2 York St John Counselling Psychology doctorate students have completed their placement with us and we’re so thankful for the support they’ve provided to our clients! “Work that is felt, that reaches people and genuinely changes lives. A real commitment to humanity” Leyan & Sarah

For our July blog, our therapists share their most important advice for supporting refugees and asylum seekers. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience, they quickly highlight the most important insights that can make the biggest difference. Full Blog: www.solace-uk.org.uk/blog/top-tip...

Our 20th anniversary event was amazing, we celebrated so many wonderful people! Here is a short video of our Clinical Manager, Anne, speaking as she prepares to retire soon after being here the whole 20 years!

To celebrate #RefugeeWeek2026, colleagues at Solace ticked off 2 of the 5 ways to wellbeing this morning by completing Potternewton #Parkrun this morning. "get active" "make connections" and well done to Rose who also ticked off "try something new" as a first time parkrunner. It was brilliant!

We are celebrating 20 years of Solace next week! We're hosting a special online event on the 17th at 10am with a range of other organisations You will hear about practical, meaningful ways to support the well-being of refugees and people seeking asylum Book Free: bit.ly/49P3hvT

Our June blog introduces you to another one of our free resources We have written a series of practical and reflective papers grounded in our frontline therapeutic experience Designed for professionals who work with refugees and asylum seekers www.solace-uk.org.uk/blog/sharing...

We had our Million Acts of Hope shared lunch last week, with clients & staff! Here are some of the hearts we made: “Hope is being believed, hope is my fuel for life, hope is brilliant”

Some of our staff have opened their homes for long terms stays to refugees, 5+ years through official schemes They had nothing but positive things to say about these refugees, despite everything those refugees had been through #MillionActsofHope @refugeestogether.bsky.social

We have some free training coming up for people working and volunteering in Leeds. Working with interpreters in a mental health setting. 29/01/2026 10.30-13.00. For more details www.solace-uk.org.uk/training/spe...

Hope can be stronger than hate. From 13 – 20 May, we at Together With Refugees are joining A Million Acts of Hope — a week of action to amplify the hope we see in our communities every day. Be part of it. millionactsofhope.org #amillionactsofhope #togetherwithrefugees #🧡

Our 2nd blog is live on our website! It's from our Clinical Director Anne, she explores the lesser discussed points of Maslow’s work and how this applies to sanctuary seekers Full Blog: www.solace-uk.org.uk/blog/how-mas...

Why unregulated advice finds a market Asylum Seekers are in a constant struggle for access to legal aid Massive repeated funding cuts lead to a few desperate individuals being led astray out of 100,000s 51% of asylum applicants were unable to find a legal aid lawyer Read more here

Legal aid for asylum seekers is hard to come by – it’s no wonder criminal advisers are taking advantage

People seeking asylum navigate one of the most complex areas of law, often not in their first language

theconversation.com

This week our clinical director Anne celebrated 20 years with us! Anne has been with Solace since the beginning and has shaped our wonderful services with compassion and a great deal of skill Peter Coltman our treasurer was one of the trustees who interviewed and appointed Anne. Good choice Peter!

A BBC program episode has investigated fabricated LBGTQI+ asylum claims, however they didn't investigate how many cases there are at all. Only 2% of asylum claims even included sexual orientation as a reason Solace has signed Rainbow Migration's statement, read it here

We stand united against harmful BBC reporting that targets already marginalised communities - Rainbow Migration

We are joined by over 100 organisations as signatories of this statement: recent BBC reporting risks causing real harm to communities that are already systemically marginalised.

rainbowmigration.org.uk

From assimilation to real belonging The question was, “How do we keep communities calm?” When it should have been, “How do we help communities thrive together?” www.bigissue.com/opinion/refu...

We are starting our new series of monthly blogs today! Expect updates on what we're up to, what we're noticing, articles from our team members, and more! The first is from Kathryn, our CEO! Full Blog - www.solace-uk.org.uk/blog/hearing...

Lovely feedback from a client: I have been granted refugee status! Looking back at where I was when we started our sessions I wasn’t sure I would make it to this point. The uncertainty and weight of everything were so difficult to carry but your support and patience gave me the tools to keep going."

Many of our clients end up starting businesses, so this comes as no surprise to us We also see how even small support can massively help their businesses With proper support, it's projected they can produce 5.1 billion per year squareup.com/gb/en/press/...

www.freedomfromtorture.org/news-and-sto...

We asked our clients to tell us how we had helped them - here's some of the things they said: I'm amazed how the sessions helped me to feel confident again and how to handle the sadness. SOLACE was the only my Life Saver and I am proud to say with respect, because of SOLACE, I'm living today

@mindwellleeds.bsky.social Please help to share the fantastic resources on our website which can really help refugees and asylum seekers improve their mental health www.solace-uk.org.uk/training/hel... Topics include stress, sleep, and many more. This can really help over the holidays especially

We are feeling festive at Solace today and our office looks lovely. Looking forward to the performance by our drama group shortly.

Along with many others, Solace is very concerned about the proposed changes to the asylum system. We hope that common sense will prevail and the ideas will not be implemented. Read our initial response here: www.solace-uk.org.uk/difference-w...

A place to heal: How asylum accommodation re-traumatises torture survivors www.freedomfromtorture.org/news-and-sto... @freedomfromtorture.bsky.social

In her proposed changes to the asylum system the Home Secretary referred to the anger some people in the UK feel at the moment. People seeking protection in the UK are being used as scapegoats to deflect anger away from the problems that really need tackling. Communities need connecting not dividing

We know why people come to the UK: because they already have family here, they speak some English, or they have long-standing ties that help them rebuild their lives in safety.

Solace has been part of the wonderful Spring Project in Sheffield since 2018. We met up as partner organisations yesterday and it was fantastic to talk about how our shared values really shine through. "We do things differently because we see that it works!" www.vas.org.uk/what-we-do/s...

Stress Awareness Week is coming to an end But that doesn't mean people stop supporting you in your fight against stress We have many proven techniques to lower stress, sleep, relax, ease body tension, relieve headaches etc www.solace-uk.org.uk/training/hel... This video continues over there!