Volunteer Week: "I volunteer...to be part of a political movement for refugee women"
by Katie, volunteer for Women for Refugee Women
Volunteers are people who take on unpaid work because they have a deep belief about service and what they are meant to do with their lives. And they keep doing it even if it is difficult or heart-breaking. And there are rewards.
One of the biggest rewards for me has been the connections with other volunteers: the other women who do check-in calls to women in our network. The volunteers in other organisations that I liaise with who make sure food and nappies and clothes get delivered. The volunteers who teach English, knitting, writing and lullabies- a shout out to Mariam, Sandra, Jane, Helen, Stephanie and Hilkka-Liisa. We share how we are affected by the women we support and think together how we can support them better.
Being able to enrol one of the women I support in a class was a delight, added to later by hearing how much they were getting out of it.
I volunteer for Women for Refugee Women in order to be part of a political movement for refugee women. So, to the women in our network who volunteer to develop and promote the wider political work, I salute you.
This week is Volunteers’ Week! At Women for Refugee Women we are so grateful to our talented volunteers who share their time and skills with us each week, helping us to welcome and support our London network of over 350 refugee and asylum-seeking women. Each day this week we will be sharing one of our wonderful volunteer’s reflections, read the rest of this series here.
Volunteer Week: "The organisation inspires me"
by Sandra, volunteer for Women for Refugee Women
My experience of volunteering with WRW is many-layered and the organisation inspires me on many levels.
When I first started to call the women in the group I was allocated at the beginning of the second lockdown, I thought it would simply involve a friendly ear every couple of weeks. As the months pass by and my involvement with the lives of individual women in a range of situations, some distressed, some in pain, some resigned and others just getting on with life, this meant much more to me and to them, I think.
Often, I can offer support through WRW, referrals or just talk through thorny issues as one human to another. Sometimes I can feel helpless or even guilty, and this is one area in which WRW are so impressive - not only are they committed to giving the women from refugee backgrounds a voice, they also listen to the volunteers' anxieties and concerns. Not only through regular team meetings and one-to-one calls with our Co-ordinator, but also by offering us sessions with a professional psychologist and zoom space just for the volunteers.
WRW also listens to our suggestions and has supported me in setting up a Radical Knitting session for those women who want to learn. The experience of seeing the pride of six women who can now knit is joyous! The sessions are chaotic and full of laughter.
Finally, through the other volunteers and my own reflections on my experience, I am continuing on a journey of my own self-development, signing up for a module in working with people from refugee backgrounds and workshops on shame resilience and transformation skills. The continuing evolution of WRW, its self-awareness and willingness to listen and respond is laudable.
This week is Volunteers’ Week! At Women for Refugee Women we are so grateful to our talented volunteers who share their time and skills with us each week, helping us to welcome and support our London network of over 350 refugee and asylum-seeking women. Each day this week we will be sharing one of our wonderful volunteer’s reflections, read the rest of this series here.
Volunteer Week: "Seven years later, I am still here, and I still love it"
by Helen, volunteer for Women for Refugee Women
I had my first hip replacement in 2014 and, knowing that my normal busy life would have to be restricted for a few months, I emailed everyone I knew and asked them for suggestions about how to use this time most productively.
The long list that came back was amazing – random, creative, off-the-wall, serious... I can't remember which of the ideas I did take up, except for one – a friend who was volunteering at WAST suggested that if I could make my way down to Old Street (one bus journey away), I might be of any general help... So I did and met some of the other volunteers and workers and some of the women coming to drop-in classes. I immediately loved the atmosphere and it soon became obvious the best use of my skills would be to help with the English classes (I'd been a teacher of English in a French secondary school for several years).
And seven years later (seven?? how can that be already?), I am still here, and I still love it (although obviously it's going to be much better when we can do face-to-face classes again).
I love the contact with the wide range of amazing women are involved in the project. The students never fail to amaze me with their resilience, warmth and commitment and I love to see them growing in confidence. The other volunteers and staff members are welcoming, efficient, and committed. I really enjoy the intellectual challenge of designing classes that are appropriate for such a wide range of experiences and skill levels, that are challenging and interesting as well as informative. And there's no greater thrill than when a student comes out with an expression or correct grammatical construction that we studied maybe weeks earlier.
I feel so privileged to have had this opportunity to be involved with WAST - thank you to everyone involved.
