Asylum Welcome

Asylum Welcome is an independent Oxfordshire-based charity established in 1996, with roots in early 1990s grassroots efforts to support refugees and immigration detainees. Founded by community workers like Diana Tickell and Liz Humphries, it advances relief from poverty, sickness, and distress, alongside education, for asylum seekers, recognised refugees, and vulnerable migrants facing hardship in the UK. Core values of compassion, inclusion, respect, and empowerment drive a participatory ethos—working "with" rather than "for" service users—emphasising refugee leadership, local collaboration, and holistic support to foster welcoming communities.

It delivers direct practical services hyper-local to Oxfordshire, including information, advocacy, food banks, youth clubs for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, legal casework, health access projects, digital inclusion, support for foreign national prisoners, post-Brexit EU citizen outreach, and crisis interventions like the Sanctuary Hosting scheme matching homeless migrants with volunteer hosts. Priorities target basic needs, family/youth support, education/employment access, healthcare, wellbeing, and social integration for adults, young people, and families at risk of destitution, isolation, or deportation.

Asylum Welcome does not accept unsolicited applications or operate a grantmaking programme; it funds its own services via donations from individuals, trusts (e.g., Garfield Weston Foundation, National Lottery), and partners like Oxfordshire councils and the University of Oxford. No external charities qualify regardless of size, income, or location—eligibility is strictly for Oxfordshire-resident beneficiaries. Distinctively volunteer-powered with deep community roots, it stands out as a trusted safety net and rights advocate, prioritising dignity, agency, and systemic change over external funding.