In January, almost a decade since I joined the Jesuit Refugee Service, I will be moving on.
I am hugely proud of what we have achieved together over the last 9 years.
When I first joined the organisation, JRS UK was offering informal support, accompaniment, and friendship to refugees in an often-unwelcoming environment.
Every year since then, through the tireless work of our refugee friends, supporters, volunteers, and staff we have built upon that legacy. And today, we offer a whole range of holistic services that make a tangible difference to the lives of people seeking sanctuary here.
2024 has been a challenging year, marked by more hostility towards refugees and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Nevertheless, our community has continued JRS UK’s mission to build a more welcoming society.
Here are just a few of the key moments:
Accessing accommodation is one of the most pressing challenges refugees face, so in January we were delighted to open Amani House for male refugee friends.
Through Amani House, Emilie House (our accommodation for female refugee friends), and our hosting scheme, we have provided over 3,000 nights of safe and stable accommodation this year!
In February we were delighted to hold training sessions for refugee friends and staff to learn acupuncture!
Every Wednesday, friends come to our centre for acupuncture sessions led by our partners from World Medicine. Volunteer acupuncturists work with refugees to identify the treatments they need, and we’ve had brilliant feedback about how beneficial they are.
Together with the food charity Sustain and asylum charity Life Seekers Aid, JRS UK highlighted the widespread hunger and malnutrition experienced by people seeking asylum. Drawing on the experience of friends at different stages of the asylum system, our report revealed the horrifying impact of food insecurity and set out an urgent call for change.
Access to food was the also focus of our Lent Appeal and we are so grateful to everyone who supported this work.
Nayla’s story: “It shouldn’t be this hard to access food” (page 4-5)
Also in March, we held our first ever community Iftar with members of the local mosque and community. There was a beautiful mixture of people from different faiths and amazing food cooked by refugee friends!
This April saw another fantastic effort by Team JRS UK at the London Marathon. 28 people ran with us, including supporters from as far afield as the USA, raising an amazing £47,000!
In 2025 JRS UK supporters will once again be taking on the marathon to raise vital funds for our work. Among them is Jules, a friend who recently received refugee status. Stay tuned for more updates from the team!
Support Jules as he runs the London Marathon on 27th April 2025!
The Brook House Inquiry report, published in 2023, shone a light on horrific abuse at the detention centre. It found many instances of violence against detained people, in a “toxic” and “dehumanising” culture. The report emphasised that these problems were not confined to Brook House.
In May, JRS UK published our own research, After Brook House: continued abuse in immigration detention, highlighting how this is still the case across the UK’s immigration detention centres.
Read the report & watch our launch webinar here
Our Detention Outreach Team supported people through over 4,000 casework interactions in detention this year. This included providing assistance for people detained as part of the Rwanda scheme, before it was scrapped by the new government in July.
We are also deeply grateful to our dedicated team of volunteers, who continued to offer vital friendship and accompaniment for people in detention.
In June an intrepid group of 40 refugee friends, volunteers, and staff walked 10km across central London to raise funds for JRS UK’s legal work. It was great to walk alongside so many organisations supporting other vital legal projects. Thank you to all who donated and came out to walk with us!
Read more about JRS UK’s Legal support in our Summer Newsletter (pages 8-9)
The need for JRS UK’s legal service is now greater than ever, with a chronic lack of legal aid available making the UK’s hostile environment increasingly difficult for refugees to navigate.
At the start of July, people across the UK went to the polls to vote in the General Election. JRS UK set out our election asks and we were so touched by how many of our supporters took the time to write to their candidates or send messages of support to our centre.
In its first few days, the new Labour government scrapped the Rwanda plan. This was a positive policy change but there are still many urgent steps we are encouraging the government to take including: fully restoring the right to asylum, ending immigration detention, and scrapping the Hostile Environment.
In August, racist and Islamophobic violence erupted across the country. The fear and intimidation was felt in our own neighbourhood, particularly by our Muslim friends and neighbours. We were honoured to join them at Wapping Masjid during Friday prayer to show solidarity and to help ensure people can practice their faith in peace.
This also highlighted the importance of our reconciliation and community projects, which we have been expanding throughout the year. You’ll be hearing a lot more about these in 2025!
Read more about Community Projects: “rehumanising is powerful and hopeful” (Pages 8-9)
In September, JRS UK published our new report, Destitute and in Danger: people made homeless by the asylum system.
Our expert Destitution Team accompany people who have experienced homelessness destitution for years. Each refugee friend registered with us has a dedicated caseworker who supports them on their journey through the asylum system, as well as providing referrals to our other services.
Through more than 2,000 interactions and appointments in 2024, our team has delivered expert advice, including help for refugee friends to access essential services like healthcare.
On World Food Day in October, we announced an exciting new partnership with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which will support JRS UK’s provision of food, clothing, toiletries, and other essentials.
Read more: “We share with JRS UK a desire to care for the need of others”
Refugees we serve are banned from working or accessing statutory support. Every month, between 90 and 120 people came to our centre to pick up healthy food, sanitary products, baby items and other necessities which they would not otherwise have access to.
On 14th November, we celebrated the anniversary of JRS being founded and marked it with a special drop in at our centre.
Read more: Father Pedro Arrupe – the founder of JRS
Our regular social drop-in, where refugee friends can access a hot meal, a warm space, and community, takes place every fortnight. It’s a time when the smell of spices and the sound of laughter reverberate around!
For this special celebration were delighted to be joined by so many friends and supporters of JRS UK. The food, as ever, was brilliant.
My final highlight of 2024 was our annual Advent Service which saw refugee friends, volunteers, and supporters come together for an evening of carols and poetry (this year including a poem written by Loddan our Communication and Events Assistant, for Black History Month).
Another very welcome addition was our new in-house music group! Their beautiful songs in Kurdish, Yoruba and Ghanaian got the whole church up clapping and dancing, and we’re very excited to see what else they have in store for us next!
Read more: “Music healed me during one of the hardest periods of my life” (Pages 10-11)
In what has been a full and often difficult year it was a powerful reminder of the hope made possible by all our friends and supporters. Thank you.
