Welcome Hub volunteer
Welcome Hackney (Hackney Council)
Volunteer with the Council's Welcome Hackney service at our weekly drop in for refugees, migrants, and people seeking asylum. Our Welcome Hub is an open-access, no appointment required space, where visitors can access support and advice on things like housing, understanding their rights and entitlements, and financial and material support.
Hackney Council’s Welcome Hackney service provides support to refugees, migrants, and people seeking asylum. We take an anti-racist and trauma-informed approach to working with residents, seeking to tackle systemic inequality and poverty by ensuring residents have access to appropriate and timely advice and support. As well as direct resident support, the team also oversees a number of programmes and projects for sanctuary seekers in the borough - for example, the service funds a casework and outreach service for people seeking asylum, and coordinate the Council’s work to become a Borough of Sanctuary, advocating for sanctuary seekers with services across the Council. The service also oversees the Council’s involvement in resettlement and schemes such as Homes for Ukraine. The team runs the Welcome Hub every Thursday from 1.30pm to 4.30pm at Dalston CLR James Library, in partnership with the Hackney Libraries team. The Welcome Hub is an open access drop-in for any Hackney resident from a refugee or migrant background. Visitors to the Hub can receive support and advice on a range of topics, including housing, employment, finances, and accessing ESOL classes. Our Welcome Hub sessions are busy and no two weeks are the same. We seek to signpost or resolve any visitors’ concerns during the Hub, but on occasion we do provide longer term casework and advocacy support outside of the Hub. The role: We are looking for 2 or 3 volunteers to support us with delivering the Welcome Hub. The types of responsibilities will include: - Providing a warm welcome to visitors, supporting the team with triaging visitors and ascertaining their needs - Provide practical support, including issuing sim cards and food bank vouchers - Signposting visitors to other relevant services, such as local community and voluntary sector organisations, and helping visitors with forms Depending on your interests and experience, we could also support volunteers with training to become advisors on common queries including eVisas and finding information on services. We can provide volunteers with access to training and resources to build understanding of the asylum and immigration systems in the UK. We’d like for volunteers to be able to join us at the library from 1pm to 5pm, for at least 3 Thursdays a month. We would particularly welcome interest from residents with lived experience, and residents who speak a community language (e.g. Arabic, Ukrainian, Farsi)
Advice, Information & Support
Basic IT skills - internet & email, Language Skills
Experience working with people; people-friendliness. Some understanding of migration and asylum.
Knowledge and understanding of support for refugees, migrants, and people seeking asylum Communication skills - working with people Providing advice and support Access to training opportunities
We’d like for volunteers to be able to join us at the library from 1pm to 5pm, for at least 3 Thursdays a month.
E8 3BQ
Dalston CLR James Library, Dalston Square, London.
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