Services

offered

 
 
 

  • LEARNING FOR LIFE

  • Health and wellbeing

  • drop-in and casework

  • Mentoring & Befriending

  • Youth engagement

LEARNING FOR LIFE


We call our education offer for refugee and asylum-seeking young people Learning for Life (L4L) because although it develops young people’s English language skills, it does much more as well and is often a first step on a young person’s new life in the UK. It has two broad aims:

  • to equip young people with knowledge, skills and strategies that can help them succeed in and integrate into everyday life in the UK

  • to prepare young people to move on to statutory provision in schools or colleges, recognising that they may have faced considerable disruption to their education before arriving in the UK.

Whilst much of the Learning for Life offer is delivered in our Canterbury hub, we also often run courses and programmes in other places including partner organisations and other hubs:

  • Young people who have successfully started out at the Canterbury hub, for example, often go on to join more challenging KRAN classes that we run at Canterbury College as a way to familiarise them with the expectations and demands of college life, and help them get ready for the commitment needed to be successful, full-time college students

  • Similarly, we have run a dedicated hub in a shared space in Folkestone for many years to respond to the needs of young people based in and around that area of Kent.

We have also delivered L4L programmes in many other towns across Kent and we always strive to go where the demand is, so we welcome enquiries from young people’s carers and professional support services from anywhere in Kent.

We have a referral form for social workers, PAs, support workers and foster carers etc to refer young people to our L4L programmes - please click the button below.

Mentoring & Befriending

Mentoring is a one-to-one service for young people at KRAN. Mentors, volunteers meet with the young person (or mentee) roughly once a week for one or two hours. Together they identify goals and work towards achieving these targets. We also have 'peer mentors', where young people from a refugee and asylum-seeking background support newly arrived young people. They are matched based on similar backgrounds and shared language to adapt to the challenges of settling in a new country. 

The young person can choose where they like help and support. This could be improving their English and learning more about a particular area like art or mechanics. They can also explore the local area and do certain activities like visits to places of interest. 

  • They can contact Mentoring Coordindator Gareth if they would like to join the programme.

Tel: 07522306812

email: MENTORING@KRAN.ORG.UK

Mentoring Coordinator Gareth oversees the running of the mentoring programme. This involves recruiting young people and mentors and supporting them through the partnership.

Wellbeing and activities

KRAN offers a range of different activities to young people and our students. Young people can choose to join one of our occasional or long-term and regular activities:

  • football in Canterbury, Ashford and Folkestone

  • drama group KRAN FAM that we run in the partnership with the Gulbenkian Theatre

  • cricket project

  • women’s group

  • art sessions

  • summer trips and visits, and more

  1. If you would like to join in as a young person, or run an activity for young people we work with, please get in touch: Referral Form. We ask that anyone with a proposed activity for our young people gets in touch at least three months in advance.

email: activities@KRAN.org.uk


Drop-in and casework

Helping with the casework of the young people in need. 

Support provided:

Signposts for legal advice and representation on asylum, immigration, family, civil and criminal matters

Provides advocacy and help on issues such as housing, health, money problems and education

Works with partner organisations, statutory and voluntary, to ensure positive outcomes.

For an initial chat or to arrange an appointment contact the team:   

Tel: 01227 634320

email: advocacy@kran.org.uk

Paul, Complex Caseworker. Canterbury based. Worked with KRAN since 2019. Happy to see young people by appointment, through drop in or by outreach if this is appropriate and Covid 19 conditions allow.  Also trains on the Mentor programme.

 
 

Youth Engagement and Outreach

 

KRAN’s Youth Engagement Coordinator, Fawzia works with and supports young people from refugee, asylum-seeking backgrounds to help them develop and access youth services and vocational and educational opportunities. Fawzia helps and supports young people’s transition to adulthood and life in the UK. Providing learning opportunities and experiences that develop their personal and social skills, encouraging them to begin to integrate into the community, build more robust support networks and have the confidence to engage with local people.

Fawzia oversees the KRAN Youth Forum and the Youth Ambassador Programmes.

EMAIL: FAWZIA@KRAN.ORG.UK

 
 
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Youth Forum

The KRAN Youth Forum is a forum for refugee-youth led voices and action. Formed in March 2018, it has become a facility to connect young refugees in discussion and action and tackle issues affecting them. Through the generous support of the Listening Fund, the Youth Forum has worked to develop youth-based action around coping with mental stress; finding safe, secure and stable housing; building better community relationships and gaining access to education and work. The Youth Forum has engaged parliamentarians, the police, health services, local counsellors, Kent colleges and community organisations. Through them, KRAN has now linked the direct voice of refugee youth into essential debates. Rallying around the call “nothing about us without us”, the Youth Forum has brought direct representation on KRAN’s oversight board and has spoken truth to power in the House of Lords.

Women’s group

The Women's Group started in October 2022 and was created to build a safe space for those aged from 16 to 24 to express themselves and to feel confident to share their stories and their life experiences with each other. All this while reflecting and learning new skills, culture, language and interests.  

Historically, there have been fewer young women and girls who seek asylum in the UK than men and boys. However, in the last few years in Kent, we have seen a small increase in numbers in some of KRAN’s projects, such as the mentoring project.

We felt that because the majority of KRAN’s activities and forums have been dominated by males, it has been difficult for the young women to engage. 

The Women’s Group is a space for these young women; we believe they deserve this space so that they can be themselves and build a community. It is a space where they can come together and discuss their issues, take necessary action and find ways to raise these issues with the people in power.

Here they develop new skills and think creatively, as well as learn how to share and tell their own stories and experiences the way they want. Topics such as healthy relationships and equality and diversity are explored. We also discuss different types of careers and how to find out what qualifications are needed. 

MEDIA AMBASSADORS

KRAN employs two Media Ambassadors (MAs) who act as powerful advocates for refugees and asylum-seeking young people, aiming to change narratives, connect with wider networks, and influence opinions at various levels. 

The MAs have personal experience of navigating the asylum system and bring firsthand knowledge of the barriers faced by our young people. By utilising their lived experience, the MAs play a pivotal role in raising awareness and pushing for necessary changes to overcome these barriers.

Working closely with KRAN's Communications Coordinator, the MAs help raise the profile of our young people and drive the agenda of changing narratives in a broader context. They engage with stakeholders using various communication strategies (including social media, blogs, and media opportunities) and act as KRAN spokespeople.

The MAs also establish connections with key external organisations beyond the media, building relationships in Kent and beyond.

The Media Ambassador is Rishan; we currently have a vacancy for the second.

youth AMBASSADORS

KRAN employs four Youth Ambassadors to represent the voice of refugee youth and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in Kent. Youth Ambassadors are young people who have recently made it through the asylum-seeking process, are well connected with refugee youth in Kent, and can link vulnerable kids to critical support. They enable KRAN to reach many more young refugees and UASC children to make sure their voices are heard and acted on.

Youth Ambassadors have co-organised campaigns with national child refugee organisations to lobby parliament for legislation that enables family reunions. They continue to represent refugee youth voices in Kent and UK debates and forums.

The Youth Ambassadors are Grmalem, Obaida, Lawam and Shahab.