Afghanistan, from ELMBRIDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL
UPDATED Nov 23 2021 - Afghan crisis
Since the August Afghan crisis so many people have got in touch with kind offers of help so a big thank you. As you may or may not know, there are approximately 200 Afghan refugees including approximately 120 children being temporarily accommodated in a hotel in Elmbridge. So as you can imagine, the workload for our small core team has gone through the roof, as we are trying to support Elmbridge Borough Council who are leading on this, to the best of our abilities.
By far the best way to keep up to date with our needs is to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on facebook so please do this if you haven't already.
Our current needs in order of priority:
1. Rental Property - We have an urgent need to secure one more rental property for the third Afghan family that the council has agreed to relocate as part of the ALES scheme. So one of the very best ways you can all help at the moment is by sharing our Let Your Property page within your networks, or even popping into local estate agents.
2. Paid Vacancy -We are looking for a paid Administrator/Volunteers Coordinator role, click here for more info and for who to contact. Deadline for applications December 8th 2021
3. Volunteering We are very keen to fill specific current vacancies, including the bridging hotel, as well as our existing resident families we are supporting, so please find out more here in the volunteer section If you are just expressing interest for general occasional volunteering outside of these specific vacancies, please bear with us because applications need to be vetted and it takes time to process when there's a lot of high priority other things going on, in our small team.
4. Financial donations to help to pay for things like the cost of moving bulky items, school uniforms, and broadband for new families so that they can keep in touch with distant friends and family, who they will no doubt be very worried about. Donate - Elmbridge CAN refugee volunteer support.
5. Material donations , our needs our limited to specific items because we don't have storage, but you can see our latest info here- Donate - Elmbridge CAN refugee volunteer support.
6. Read up on issues relating to refugees - there is some great material here Take Action - Elmbridge CAN refugee volunteer support, but also on the pages of the larger charities, such as here Refugee & asylum facts - Refugee Council
ALSO - Latest news & updates on Support for those fleeing Afghanistan, from ELMBRIDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL
Images: ElmbridgeCAN/ Jazzmany / Shutterstock.com