Bridges for Communities

Providing asylum seekers and refugees in Bristol with one to one support. We match a local volunteer with a Bristol-based asylum seeker or refugee, and they then meet weekly for a period of up to one year. We equip the volunteers with the tools and support they need in order to provide the companionship and encouragement that people need. Befriending is listening, drinking tea, laughing, being compassionate, hearing difficult stories, showing empathy, visiting a museum or art gallery, being committed, going for a walk together, learning from another culture. It can have a profound impact on both the volunteer and the person they meet with!

How to access

Referral form on the Bridges for Communities website

Equipping people to thrive in an interconnected world, we offer a range of training courses that develop cultural awareness and equip people and organisations to be more welcoming and inclusive in today’s diverse and interconnected world. Our courses include: Welcome to the UK, Supporting Refugees & Asylum Seekers, and Cultural Awareness Training.

Listening spaces are events and activities that facilitate intentional listening and dialogue between people of different cultures, races, faiths, social class and political opinions. Through this listening and dialogue we can build understanding, increase empathy and influence action, so that we are better equipped to live well together.

We bring people from different cultures and faiths together around a meal, to learn about one another’s experiences, traditions and viewpoints, build understanding, and create spaces where friendships can grow. Peace Feasts celebrate the diversity of our cultures by sharing a meal, listening to great music and exchanging stories that help us to start to see the world through someone else’s eyes.

Language & culture classes taught by people of refugee and migrant backgrounds. RefuLingua enables people of refugee and migrant backgrounds to gain employment or work experience through teaching their native language. By providing basic language teacher training and ongoing support, RefuLingua offers our tutors the opportunity to develop new skills, meet new people and gain confidence in a new country.

At the same time, RefuLingua gives host communities the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the skills that people of refugee and migrant background bring to our city, through the eyes of being a student. It challenges the stereotype of refugees as people who just need or receive help, and welcomes them as neighbours, co-contributors and teachers.

How to access

Varies, sign up via the Bridges for Communities website.

Welcoming resettled refugee families in Bristol. In partnership with the Bristol City Council, we recruit and train volunteers to help resettled families become independent living in the UK. Volunteers provide befriending support and help with a variety of everyday tasks to see families on the Resettlement Scheme become independent.

Creative and welcoming spaces for refugee women.

We provide welcoming spaces for refugee and asylum seeking women in Bristol to be creative and make beautiful and useful textile based art, clothes, and homewares, while gaining confidence and making friends.

We offer a range of sewing opportunities from hand-sewing and embroidery to dressmaking, and we welcome the involvement of volunteers to support the project (no expertise needed but some sewing experience required). Weekly hand sewing and machine sewing classes.

We connect refugees and asylum seekers into local communities, while promoting regular exercise, benefitting both physical and mental wellbeing. Walk With Me provides opportunities to practise spoken English, meet someone new, and to explore the neighbourhood or new spaces.

We are currently running group walks twice a month for asylum seekers.