By Damilola Ogunlana
Overview
Through the generous donation from Rupert Baines, Yusuf Khalil and I were able to win a grant through the Changemakers programme to work with the Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign https://www.cambridgerefugees.org by helping with the organisation’s driving grants and end of year social events that they organise to help and support refugees. The aim of my project is to help refugees feel like they are really integrating into society. The driving grants are a valuable step towards getting them on their feet to financial autonomy and the events are a way for them to communicate and socialise within their new living environment, helping them to feel comfortable and confident.
Process towards the driving grant
I got in contact with CRRC and had discussions with their trustees, Catharine and Adrian to find out what their goals are and what the refugees need. Catharine and Adrian highlighted the campaign’s goal in providing subsidised driving lessons for refugee family members, usually one person in each family, with a driving instructor, to increase the likelihood of employment. Usually that one person in the family should have already passed their theory test. The ‘learning to drive’ budget has hit a low as there is currently a waiting list of members of families who are unable to claim the offer for their driving lessons to be paid. This can be a big bar to employment and integration as it makes getting around harder and slower and for larger families, which is usually the case, much more expensive. Therefore, for my project, my aim was to support these families and make them feel a sense of belonging and inclusion as well as a feeling of security. So, with the help of Rupert Baines’ generous donation of £500, I was able to use £400 in supporting CRRC with their driving budget by aiding one of the family members Ahmadzai.
Outcome
Ahmadzai is a refugee from Afghanistan who worked as a lawyer before he and his family had to flee. He explained how difficult it is trying to learn English to communicate his worries, thoughts and needs and integrating into a different culture adds to his stresses but his aim is to move forward financially to help his family. The driving grant helped Ahmadzai, as well as quite a few other families, to feel more confident and looked after, and able to accomplish more in the future. Ahmadzai has now applied for jobs in numerous places and is hoping to be a delivery driver at Tesco once he has his license. The families who have received the grants are very thankful and happy that it exists and expressed how hopeful they felt, knowing that things would get better as long as they worked towards it. Ahmadzai’s English tutor mentioned how positive he has been and how much he is looking forward to his continued self-improvement. So many other families wish to hopefully be able to leave the waiting list and benefit from the same opportunity of a driving grant as the need for delivery drivers continues to increase. They all expressed their huge thanks to Rupert Baines who is the reason this project was able to happen in the first place.
Ahmadzai and Damilola Ogunlana
Process towards the social event
Alongside the driving grants, I also wanted to do something for the children. Leaving one’s home country can feel very alienating when living in a new place so I wanted this social to be as fun and involving as it could possibly be. So, with the remaining £100, I purchased quite a few games and activities for all ages such as stained-glass window painting, geometric art books, paper lantern making, indoor basketball etc. The social was an amazing space for the children and parents to eat, relax and have a good time. I especially enjoyed the interactions I had with the children and how much the socials mean to them.
Conclusion
This project enabled me to be involved in something that I feel strongly about and see the positive impact it has. During the socials, the people I had conversation with expressed how much of a good time they had with the games, food, gift donations and conversations which highlighted how important these socials were in providing a sense of community. The grants have also been a massive confidence boost for so many families and made many more feel hopeful for the future. I am grateful to Changemakers for creating a space that allowed this project to unfold and how I can continue to help more in the future with further grants and support with English tutoring. To conclude, a massive thank you once again to Rupert Baines for making all of this possible.
