Strategy and Aims

Our Strategic and Operational Priorities 2020:

As a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic we have had to shift our ways of working and our priorities.  Our current priorities are:

1.      To ensure that our members basic needs (food, accommodation, money) are met throughout the crisis;

2.      To ensure that our members are safe from harm including through the provision of information about Covid-19 and about staying safe from hate crime, domestic abuse etc;

3.      To support our members with interpreters and translations so that they can access own language support;

4.      To continue to be led by Early Action Principles and our other ways of working (Empowerment; Advocacy);

5.      To protect our staff and volunteers in so far as it is possible from contracting Covid-19 (by not requiring them to work face-to-face unless the Government advises that it is safe to do so) and from adverse impact on their mental health;

6.      To collaborate with the asylum seeker/refugee sector in Bristol and other partner organisations to ensure needs are met effectively and efficiently and where it is of benefit to our members or the wider asylum seeker/refugee/migrant population;

7.      To support national and local campaigns led by other organisations which aim to secure rights and entitlements for asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants during the Covid-19 pandemic;

8.      To continue to work towards our organisational strategic priorities: participation; quality; partnership; inclusion; voice; rights and entitlements;

9.      To ensure the sustainability of the organisation;

10.  To apply for emergency covid-19 funds and ensure all funding deadlines are met for funding   bids planned.

Our Vision

A society where refugees, asylum seekers and migrants are welcomed, feel safe, live free of poverty and are able to positively build their lives. A society where everyone’s rights and entitlements are respected.

Aims and Ways of Working

We work in partnership with others to combat poverty and destitution and to promote social and legal justice:

We will use an EARLY ACTION approach to working with asylum seekers, refugees and migrants; we will focus on preventing and de-escalating crises through the provision of good quality, early advice, support and information using methods which build resilience, support networks and well-being; as an organisation we will provide stability and strive for sustainability.

We empower people; promote inclusion and equality of opportunity through the breaking down of societal barriers:

We will EMPOWER asylum seekers, refugees and migrants by giving them information and confidence to access their rights and entitlements and to build their lives; asylum seekers, refugees and migrants will have opportunities to develop and share their talents; we will provide support for them to learn and develop personal and professional transferable skills through a range of opportunities both within and outside of the organisation.

We ensure the rights and entitlements of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are respected:

We use ADVOCACY to challenge injustice for individuals, and for all asylum seekers, refugees and migrants; members will receive high quality and timely advice aimed at achieving their rights and entitlements and a fair outcome; we will lead and support campaigns for better treatment and for a fairer society; we will never accept the status quo.

BRR Theory of change 2020

Our Daily Mission

Bristol Refugee Rights’ members are people currently in the UK asylum process, or who have recently been granted refugee status. We aim to deliver them a ‘user-led’ service that addresses the practical, psychological and human rights needs of refugees and asylum seekers.

• welcoming people into a safe place;
• empowering people to achieve an independent and productive life;
• enabling social inclusion;
• using information collected in the Welcome Centre to bringing public attention to the human rights aspects of asylum law.

The key values that underpin the work of Bristol Refugee Rights are:

• Inclusion
• Partnership
• Commitment to provision of a quality service
• Empowerment and accountability

We work to sustain these values both in the Welcome Centre, and in our human rights campaigning.

Early Action Charter

Too often people seeking safety in the UK are forced into poverty and crisis. Cuts to legal aid mean it is often impossible to access the vital representation and advice needed to navigate our complex asylum system. Organisations that provide help to people seeking asylum have become predominately crisis driven, helping people who have already fallen into poverty and destitution.

The Early Action Charter for People Seeking Asylum Programme is an attempt to help more than 3,000 people seeking asylum to better understand the system, and thus prevent them hitting the crisis point. The programme is a three-year partnership between eight frontline organisations including Bristol Refugee Rights.

You can find out more here and here.

Documents

Our Business Plan, which sets out how we hope to achieve, our Mission Statement and Goals, can be found here.

BRR’s Simplified Constitution can be read here.

Other important documents can be found on the Policies and Procedures page.

The Annual Reports and Accounts can be found here.