Elmbridge CAN - our history

“It was a response to what was happening in Syria,” Elmbridge CAN co-director Jeannie Tweedie explains. “We connected through social media initially and then a group of us met up in a pub to work out what we could do. The first significant thing we did was organise a meeting in collaboration with the local authority and invited various stakeholders along.”

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The council agreed to take part in the Syrian Resettlement Scheme, so the most urgent work Elmbridge CAN undertook was finding hosts for refugees. 

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In 2017, the first family arrived in Elmbridge. Housed in Oxshott without a car, an environment culturally very different to Syria, the local community rallied around. Today, some of those children from that family are young adults, studying at university.

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“What is amazing is when you see a family or individual transform their lives,” Jeannie reflects. “We support them and walk beside them if they want us to, but it is they who do it.”

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The early priorities of the organisation involved getting houses ready for new arrivals; often laborious work sourcing furniture. Gradually more families arrived and, by 2018 when Elmbridge CAN registered as a charity, roughly 30 Syrians had been resettled alongside other nationalities. Among them was Nurettin, a Turkish asylum seeker, who rebuilt his life in the IT industry where his expertise lay prior to fleeing his country. He has since become a trustee of the charity.

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“What every arrival has in common is that they have lost their home, their familiarity, their security and the feeling of belonging somewhere,” Jeannie adds. “There is a cultural adjustment to deal with. It’s hugely variable, but they all have that loss in common.”

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So, creating an infrastructure became a key part of Elmbridge CAN’s work. An English class was launched, recruiting volunteers who got busy helping with one-to-one English lessons, supporting children’s learning and helping people find jobs. Over 40 hours of tutoring and homework help are delivered each week. When Ayram left Syria at the age of seven she joined 100,000 others fleeing persecution at a refugee camp in Jordan. Eleven years later she is studying Law at the University of Surrey.

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Elmbridge CAN has thrived through its adaptability. In August 2021, the fall of Afghanistan meant that - almost overnight - approximately 200 Afghans arrived locally. Each had been part of a deeply traumatic evacuation. They were placed in hotel accommodation in Thames Ditton.

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“We stepped up, as did the local community, many of whom joined us as volunteers,” Jeannie recalls. “We organised clothing and toy deliveries. We set up whole family ESOL classes in the hotel, as it took around a term for school places to be found for the children. We held Eid parties and started a sewing group for the women.

“We have a volunteer called Tim who is our bike guy. He mends bikes when people donate them and they are incredibly useful for people. It really makes a difference. We’ve had women who’ve had the opportunity to learn how to ride a bike for the first time.”

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Elmbridge CAN took on further responsibilities when the council-employed support worker left, meaning statutory support for the Syrians now came under the umbrella of the organisation. With that, and funding from Walton Charity for an administrator, Elmbridge CAN was able to employ its first staff.

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In February 2022, the invasion of Ukraine forced many Ukrainians to flee. The local community welcomed over 600 displaced Ukrainians, mainly women and children. Elmbridge CAN volunteers organised weekly welcome hubs and the local council issued a contract for the charity to employ two Ukrainian-speaking integration workers.

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“They got busy with re-matching people who needed new hosts,” Jeannie recalls. “We had to put together an infrastructure capable of moving an organisation from being one that supported 30 families, to one that currently supports over 350.”

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The charity set up two community English classes in different locations. Together with its hubs, and one-to-one volunteer placements, they meet the needs of displaced families. For some individuals, the charity provides a high-needs case service led by experienced integration workers. Other people may simply need practical support.

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“One little girl had the biggest smile on her face after we gave her an electronic keyboard,” says Jeannie. “We have a common humanity around the world for our children. Many families have come here because of their children. We work not just with those who have come through resettlement schemes, but those who have had to come through the asylum route. Our aim remains the same as when we started: to welcome.”

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The next step is to secure the organisation’s future in a changing world.

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“We’ve had to be quite reactive in the past and there’s always that uncertainty about the environment we are in,” Jeannie concludes. “We have built something important and we want to make that sustainable. We’ve had growth without planning it so we can grow further with planning, but we need it to be properly resourced. It’s about bringing the community together.”

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