Student Action for Refugees

LSESU STAR is part of a national network of students seeking to improve the lives of refugee and asylum seekers in the UK by campaigning, volunteering, influencing, fundraising, amplifying, and more!

From hosting speaker events and coffee mornings to large scale volunteering projects and campaigns, there’s always something (no matter how big or small) that you can do to make a difference. We look forward to welcoming all of you to our events, opportunities, volunteering projects, solidarity socials and more! 

Membership:

We have kept our membership at the super cheap price of just £2.50! Cost should never be a barrier towards creativing positive change, and we welcome everyone contributing to the betterment of society. 

This year, we are aiming to deliver:

• 250 hours of tutoring for refugee children 

• 1000 volunteering hours across the homework club, conversation club, and other projects

• £2025 in fundraising for legal charities directly supporting refugees 

• £2026 in fundraising for charities of your choice 

• Campaining, policy and submission work

• Trips to the UNHCR office

• Workshops, panels, talks, film screenings

• Solidarity socials (with free food!)

• Open-mic nights amplifying lived experiences, words of solidarity, poems, and more

We can't do this without your help, so join today! 

Our impact (briefly summarised):

• Care4Calais Donation Drive: Refugees and Displaced People in Calais, Dunkirk, and the wider Northern France area are currently living in some of the worst conditions ever seen, facing the freezing winter and constant evictions. Care4Calais provide material aid, and are in desperate need of more items to distribute. Across one week in WT 2024, we raised over £800 and a van of donations to bring to refugees living in Calais. We won Best Fundraiser 23/24 and Best Charity/Campaigning/Political Society 23/24 in our first year active! 
• Homework Club: For the past 6 months, we have been helping refugee children with their homework and some creative activities too. It's always so lovely to see their faces light up as they have a space to socialise and learn. Every week, there are about 10 children and we are always recruiting for more volunteers - our charity partner has some 1-2-1 tutoring for teenagers in the works! 
• Conversation Club: Over the past year, we have been volunteering with CARAs every week, to chat with refugees as an opportunity for them to practice their English. Who doesn't like a good natter?
• Coffee Mornings: We have held regular mornings for like-minded people to share their lived experience, discuss issues of migration, decompress and meet like-minded people

If you have any questions or suggestions, reach out to us at @lsesustar on Instagram!

Stay up-to-date with us on the groupchat: https://chat.whatsapp.com/B6lGCuPWqi3Dq8bv2H4Osf