VOLT Lunch and Learn – Involving Refugees and Asylum Seekers as Volunteers

A Lunch and Learn session – Involving Refugees and Asylum Seekers as Volunteers, followed by our AGM.

During Good Relations Week we are holding this lunch and learn session on involving refugees and asylum seekers as volunteers. Refugees & Asylum Seekers are a relatively new and fast-growing population within Northern Ireland. While paid work is not always possible for many members of this group, they can all offer their skills & time as volunteers, and many are very keen to volunteer as a means to build work skills, practise English, give back to society, integrate, and make friends. We know that in the wake of Covid lockdowns many organisations are struggling to recruit and retain as many volunteers as they had before and, since this new & growing group is so interested in volunteering, there is great potential here to build effective and mutually beneficial relationships between volunteer organisations and this newcomer population.

This session will give an overview of the key facts that organisations should know about this group, the main challenges and opportunities involved in including them in volunteering work, and the simple ways you can adapt roles and processes to make your organisation more welcoming and accessible to asylum seekers and refugees.
We will also hear success stories from people and organisations who have included asylum seekers and refugees in their volunteering work and who can advise from experience on the “why and how” of making this work most effectively for everyone.

NB The event will start with lunch and finish with our AGM, which we hope you will join us for!

Lunch at 1.30pm, with the session starting at 2.00pm and the AGM 3.15 – 4.15pm.