Last week, we welcomed 45 children from countries across four continents to our children’s holiday club, a week of fun activities during the school holidays.

Refugee and asylum seeker children have often been through traumatic experiences, suffered loss, and had to travel across multiple countries in search of safety. After they arrive and join a school, they are able to learn English rapidly – meaning they often take on the responsibility of translating important conversations, letters and appointments for their parents.

All this means they can easily miss out on simply being children.

That’s why we’ve run Upbeat Kids for the last few years (excluding 2020): so that kids and their parents can have a break from the challenges of their normality.

Last week, we played games together, did drama activities, painted and made crafts. We laughed, talked about sport and our favourite Avengers, and learned about each others’ home countries!

Here’s what some of the kids had to say:

“Wonderful days and nice activities!”
“It was awesome!”
“Really fun.”
“Nice!”

A parent added, “My children are very happy and they will speak words. Very good. Even the last word will be whether we will have games again!”

We are so grateful to our amazing team of volunteers who helped make this week happen. Some members of the team are seeking asylum in the UK themselves at the moment. We are so thankful for their enthusiasm and loving care shown towards these resilient and important kids.

We asked the team how they’d summarise the week:

“Enriching!!! ❣️Learning in every way.” – Upbeat Participant and Volunteer
“A wonderful opportunity to spend time with caring, energetic and laughter-filled children. What a treat it was for us to meet the children whose parents we usually see more frequently. Parents waved goodbye to their children, knowing that they would be safe and cared for.” – Joy, Upbeat Staff
“Fun. The kids loved it (and the adults too). Was a great way to connect with families.” – Upbeat Volunteer

Watch this space for ways you can help strangers become neighbours by volunteering at Upbeat Communities in future. In the meantime, if you want to support this vital work, you can head to upbeatcommunities.org/donate

Thank you!

Maddie De Soyza – Communications & Fundraising Officer

A Chance For Kids To Be Kids Again