Hi, I’m Rama. My first encounter with Upbeat Communities was attending class to improve my language skills back in May 2022. Next, I decided to become a volunteer in September of the same year. I saw a full-time position which I applied for and have been employed as a Refugee Integration Worker since April 2023.

After a busy year, and as the new one gets started, I take a moment to reflect on 2024 at Upbeat Communities.

It is my pleasure to work with asylum seekers and refugees, and I am so pleased to work with people from many different countries.

My role is to welcome everyone who comes through the doors. We welcome everyone whatever their background, nationality, politics, customs, religion or worldview.

When someone visits for the first time, I will complete an initial assessment. This involves asking participants many questions about how they are doing. Questions are rated from 1 to 10, where one is bad and ten is good. Often when I carry out this assessment many scored a ten, because they were afraid to say something negative and they didn’t trust me as we did not know each other.

But after around five weeks, I repeat the same questions with the same person. Often a sense of trust hast has developed and they can share what they are feeling, and the type of help and support they need.

I often help to register participants and book appointments with GPs. I help people to find out about college and register them for courses. The challenge is that some people who have just arrived in the UK have nothing; as everything was thrown into the sea. I try to help them immediately and refer them to some places to get clothing.

I speak two languages: Arabic and English. With people who speak Arabic, I can communicate easily. If they receive an official letter from the Home Office I can help them immediately. But with people who speak a different language, I try to use Google Translate; sometimes they have friends who can translate, but it can be really challenging.

In this period of time, the participants are celebrating after a long journey; they wait for these moments like the first three days, and then they start to worry about the next journey. There are a lot of things participants think about, such as food, housing, opening a bank account, and bringing family to the UK.

I help participants open bank accounts, apply for Universal Credit, and bid for somewhere to live on Derby Homefinder. I help people to understand various letters and forms, too.

The most horrible letter someone can receive is an eviction letter. They become homeless, and hopeless.

But the best thing is when they find a place to live. They can rebuild their lives, and apply to bring their family here. This is the best moment to witness: when I see the family together here.

Now, there are new challenges! They need to register their children in school—oh, such a big journey from asylum seeker, to refugee, to now having family in the UK, and they need to register the children in school!

Every day we hear from participants. One has good news and they like to come to share it together and to celebrate, and the others have bad news and we cry together. Sometimes we cannot do anything but listen. I find this very difficult and frustrating.

2024 was a hard year; sometimes it was hard to listen to people’s journeys and different situations. I try to help them as much as we can because sometimes, we do not have any solutions, but it is good to listen to people because no one outside listens to them.

One guy I remember came to Derby about three months ago. He had no phone, and could not contact his family at all. He was so worried. We tried to put it on social media; we needed donations if anyone could help him with phones. The next day my manager gave him a donated phone. I remember how excited he was and how he tried to call his family. He was so pleased!

It is very hard to say goodbye to people, especially with people we have a good relationship with, when the Home Office just moves them—with last-minute warning—to live in another city. But the good thing is when the participants come again through the door and say hello to us, or when I receive a nice message from them like “Upbeat is like a second family”, “We miss Upbeat”, or “Please pray for us next week as we have an interview.”

It is a privilege to continue being a second family to them.

Interested to hear more about our work? Sign up to receive email updates from us in 2025:

Rama’s 2024 Reflections | A Year of Helping Refugees to Thrive