Rebecca

Rebecca has been volunteering with The Refugee Buddy Project since 2018, and has buddied families who are having their asylum claims processed. Rebecca is part of the Education Working Group which leads on our Education Research and the following work we are developing with schools, and she also project managed the Call to Action to local arts organisations to be involved in Refugee Week.

How did you come about working with the Refugee Buddy Project and how long ago was that?  

When we moved here from London in 2017 I was looking to see what was going on in the community in terms of arts and activism as I wanted to find a place for myself within that. I did a lot of listening and reading and meeting and talking to people and I think I came across an article about the project in 2018 and I thought, "oh, this looks really interesting". 

I decided to volunteer to be a buddy because I really wanted to do something that supported the families that the project supports, but also taking an active part in something that was specific to my new location and community.

So how is your experience volunteering? 

It's been great, actually. I know volunteering is obviously about giving your time and making a commitment and using whatever life or professional skills you have to enable something to happen. But it's also, I think, fundamentally about learning and listening. It's not just about coming in and saying, "Oh, well, I've done this, I've done that, I can help you." It's absolutely about listening to other perspectives and learning as you go as well, and I think that's really important.

While I knew of the Hostile Environment, there was still an awful lot I had to learn. That's what's so impressive about the project, it's led by people with lived experience and everyone's got a different experience and that cumulatively comes into the mix of the decisions that are made and the voices that are heard. I've learnt a great deal from every family that I have supported or come to know through this project as well as the other volunteers and the professionals who are paid staff for the organisation. That's been really and a really important education and it's been enriching for my life and my family too - my daughter is a teenager but she's come and volunteered at a couple of events - and I think that it's crucial that the next generation really understands the issues from a personal as well as a political perspective.

If you could select the lessons that have stuck with you the most, what would they be?  

Well, first of all, you have to come with an open mind and listen to the people that you meet and their perspective. Even though you're meeting people who on some level have vulnerabilities and difficult experiences that they may or may not choose to share with you, nevertheless, they have power and agency too and they have opinions! I think having conversations that make room for those differences of opinion, as well as enabling both of you in that relationship to get to know each other is important.

One person I worked with, when I told him my age, which is my late fifties, and we were walking up the hill and we were marching up there and he's like, "old women in my country aren't as fit as you". And I said, "in my country, my age is not old woman." And then we had a laugh about that and sort of brought those differences of expectation together. So, we found humour in a difference of opinion that, came from a cultural perspective.  

I think I've really learnt through experience the distinction between people at different stages of their refugee status. One of the families I support has no recourse to public funds. So, they're seeking asylum as distinct from having come through a refugee resettlement programme. Understanding what they have access to and what they don't and being able to support within those quite different categories and systems is something that I think is important.

When I was part of the team who were doing the veg box run, there was an incident that happened that was a very, very stark realisation of how isolated and precarious the situation can be for some of these families who are literally just looking to live their lives in safety, which is a human right. But to find yourself in that position in another country and to have children at a local school and try and find your way while you're still waiting to see if you're going to be allowed to stay. Then something happens that puts all of that precarity into stark realisation and creates a new situation in this apparently semi safe country, that was again unsafe and precarious and transitory and it really brought into stark, you know, sort of reality the hostility of the system that many people have to negotiate and how actually little agency they have within that.

How do you even begin to tackle that as a as a person of support?  

You take it week by week. First of all, as volunteers in this set up, I'm not a Caseworker, I'm not a legal support worker and I don't have a stake in or a professional role to play in the system that they're being funnelled through. But I know I know how certain systems in this country work, and I'm local and I speak the language. There are certain systems I can absolutely support them with and I will be there to do that. Whether that's helping a family negotiate a school system or being there when they need to help with the hospital or just speaking the language and going through some of the idiosyncrasies of the English language in the way, you know, phrases and idioms work in this language.

What then is your specific role?  

As I say, I think it's on a case-by-case basis. So, if it's making sure people know how to get to and from a space, local transport, local amenities, the sorts of access to civic situations, introducing them to the library, to nice places they can walk, to places where they can meet other people, ensuring that they come to the free food events that the project puts on, putting them in touch with other people, maybe in a similar situation. I feel like those sorts of social and community focused things. As well as help in some situations if they have a hospital appointment - not all the buddies have a car, I have a car and now that I'm working self-employed, I can give lifts to places. So, whether it's somebody with children or people without children who have other needs, I can do that. And again, I think many of the conversations I have had have been about how to navigate the particularities of certain British systems.  

