Refugees, people seeking asylum or safety
Everyone deserves a safe, secure place to call home.
Please donate to support our work locally, or read on to find out how you can take action in your community now.
Everyone deserves a safe, secure place to call home.
For many people across the world, the home they once had is no longer a safe haven for them. There can be many reasons that lead to individuals or families becoming refugees.
From mums to teachers, doctors to grandparents, we work alongside people from a wide variety of backgrounds, across Greater Manchester and Lancashire to help them to settle, find support and love, and gain the knowledge, experience and skills to help them start their new life here.
Can you please help even more people to find that safe, secure place they can call home?
Read on for lots of ways you can get involved…
Why your support matters
Any of us could become a refugee at any time.
There’s so much noise in the media and in our communities about refugees, people seeking asylum and migration.
But, amongst the rhetoric, what many people lose sight of is that outside of the polls and soundbites there are real people with real lives that urgently need kindness, help and support.
Many of the people we work alongside who are settling in Greater Manchester and Lancashire never imagined they would be forced from the safe haven of their home; from everything they know and love; having to start again from scratch in a brand-new place, often many, many miles away from loved ones or familiarity.
However you choose to support, whether big or small, it can make a huge difference. Our latest impact report shows just some of the ways we’ve been there for people from a refugee background recently.
How you can get involved
There are lots of ways you can take action including:
- Using the toolkits and resources on this page to hold an event or activity – or come up with your own if you prefer
- Donating or take part in a Caritas Every Step challenge to support local services
- Sharing our posts or news stories or join our Caritas events and activities
- Taking a look at the services we provide and signpost people who may benefit
- Volunteering with our teams to help people locally.
- Taking a look at ways we’re calling for change and take action now
And please do get in touch if you have any more ideas, we’d love to hear them!
Everyone deserves a safe, secure place to call home…take a look at what people have told us that means to them.
“Home is being safe and free. Warmth of hearts held tenderly. Memories, feelings, treasured time. Smells of cooking, sounds of play. Thought-filled moments, no more to say. Understanding, bearing pain. When together, home’s a flame.
“Home is where I can breathe out, where I am fully myself. It’s where the laughter is, and where the tears are safe. It’s where my heart is fullest, it’s where love is in charge. It’s where I don’t feel alone. Home is my fortress.”
“Home is my family and it makes me feel warm.”
“Home is not just a place but a sanctuary for me and my family to belong and feel safe.”
One of the ways you could get involved in supporting refugees is to take on a challenge as part of our Every Step campaign – choosing something that pushes you out of your comfort zone to help raise much-needed funds.
Perhaps you could do a Refugee Week themed challenge this June or to mark World Day of Migrants and Refugees in September? From a themed read-a-thon to a sponsored swim, a day of dancing to a sponsored bike ride…gardening, quizzes, baking. Anything goes!
Where your money goes
It costs around £12,000 per day to provide the level of service and support being delivered in Caritas projects across Greater Manchester and Lancashire.
Which means that everyone who needs it is able to access urgent practical help required, as well as any advice and support that will help them for the long term.
Every single donation matters because it means nobody is turned away or left behind.
These are just some examples of how your donation could be used to provide critical support – right now – or help someone begin to transform their own life with dignity.
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£8could pay for a personal care pack for someone in need such as toothbrush and paste, shower gel, deodorant, period products or shaving items
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£35could provide professional advice and support to people at times of acute crisis
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£157could ensure a weekly shop of food and other essentials for a family in crisismily for a week
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£1,500could sponsor English lessons for an academic year to welcome, support and integrate a refugee and help them access training, volunteering and employment
“’On the first day of our arrival, I was afraid, I was very scared. I arrived at the airport in Manchester and we were welcomed by the group. It was a difficult feeling, I started crying but they were very welcoming…
“[The group] prepared a family atmosphere in the house. They liked the children. In the way they have welcomed us, they made us feel that exile and what we were afraid of was reduced…as if they were friends.”
Mother resettled by Caritas community sponsorship volunteers
Resources
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Prayers for World Day of Migrants and Refugees
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Compassion in your community resource
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Prayer for Refugee Week
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Refugees Resource for Schools
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Jubilee Resource: Increasing Parish Accessibility
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Become a Caritas Parish Rep Leaflet
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Become an accessibility advocate volunteer
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Setting up a warm hub in your community
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Community Christmas meal: social action advice guide
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Human dignity and homelessness resource
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Your guide to becoming a volunteer at Caritas Salford
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Caritas Impact Report
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Every Step Fundraising Pack
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Every Step Lancashire Sponsored Walk Information Pack
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Jubilee 2025 Pilgrims of Hope Resource
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Virtual Gift Catalogue
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Marking World Day of Migrants and Refugees
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Caritas ambassadors in Blackburn call for positive change
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Refugee Week: Let’s cut through the soundbites and be there for others
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Supporting people who are refugees or seeking asylum and safety
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Tolkien and hiking boots: Rachel tells us how they fit together…
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Celebrating the contributions of refugees and calling for change
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Refugee Week: Cait, project support officer, on how we work with refugees locally
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Free training for parishes this June
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Ways to take action – June policy update
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Calling Lord of the Rings fans, hikers – or people looking for a new challenge!
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Ways to take action – May policy update
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Free Jubilee year accessibility resource launched for parishes
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Toolkit launched to help welcome refugees to your area
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Calling all bookworms for a special challenge!
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Supporting families in North Manchester and beyond
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Standing up for compassion and dignity for refugees