Yakub and Salima’s family, for example, had already been through so much by the time they had fled the Syrian civil war. Yakub was imprisoned in terrible conditions for 11 years for refusing to betray his brother-in-law, who had protested against the Syrian leader, Assad. They became one of the first families supported by SIC when the charity opened in 2016. As well as helping the family to integrate within the community, SIC helped Ahmed, their youngest son, to fund his medical studies in Cairo. He now works as a doctor in a UK hospital, giving back to the community – as do his parents, who help other newly arrived families. As an English teacher, I could have been one of the charity’s tutors, who do vital work helping people to assimilate and find work. However, I wanted to really get to know a family, so I became a befriender. This involves keeping in regular contact and helping out with everyday needs like navigating UK supermarkets, budgeting (although in my experience, they’re more savvy than me!), making and getting to appointments, and finding social opportunities like other and baby groups – as well as building a rapport.
Most of the refugee families that SIC supports are here on the government’s Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, and volunteers help them to find work and rebuild their lives. For asylum-seeking families (such as the Kurdish family I support), things are a bit trickier because until they are granted asylum they cannot work.