CORONAVIRUS

CLEAR and EU WELCOME continue to operate their advice services fully by phone and email. For your safety, and that of our staff and volunteers, the office will remain closed until the risk of infection is lower.

If you need to contact CLEAR’s Advice or Employment service please either phone 023 8022 1111 or email reception@clearproject.org.uk and leave a message with your name, your phone number and what you need help with.

Casework Advisors are working on Tuesdays and Thursdays ONLY.

Employment works Wednesday mornings and Fridays ONLY.

EU WELCOME work Monday-Wednesdays ONLY.

They will prioritise urgent cases.

Thank You for your patience.

Our Latest Updates & Links can be Found on Twitter, Facebook & now Instagram

New Volunteer Roles Available NOW!

We have some new volunteer roles available now. [Read more…]
NEW – Advice Volunteer [Read More]
NEW – Work Club Assistant [Read More]
NEW – Advice Team Admin Volunteer [Read More]
NEW – Digital Skills Facilitator Volunteer [Read More]

CLEAR #FriendsOfCLEAR

As part of celebrating CLEARs 20th Birthday throughout May we are launching a brand new support scheme “Friends of CLEAR” for people who want to support the ongoing work CLEAR. [Read more…]

Paul Woodman

The Future of CLEAR

Now that CLEAR’S 20th anniversary month is over, it’s time to look towards the future. I spoke to Interim Project Manager Paul W to find out more about the organisation’s plans. ‘Any charity wants to not exist’, he begins. ‘The sustainability [of CLEAR] is [read more]

City Life Church awarded over £489,000 by the National Lottery Community Fund to help those in need of refuge

CLEAR (City Life Education and Action for Refugees) has been operating for 20 years helping hundreds of people each year finding sanctuary in the city.

Church Leader, Paul Woodman, said: “I am delighted that our passion to empower and support refugees and asylum seekers has been recognised and that the National Lottery Community Fund are continuing their invaluable partnership with us.

Life is Waiting: A Refugee Week Simple Act

By Tom Wood

Trigger warning: this post contains a reference to sexual violence.

This year’s Refugee Week is asking people to perform ‘Simple Acts’: ‘everyday actions we can all do to stand with refugees and make new connections in our communities’. As such, I sat down to watch Life is Waiting: Referendum and Resistance in Western Sahara, using the simple act of watching a film to try and draw attention to its little-discussed subject matter. [read more}

Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the UK: The Last 20 Years

For CLEAR’s 20^th anniversary this month, we take a look back at how policy and attitudes towards refugees and asylum seekers in the UK have changed since our beginnings in 2001… [read more]

6 Ways You can Stand Up for Refugees & Asylum Seekers

Advocate, Empower, Learn, Join, Equip, & Support.
Read our really useful way YOU can make a difference.

The Lift the Ban Coalition: What’s It All About?

In the UK, people seeking asylum are not allowed to work. Instead, they must live off an allowance of just £39.63 per week, which is expected to cover everything but government provided accommodation. The government claims that asylum applications are ‘usually’ responded to within six months, but according to their own figures on asylum and resettlement, in September 2020 roughly three quarters of the 48054 people waiting for an initial decision on their application had been waiting for longer than this. Read more…

Offering Support During Lockdown

An organisation like CLEAR is invaluable in creating a welcoming environment for refugees and people seeking asylum in Southampton. In spite of the ongoing pandemic, and the current lockdown meaning that the office is closed, CLEAR continues to offer a large range of services to its clients online and via phone every weekday….read more…

Keeping Children Occupied – New Ideas for 2021

We have new links for online resources you can use to educate and keep children occupied during lockdown in 2021 here.

100 Year Old Mayflower Commemorative Badges

AVAILABLE NOW

CLEAR is very proud to have had these badges donated to us to raise money for refugees and asylum seekers in Southampton. They were minted in 1920 for Southampton’s Mayflower Pageant and held by the Rector of Millbrook, the Reverend James Lyne Beaumont James. Read more…