The Home? Project was set up last year to create a space to give Migrants, Refugees and Asylum seekers a voice to speak about their lived experiences in Northern England with the view to change the narratives that surround migrant communities. The project hopes to serve as a vehicle to drive the message home that things need to change for the better. Common themes and key findings from the stories will be created as an animated film and distributed in the wider community such as schools, colleges, universities, museums, libraries, informal education settings, councils, community groups and grassroot organisations.

These stories have been gathered through using PVM’s methodology of Community Reporting and Archive Research training.

PVM has partnered with 5 crucial partner organisations spread across the Northern region to train volunteers to become Community Reporters and begin the story gathering / sensemaking process.

We kicked off our first community reporter sessions last year in October with Refugees Women’s Connect based in Liverpool and completed the Community Reporter training at the end of February with Methodist Asylum Project in Middlesbrough.

There’s been a variety of stories and feedback shared from people that convey many different challenges and successes when entering the UK. For example, as English is not the native tongue for most people migrating to the UK, it has been difficult to find work or know where to turn to get appropriate advice and direction. However, people found that the longer they have stayed in the country, they have met other people in the same or similar position through charity organisations and have made friends and received knowledge on steps to take to get educated into English culture. They become familiar with the organisations that have been setup to help aid migrant communities. With these developments, some of our volunteers have reported that their experience has become more positive over time as they learn the language and expand their knowledge and communities.

With government coming down hard on migrants and bringing in new legalisation that will make a migrant’s life even harder, it is crucial that the lived experiences of migrants in the UK are heard and action taken to improve their lives and well-being.