English is the thing people most often ask for help with. Language is an important first step to feeling like you are part of the local community and that you can look after yourself, and your family, within that community. We believe that friendly and accessible opportunities to learn and practise English help people to […]
Now feels like a good time to take stock of all the opportunities that have come our way in the first quarter of the year (but, really, how can we already be in May?!). We have been incredibly fortunate to receive a lot of goodwill and some much appreciated cold, hard cash in recent […]
Helen Thompson, Youth Case Worker I’ve been volunteering with CARAS since September 2016. I work in international development, and did a posting in Afghanistan and a stint working on the Syria refugee crisis. After these experiences, and in the aftermath of the devastating Brexit referendum result, I was keen to do more both to support […]
The Chickpea Sisters are independent! The Chickpea Sisters have built a name for themselves as a catering organisation with a difference. They have become well known for producing delicious food from around the world, and we have lost track of the number of people who phone to tell us how good they are, and […]
Spring is shaping up to be a busy time at CARAS. A lot has been going on already and we’re not even halfway through the month! We’ve been running volunteer training sessions and now have 10 new fully trained people ready to get started in our Visiting Project, providing targeted one-to-one support to refugees […]
Looking back at 2016… In 2016, we worked with over 300 individuals offering a wide range of support. In addition to all of our regular activities supporting refugees and asylum seekers we did all of this: In January we formalised our Fundraising Working Group, a highly dedicated group of volunteers who have helped give […]
We’ve had a busy year here at CARAS. We’ve seen plenty of new faces come through our doors, started new projects, and said goodbye to some old friends. Overall, it’s been an important year for us, and here’s a look back at a few of our highlights. Once again, this year saw CARAS run two […]
Charles Whitehead from TTT and Eleanor Brown from CARAS were excited to be invited to speak at the RHS annual conference for managers. Our topic was ‘Community Change through Gardening’ which gave us the perfect platform for sharing our partnership work over the last year. Those of you who come to the CARAS office […]
Here at CARAS, we live and thrive by the willingness of local communities to welcome those who have been forced to flee dreadful events, and lend a helping hand to rebuild their lives. We have over ten years’ experience of partnership with volunteers and refugees, creating a safe space for those who need it. […]
It’s been a busy term for us here at CARAS. Find out what our projects have been up to, all of our latest funding updates and recent changes to our staff team below. The Women’s Drop-in is up and running for another year! It is a huge relief that, after a period of uncertainty around lack of funding, […]