Westminster hosts collaborative event for social enterprises, NGOs and charities supporting asylum seekers and refugees

On 12 February, over 50 attendees from social enterprises, NGOs, charities and the wider community gathered at the University of Westminster to explore how to work together to better support asylum seekers and refugees.  

Hosted by the RCPP and SEUK, the event was opened by Professor Peter Bonfield, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University, and Professor Dibyesh Anand, the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement and Employability. They both spoke about how this event highlights Westminster’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in its work with the community for peace through partnership.  

Sofia Nibali, Head of Membership at SEUK, also spoke at the event and introduced SEUK to the organisations in attendance. She cited Westminster as a true example of social enterprise in action and handed over to the RCPP to discuss their pioneering research.  

Professor Lilian Miles and Dr Maria Granados, Co-Leaders of the RCPP, informed attendees about the newly launched research centre and the extensive work they have done already to support asylum seekers and refugees. They encouraged attendees to collaborate with the RCPP, which provides a variety of support to organisations such as helping to secure funding, measuring impact and providing courses and workshops.  

During the evening various Westminster colleagues spoke about projects they run from the Centre, which highlighted its diverse range of activities and multidisciplinary approach. Attendees first heard from Dr Anees Ikramullah, Course Leader for Westminster’s Sports Management BA Honours course, who runs community football programmes which support more than 1000 people in London, before listening to Dr Dipankar Sengupta, Senior Lecturer in Health Data Analytics, and Dr Manal Mohammed, Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology, who are working to build a first-of-its-kind refugee healthcare database as a key step to addressing the health inequalities refugees experience in the UK. This was followed by a talk from Dr Natasha Ramachandran, Lecturer in Psychology, and Dr Setenay Dilek Fidler, Senior Lecturer in Business Management, who run a project looking at how the University can best support students from refugee backgrounds.

Presentations were then held to showcase the inspirational work of SEUK member organisations who support refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, including the charities Micro Rainbow and Breadwinners, and the social enterprise tool Outcomes Star.

About the event Marie Buss, Co-Director of Outcomes Star, said: “We are supporting services in the refugee and asylum seeker sector, but our Integration Star is quite new and we are learning. We need to be plugged into both the frontline and research so we can make our Stars as good as they can possibly be. That’s why it’s great to come to the University and meet academics and such amazing services. As a social enterprise ourselves, we empathise with the challenges and opportunities it brings.”

Attendees also heard from Big Issue Invest about the funding they provide for social enterprises before participating in a networking session to learn more about each other’s organisations and how they can collaborate to better support refugees and asylum seekers.  

About the event Professor Lilian Miles said: "It was a great opportunity to network with social enterprises, NGOs and charities reaching out to asylum seekers and refugee populations! At the Research Centre on Peripheral Populations, we are passionate about this topic and we are excited to build research and knowledge exchange activity to explore how the livelihoods and capabilities of asylum seekers and refugees can be enhanced."  

Dr Maria Granados added: “The event also provided us with the opportunity to showcase the multidisciplinary research conducted at our Centre. It reinforced the importance of bringing together diverse perspectives, actors and approaches to create impactful changes that truly improve the lives of people on the periphery of our societies."

Professor Dibyesh Anand commented: "As a progressive university, we are keen to partner with organisations to explore ideas, initiatives and practices that help us all tackle societal challenges around the world. Given the vulnerability and hostility that refugees and asylum seekers often experience, it is heartening to see some of our colleagues bridge the academia-civil society-social enterprise divides. This reflects our Westminster values; it reflects our human values."

This event and the work of the RCPP directly contributes to several of the UN SDGs including 1: No Poverty, 10: Reduced Inequalities and 17: Partnerships for the Goals. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.

Find out more about the Research Centre on Peripheral Populations at the University of Westminster.