My plan was to interview Angela Gluck while working at a packing project for the Separated Child Foundation, but it is testament to how much work she does that there was simply no time. She is at the centre of all the work done by the charity, as well as founder and trustee, and it is safe to say that the packing project which takes place most sunday mornings would grind to a halt without her leadership. In the end, I spoke to her at a later date about the inspiration and reasons behind the charity, as well as the day to day work it entails, and how we can all help refugees living in the UK.

Angela started the Separated Child Foundation in 2008, in memory of her daughter Esther who spent her life working for and volunteering with refugee charities. It was the combined effort of a group of friends who wanted to help children arriving alone in the UK, something Angela’s daughter had been passionate about. They focus on two main areas; the arrival packs, which are made up of often donated products and put together by volunteers every week, and the ‘cultural education programmes’, which run in London, helping underage refugees adjust by offering support and a safe space to make friends. The arrival packs are sent off to Dover, where the majority of refugees arrive, and include basic necessities, such as warm clothing, toiletries and notepads and pens. Refugees are given an allowance of £35 a week for all their needs- including food, toiletries and clothes so these packs are hugely important, alleviating some of the burden they face, budgeting in a new country and language.  

The idea behind the ‘club classes’ is, as Angela said, to help create a safe and welcoming environment here for refugees. They teach practical skills, such as budgeting and cooking, as well as basic English. She tried setting herself a limit of £2 a day to feed herself on for a month (the amount most refugees on government allowance have left after paying for other necessities), and realised, as well as comprehending how impossible the task was,how great the difference was even then between her and a 15 year old with no cooking skills, basic supplies at home, or even access to supermarkets. The aim of the clubs is to expand into 24 hour centres which provide constant support, and to expand outside of London- 57% of refugees in England are living in the poorest third of the country where there is extremely limited access to support.

Angela does huge amounts of this organisation and fundraising herself. As well as in her job as a Jewish educator, she spends her time working as a trustee of the Foundation, sourcing donations for the arrival packs and to pay for the work done at the centres. She liaises with other refugee centres, offering arrival packs, and coordinates the packing projects in which they are supplied. When I asked her why she feels it is so important to help refugees, she spoke without hesitation. ‘Fewer than one percent of the world’s refugees come to Britain. We are facing the greatest refugee crisis in human history, and it is always the responsibility of the strong to help the weak.’ Part of her conviction, she continues, also come from her Jewish values. ‘Jews are obligated to help the stranger, it is commanded in our Torah (the Jewish bible) 36 times, and that experience of being cast adrift and looking for a home resonates with the Jewish experience and should inspires us to act with empathy’.

It is no secret that we are facing a refugee crisis in the UK. There was a 57% increase in the number of unaccompanied children applying for asylum in Britain alone from 2015 to 2016, and the figures continue to rise. The resources and aid supplied by the government are simply not enough - charities must be relied on to provide services such as these. As Angela argued, it makes no sense, economically, politically, socially or morally to refuse to help those fleeing oppression. From a purely economic standpoint, refugees add to the labour force- it is far easier to teach a neurosurgeon English than to train someone from scratch, while the person with those skills is wasting them. And we would expect to be received by foreign countries if fleeing war in our home- refugees are people in an unfortunate and unjust position and we should treat them with the respect we would expect in a similar position. The underlying principle to the work the Separated Child Foundation do is treating those they help with dignity- as they put it, every young person entering the United Kingdom should ‘be seen as a person first- rather than a migrant.’ For this reason the foundation is careful with what they supply, not giving cast offs or even multiple t shirts in the same colour wherever possible. This obviously does make their work more difficult, but in this political climate it is a conscious choice to treat refugees like people and one that should be lauded.

So what can we do to help? If you have only one minute, then the best thing to do is sign a petition, such as this one https://www.thepetitionsite.com/257/077/490/?src=focusonrefugees. If you have a bit more time, you can fundraise for or advertise charities helping refugees, such as this one, or gather donations and supplies. There is more information about all the work the Separated Child Foundation do on their website - http://www.separatedchild.org/home.