History
1997 Amanda Webb-Johnson started discussions with statutory and voluntary organisations about how best to meet the mental health needs of local refugees and asylum seekers.
Early 1999 Amanda started a therapeutic gardening project with a small number of asylum seekers.
October 1999 The Oxford Refugee Support Project (ORSP) was constituted as a charitable trust.
2000 In consultations, refugee and asylum seeking men, women and young people said that as well as therapeutic support they also needed help to access work and training opportunities.
March 2001 East Oxford Action agreed to fund the first year of a training and employment project. ORSP initiated setting up the Oxfordshire Refugee and Asylum Seeker Training, Education and Employment Partnership (ORASTEEP), and the Access First Employment and Training Project was launched on World Refugee Day in June 2001. Refugee interviewers were employed to survey the skills, experience and aspirations of refugees and asylum seekers living in Oxfordshire. Download Survey Report
August 2001 Three years’ funding was secured from the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund for a counselling and therapeutic service for young refugees and asylum seekers, and a training and consultancy service for service providers.
November 2001 We were successful in a bid to the European Social Fund, in partnership with Oxfordshire County Council’s Community English School, to extend Access First to offer a work preparation course, including work placements with local employers.
January 2002 The Oxford Refugee Support Project changed its name to Refugee Resource.
July 2002 In response to requests from refugee doctors, Refugee Resource helped to set up the Oxford Refugee Health Professionals Support Project.
December 2003 The European Social Fund contract for Access First ended. Of 72 people enrolled, 64% secured jobs. Independent evaluatiers of the Access First Employment and Training project identified it as one of the most successful projects they had evaluated. Download their report, Partnership for Employment.
From April 2004 the employment service was funded jointly by Jobcentre Plus and the European Social Fund.
September 2004 Refugee Resource won a National Information Forum ‘Getting the message across’ national award for the first edition of Asylum Seekers and Refugees – Directory of Services in Oxfordshire.
November 2004 As a result of the employment services being used far less by women than by men, Refugee Resource held a consultation with refugee women to find out what support they wanted. As a result, the women’s group was set up.
September 2005 We began a six-month project to improve the presentation of refugees and asylum seekers in the media. This included training refugees and asylum seekers and those working with them in interviewing skills and writing news releases.
January 2006 We secured three years’ funding from the Big Lottery for the counselling work and to set up a new mentoring service. We also secured funding from Comic Relief for a Women’s Counsellor and Women’s Project Coordinator.
April 2006 A long term evaluation of the counselling and therapeutic work was published.
September 2006 The Counselling and Therapeutic Service won the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy’s 2006 Award for Excellence in the Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy.
May 2008 Moved to larger premises at the Old Music Hall on the Cowley Road.
January 2009 We secured a further three years’ funding from the Big Lottery for the counselling work, and to expand both the mentoring service and the womens service.
April 2009 Our was mentoring service awarded ‘Approved Provider Status’ this a national standard for mentoring and befriending.