But feeling in limbo, that's something I definitely recognise. Because there are certain allowances, the sort of bare minimum allowances that people who are seeking asylum and are on no recourse to public funds can access like language lessons or basic health care. But it's very limited, so it's about ensuring that just small amounts of support beyond that are available to them, either through myself or through the network.

That's the important thing about the project, is it is an effective network. It’s not just all of the volunteers on the staff as well. It's the other organisations that the Buddy Project is part of locally, but also nationally like Migrants Organise and Refugee Action. There's a wealth of knowledge and skills across that network. So if you don't have the answer, if it's a local question, someone in the project will have the answer and if it's a sort of more national question, then someone else within the network will know.  

What has been the biggest challenge?  

Speaking personally, I think it's just constantly checking your own assumptions, just making sure you don't come to the conversation or to a situation knowing what the other person is bringing to that or that you know what the answer might be. As a character, I think I'm quite a problem solver and I tend to approach things in that way. But you're being a buddy to a family is not a problem to solve. It's a relationship to build. And I think within that, just like any relationship, you have to come without assumptions and get to know somebody and ask them and have them trust you enough to ask you for help if they want that. Or just have a cup of tea and a laugh if they want that.  

Is it rewarding?  

Oh, hugely, hugely rewarding. Yeah. When you feel like you want to give back and make a difference to your community, then it's massively rewarding. Also, as I said, it's a real learning experience and that's very important.

I think in the particularities of the political situation we're in the moment, you can often feel really frustrated, that you're not doing enough to counteract the misinformation, the prejudice and hate speech that sometimes you encounter in the media, on social media, even from politicians. But then you'll find yourself in a situation where actually something you've done has made a difference with something the organisation has done, and that's why it's rewarding. Small acts by individuals working collectively, really, genuinely can make a difference.  

Do you feel supported as a volunteer to support families?  

Yes, I definitely do. I think, like I say, it's a network of different people who are bringing different skills. I think the project's been responsive to the buddy saying what they needed. Obviously working through COVID at distance was hugely challenging and not everybody felt comfortable having meetups on Zoom like this. But the professional element of the charity meant that it had to abide by the government rules and that was definitely challenging, but we were supported in that. I think there are also creative ways like the stitch for change projects that were identified that we could get together. Then once we were able to meet in small groups outside, that's what we did.  

What would you advise for someone who's considering joining The Refugee Buddy Project? 

I think just be open minded, you know, be aware of what you could potentially give. But the thing that you think is your skill might not be what you end up offering, and be aware that you will always have as much to learn as you have to give. Be open minded and listen. There's an assumption about the power dynamic in volunteering. Everyone's got something to give, but everyone's got something to learn as well. And talk to other people and come in an open-minded way in terms of what you might be able to contribute. And it's really, really worthwhile in ways that you might not expect.  

What can people look forward to in terms of Refugee Week that they can actually make a positive contribution and feel like they've actually kind of stepped up to this activism that you're talking about?  

Well, I think I hope it will show that dozens of artists, organisations, social spaces, etc., have given their time and their creativity to prepare to come together through a series of creative actions in support of The Refugee Buddy Project in order to help create this community of welcome. And during Refugee Week, where the theme is healing through creativity and conversation, I think people will feel proud of the town they live in and the fact that we are creating this community together and that even just in a small way, recognising the humanity of people who come to live here and who may have very little but nevertheless who are welcome.  

Again we're on the edge of Britain and throughout history, people have come to Hastings and they have become part of this country. Here we are in the 21st century where that's still happening and people coming here are enriching this culture. So I think people can look forward to, coming to this Refugee Week a series of creative actions and having their minds changed, having their eyes opened, having good food, seeing interesting work, having great conversations and feeling part of something. Everyone can feel part of it.  

It is a vocal and visible shout out in favour of human rights and community and solidarity and against racism and prejudice and small minded 'Little-England-ism', and I'm really glad to been part of that and to help work on that and to live here.