Getting Involved
There are plenty of exciting ways that you can get involved with STAR’s work supporting refugees everywhere.
At university
If you are a student you can join the STAR Group at your university or contact us about starting a new group. Learn more about the issues, get involved in campaigning, publicity stunts, debates and quizzes, volunteer with refugees and asylum seekers in your local area: befriending, teaching English, kids clubs, socal activities and fundraising. Click here to visit the university groups pages to find out more.
Young people aged 16-25
If you are a young person you can join STAR’s youth network. Learn about refugee issues, invite STAR into your school or youth club to run talks, workshops and activities. STAR is for everyone – young British people and young refugees and asylum seekers. Click here to find out more about the youth network.
Volunteering
STAR’s national projects offer various unique and rewarding opportunities for volunteers to get involved with our work. These include:
- One-off opportunities. For example, during the summer of 2007 10 STAR volunteers camped for two weeks at the World Scout Jamboree, delivering our acclaimed Journey to Safety activity to young people from across the world.
- Remote volunteering roles. These include our Regional Co-Ordinators who provide support to the STAR network in each of our 11 networks and our innovative web based e-volunteering roles.
- Occassional volunteering opportunities. Our youth outreach volunteers are trained to deliver workshops and activities to young people in schools and workshops. Involvement can be as little or much as you want.
- Part-time roles. These range from a few hours a month to two or three days per week, and include opportunities both based in our London office and providing practical support to refugees and asylums seekers.
- Internships. Our internship programme provides time limited, project based roles in our London office. They are aimed at undergraduates, graduates or those considering a career change who are wanting to gain experience of the voluntary sector. Interns work on discrete projects that make a visible and measureable difference to the work of STAR.
- Course opportunities If you need to complete a placement as part of your study, then why not do it with STAR? Whatever your course, from graphic design to events management, new media, marketing or something else – we would be delighted to chat about how we could work together.
Click here to browse our latest volunteering roles.
STAR Events
The annual STAR National Conference is the only national conference in the UK on refugee and asylum issues aimed at young people and students. Over 100 students and young people attended the 2006 event in Liverpool, where contributors included the Refugee Council, IPPR, Anti-Slavery International, Zeela (a Sheffield based all-women Liberian choir) and a live performance from Actors for Refugees.
Every February, the entire network comes together for STAR Action Day to raise awareness about refugee issues. For Action Day 2007, the focus was the government’s proposed cuts to ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) provision. Activities included holding a mock ESOL lesson outside the House of Parliament, a sponsored silence and stalls in cities and university campuses across the UK.
Summer Training is the event for all STAR student and youth members. It focuses on providing practical skills and information in a fun and friendly way to equip STAR members to run STAR groups and activities over the academic year.
Become a Friend of STAR
Friends of STAR receive STAR’s regular newsletter and have the chance to take part in events. Plus, Friends provide STAR with vital financial support, enabling members to continue their work with refugees and asylum seekers across the UK. Click here to find out more.
Posted by Stephen Rowling on 22/05/2007 at 11:45 AM