This week is Volunteers’ Week! At Women for Refugee Women we are so grateful to our talented volunteers who share their time and skills with us each week, helping us to welcome and support our London network of over 350 refugee and asylum-seeking women. Each day this week we will be sharing one of our wonderful volunteer’s reflections, read the rest of this series here.
Volunteer Week: "I hope that lending a hand continues to be an important part of everyone's lives"
by Enez, volunteer for Women for Refugee Women
I started volunteering with Women for Refugee Women in January 2020. I was in my final year of my undergraduate degree in Social Sciences and feeling exasperated with the discourse surrounding immigration, race and sexism. Instead of languishing in my hopelessness, I decided I wanted to become involved in a community that was actively celebrating the work that refugee women are doing to change narratives and campaign for better rights. That’s when I started helping facilitate the ‘mothers and toddlers’ group. Every Monday morning for an hour or so we would sing, dance and play with the mothers and children who enthusiastically joined in to the endless repetitions of ‘The Wheels on the Bus’. But then March came around and everything changed. As we transitioned to on-the-phone support, it was hard to imagine that the hugs, laughs and dancing we shared were only weeks in the past. But still, over the phone I got to know many women in the network that I had never previously met. We still laugh and talk – without seeing each other's smiles – and speak fondly of the day we will be able to meet and hug again.
Volunteering with Women for Refugee Women has been an important part of my life for the past year and a half. At moments where I felt more disconnected from my communities than ever before, I still had a network of women that I never lost touch with. I have also come to know my fellow volunteers better from my computer screen. Meeting weekly, then fortnightly, on zoom for the past year; I look forward to hearing about their lives and working together to try and help someone in the network. We have also had important conversations about positionality, boundaries and our role as volunteers. These are ongoing concerns which were further brought to light by the pandemic, as well as conversations about race and lived experience. They are not always easy conversations to have, but they are certainly important ones which have been incredibly impactful on the way we provide support as volunteers.
I hope that the sense of community which has been absolutely vital over the past year won’t disappear. I know that Women for Refugee Women has been, and will continue to, empower and foster its growing community. But, I have also seen the critical role of the mutual aid groups and food banks which popped up to support those worst affected by the pandemic. I hope that lending a hand continues being an important part of everyone's lives and that we continue to build communities of care.
This week is Volunteers’ Week! At Women for Refugee Women we are so grateful to our talented volunteers who share their time and skills with us each week, helping us to welcome and support our London network of over 350 refugee and asylum-seeking women. Each day this week we will be sharing one of our wonderful volunteer’s reflections, read the rest of this series here.
Volunteer Week: "I want to be part of that!"
by Liane, volunteer for Women for Refugee Women
One day, a few years ago, I decided I wanted to do some volunteer work that complimented the nature of the participatory photography projects that I run. My projects are about empowerment, self-representation, creativity and working together towards a shared outcome.
Women for Refugee Women is the embodiment of this way of working.
They use creativity to empower and give voice to the extraordinary women in their network.
Together, they work towards and accomplish real change in a hostile political system.
Yes please, I want to be part of that!
So I have had the privilege of volunteering with them since 2019.
Pre-pandemic, I helped with their Monday drop-in centre, where over 200 women would attend classes and various other activities throughout the day.
It was a joyful experience, full of love, chaos, positive energy and connection. And an abundance of humour.
I loved it.
Once Covid hit, the remarkable staff at WRW had to adapt quickly, and the role of the volunteers changed dramatically.
We were each given a list of women to make supportive weekly calls to in order to stay connected.
Two amazing things then happened.
Firstly, the volunteers (alongside the stupendous grassroots coordinator, Viki) became a team. Together we tapped into the whole world of charities, such as food and baby banks, sharing information in order to help accommodate the needs of the women we were calling. It has been a real team effort, and I have felt completely supported by this exceptional group of women volunteers.
Secondly, it has been a profound experience making strong and meaningful connections with many of the women from the network that I’ve been speaking so frequently with over the past year. I feel honoured that many have shared their difficult stories with me. I have also felt uplifted by their personal breakthroughs and successes. There is a real sense of mutual respect alongside sharing a good laugh, a few tears, and a lot of hope.
I could not have asked for a better volunteer experience.
This week is Volunteers' Week! At Women for Refugee Women we are so grateful to our talented volunteers who share their time and skills with us each week, helping us to welcome and support our London network of over 350 refugee and asylum-seeking women. Each day this week we will be sharing one of our wonderful volunteer's reflections, read the rest of this series here.