'We're still needed' says asylum charity on birthday

A charity which provides support to asylum seekers and refugees is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS) is creating an orchard of 25 fruit trees on Robinswood Hill on Saturday.

The event is the culmination of a year of celebratory activities, which included flying kites on Crickley Hill and gathering stories from different cultures in a book.

"The early days were very small, very precarious. We started with a couple of members of staff and now we're up to 25, which reflects the need for the work to continue," said GARAS director, Adele Owen.

She added: "Robinswood Hill is a common space for people in Gloucester and Gloucestershire, and it's somewhere that families and individuals can go to find a beautiful space to be in, in the midst of lives that can feel tricky.

"There have been some significant moments for our anniversary, but of all my memories the kite-flying is so far my favourite.

"For some of the clients, letting go of their burdens for a little while and allowing their homemade kites to soar was just amazing."

Gloucestershire currently has about 450 to 500 people seeking asylum.

A further 150 people are on the government's resettlement scheme, which provides a safe and legal way for vulnerable refugees to come to the UK, particularly from Syria and Afghanistan.

The county has also welcomed more than 2,000 Ukrainians since the war with Russia began in February 2022.

One client, who has been helped by the charity, said: "From the very first moment we arrived in Gloucester until we left, you were always by our side, offering help and care with such love and attention."

GARAS offers a range of services including information on housing, health, benefits and careers, as well as providing psychotherapy for those suffering trauma.

"Life has moved on in 25 years; our early clients were from the break up of Yugoslavia, but also very quickly we had Afghans, and that's never changed," Ms Owen said.

"In the early 2000s we appointed our first women's worker because of the stories we were hearing of sexual violence in the countries women were coming from.

"Now we work with a lot of people from Sudan, but also from countries in the Middle East."

People are invited to join the tree planting on Robinswood Hill at 10:30 GMT on Saturday.

Ms Owen said although some things had changed over the past 25 years, GARAS' aims remained the same.

"We've had to adapt to the numbers, the different countries, the changes of circumstances and what kind of languages we need to support people," she said.

"But the basic premise of GARAS is to offer a welcoming, and safe place, and that hasn't changed.

"These are human beings and how you respond to that human being doesn't change. Being a place with a heart is really important to us as we continue into the future."

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