North of England Refugee Service (NERS)

The North of England Refugee Service is an independent and charitable organisation which exists to meet the needs and represent the interests of asylum seekers and refugees who have arrived or have settled in the North of England. The heart of the work is: too accompany and support refugees on their journey, from arrival to establishment in their new community and to be an authoritative voice on issues affective the refugee community in the region. Since its establishment, 25 years ago, the focus of NERS has always been on delivering high quality services to the communities of asylum seeker in the North East region. Last year was the most challenging period of the organisation’s history. For the first time they received no direct funding from Central Government. However, they have been proactive and innovative by developing a new model for a sustainable organisation capable of meeting an ever increasing demand for its services. Through the dedication and commitment of Board members, volunteers and staff, NERS was transformed without compromising quality or rationing the services. The termination of the One Stop Service has not reduced the need for asylum support for those who are still going through the asylum process. In response they have established a new Regional Asylum Support Service, which provided support for 2,000 clients over about 6,000 one-to-one advice sessions. The demand for integration support is also continuing to increase. The Intergration Project provided support for three times its projected target. The performance of the new housing team has been acknowledged by other partners. The interpreting service is well established and continuing to grow. They train and employ refugees and other migrants as sessional interpreters to provide services to local organisations such as local authorities, the NHS and solicitors. They employ over 100 sessional interpreters from refugee and BME communies. Last year saw us firmly establishing themselves as an independent voice for refugees and a leading organisaon addressing their issues in the region. They are among expert organisaons working with government around policy affecting asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.