I was listening to Woman’s Hour one day, and Ali Smith and Anna Pincus, who’s the CEO of Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group, were talking about a walk with a group called Refugee Tales. I thought, walking and accompanying refugees in the hostile environment? That sounds like an unmissable combination.
I joined one of their walks in July 2019 and met Aidan, JRS UK’s deputy director. I was really inspired by the Refugee Tales Walk and wanted to get involved.
Accompaniment was just actually getting off the ground as a new thing for JRS UK. The role was about going with refugee friends to appointments and being physically present with people as they had to travel around London. And I thought that’s great I can do it.
With lockdown at the beginning of 2020, there was nowhere to accompany anybody to. But there was keeping in touch with people on the phone. I helped in that early rush, making sure we knew where people were and what their phone numbers were. Today’s Befriending programme came out of that and it’s all sort of continued today with phone calls between refugee friends and volunteers, spending time talking together.
One of the times I’ve been most moved was going with a refugee friend to his appeal hearing. I hadn’t met him before. The Home Office were appalling. They had nothing to say. They didn’t believe his story. He was weeping during the hearing. The judge suggested I stay close to him and sent the usher out to get tissues so I could sit with my hand on his back. At the end of the hearing, she said, “I’ll give my written judgment in three weeks, but I can tell you today that I’m going to allow your appeal.” He jumped out of his chair and said thank you! That was very emotional. We went out for a celebration meal afterwards.
I’ve come to feel that befriending is kind of accompaniment over time. That’s basically what you’re doing. The idea of walking in somebody’s shoes, walking alongside somebody, is a very powerful concept, which I can sign up to 100%. And I think befriending is doing that without going anywhere.
Before starting with JRS UK, I had a long career facilitating others to find volunteering opportunities. In that work, and in my years with JRS UK, I’m struck by how easy it is to make a contribution that’s significant to people. It’s a bit like when the sun comes out and people smile more easily and that makes us all feel better. I’m conscious that there are things that I take for granted that are very meaningful to other people.
For anyone thinking of volunteering: Do it! You’ll get a lot more back than you put in.
