Get Involved

Welcome to Migrant Action, Julia

Hello, my name’s Julia Kinch and I have just joined Migrant Action’s Steering Group. I have lived in Leeds since 2010, but was born in London. I’ve worked with third sector organisations for the last 7 years, and have been volunteering since the age of 13, initially in a cold weather shelter for people who were homeless in London. I studied Philosophy and Sociology at the University of Leeds, which allowed me to deepen my understanding and passion for citizenship, criminality and the construction of social norms.

I have worked and volunteered in several charities covering areas such as volunteer coordination, advocacy, learning disabilities, mental health/ wellbeing, as a speaker on Holocaust education, research and business development.

I have a very personal connection to migration in that my grandmother moved to the UK from what was then Czechoslovakia in 1947, after having survived Auschwitz and being liberated on a death march to Bergen-Belsen on Easter Sunday 1945. I have learnt through her experiences, and my own, the importance of challenging discrimination and prejudice, and how challenging it can be to navigate new systems and bureaucracy.

I was really keen to join Migrant Action because they capture the needs, empower and support groups of migrants who are often unseen and forgotten by many and for who there is often little support. I hope that I will be able to use my knowledge and experience within Migrant Action, and to make a positive difference in the lives of vulnerable migrants.

You can get involved with Migrant Action as a;

Volunteer

We welcome anyone who is passionate about working with and improving the lives of migrants.

Trustee

We are looking for trustees who are passionate about our work and have the skills and experience to help us succeed as a project.

Donate

A s a small organisation with limited resources, we count on the generosity. You can support our work by donating or fundraising for Migrant Action.

Who we are

Migrant Action is an Advocacy and Rights based organisation providing information, guidance, advocacy support and direct practical assistance to vulnerable migrants. We work to ensure equity of rights and justice for vulnerable migrants. Migrant Action’s work is focused on migrants who do not fit into the ‘neat’ categories of migration including those who have fallen through the cracks of the immigration system. We do not work with asylum seekers and refugees but signpost them to the appropriate agencies.

Service provision for non-asylum seekers is undefined and limited. In Leeds, migrants seeking information, guidance, advice, advocacy and integration support struggle to find where to go to for help. Many vulnerable migrants are confined to the ‘edges’ of society and face daily, the real risk of exploitation, destitution, child poverty, detention, forced removal and deportations without access to justice. Vulnerable migrants with entrenched complex needs encounter restricted access to service provision which has far reaching implications for their health and well being. Migrant Action is set up in response to this gap in service provision working with other vulnerable migrants who are not asylum seekers.

By delivering early and proactive interventions, we aim to reduce vulnerability across categories of migrants and navigate positive pathways to integration. Through the support we offer, we combat and help to reduce the effects of the government’s increasingly ‘hostile environment’ policies on the people subject to these policies. Working in partnership with other agencies, we ensure positive choices and pathways for migrants, better access to justice, reduce vulnerability and exploitation, increase integration and contribute to wider system and social change.

Overall, Migrant Action is working to help create an environment whereby migrants feel welcome, equal and able to thrive.

How do we do this?

We adopt an early intervention, prevention and proactive in our work with migrants.

Provide a welcoming and safe space
Provide information and guidance to help migrants make informed choices
Help migrants to navigate and access good legal/immigration services
Provide advocacy support and facilitate access to mainstream services
Support integration- help migrants navigate community and social networks, training, volunteering, employment and other pathways for social integration
Activism- Working with other agencies to advocate and influence policy and social change

Who do we work with

Vulnerable migrants (victims of trafficking & modern slavery, People on temporary visas, unaccompanied minors, visa over stayers, undocumented/irregular migrants, people with insecure immigration status and anyone who is unsure of their immigration status
New migrants ( EU and Non-EU migrants)