A community outreach charity in Tooting is helping vulnerable refugee women integrate into society.

CARAS work with people from a refugee background and offer services designed to empower them by providing information, tools and resources.

In the last year, the charity has added more women-only groups, extending this from one too three.

Isabel Allende, project coordinator said: “The grant we received this year allows us to keep teaching English for free. We use English as a tool to speak to vulnerable women about well being and help integrate them into society.

“Through the women-only classes, we speak about issues that the women might have in their lives and also issues which are exclusive to women. The classes mean the women feel comfortable in their environment.

“In mixed classes, men can overpower women and they can sometimes become shy. We try to empower women with the confidence and tools to cope in a mixed environment but have a separate women's group allows this to be done in an environment where they feel comfortable.

“We do not just work strictly in the classroom but also take the group out on trips to museums the London Zoo and have regular yoga classes, which is a good form of therapy.

“One of the major challenges we face is giving the women the confidence to use their English skills outside, but the structure of the classes helps us.”

One of the students, a refugee from Afghanistan said: "I started in 2015 and they helped me to understand English better. I am more confident and comfortable using it outside the classroom."

Another refugee from Pakistan said: “The separate classes help me with confidence and feel more comfortable.”

The women’s groups are every Tuesday and Thursday.