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Student Action for Refugees is a group that provides volunteering, campaigning and fundraising opportunities in support of refugees, with the aim to spread awareness, gain support and create change.

STAR focus on welcoming refugees to the UK by empowering students, displaced people and supporters to take positive action to improve the quality of life of displaced people in their local area, and on a national level. This is achieved in four main ways:

1. Volunteering to support refugees in the community develop skills and integrate;

2. Campaigning to change policies which adversely affect the lives of refugees;

3. Educating people about asylum in the UK;

4. Fundraising to support other local community based organisation’s.

Volunteering

STAR Leeds runs two conversation classes every week, providing displaced people in our local area with valuable opportunities to learn and practice their English language skills. Charitable organisation’s have had to step up in recent years to provide this service, as English skills are increasingly important in the context of the hostile environment for successful asylum applications, and for integration into social life in the UK. This is also a great opportunity for students to contribute to their local area and expand their University experience; no prior teaching skills or experience are required to participate in this service and full training is provided!

Campaigning

One of the main purposes of the STAR network is campaigning to improve the legal rights and access to opportunities of displaced people in the UK. Our campaigns group meet on a weekly basis and organise events, campaigns, fundraisers and protests. As part of STAR campaigns you will participate in deciding which national and local campaigns STAR Leeds want to focus on for the year, help design and run events, mobilise the student body for campaigns and actions, suggest and plan fundraising or educational events, go on trips, work with and support other local organisation’s, and much more. Previous years campaigns have focused on pressuring the University to improve the accessibility of higher education for displaced young people; lobbying the government to end indefinite detention, and the ban on asylum seekers right to work.

STAR Bikes Project

A recent additional service we have launched in STAR Leeds is the STAR Bikes Scheme. This project sees STAR volunteers trained in bike repairs by the team at Leeds Uni Bike Hub. We will then work in partnership with the Bike Hub, and repair old, unwanted bikes that are donated to the scheme, and distribute these to displaced people in the local area. We are passionate about this project as the costs of transport are often a massive barrier to asylum seekers and refugees accessing local services.

If you are interested in getting involved, contact us via email or Facebook. No prior skills or experience required!

Anonymous comments procedure

If at any point you have a concern or complaint to make relating to your experience in Student Action for Refugees. We are committed to making this process as inclusive and accessible as possible.

The below button will take you to an Google Form which you can fill in completely anonymously. We will also give you the option to chose who receives your anonymous response- whether this be STAR Leeds, a member of committee, or the LUU activities team.

There is also a free comments section, if you have any suggestions about improving this process!

Contact us at staratleeds@gmail.com