The OPEL Project: taking forward the work of Still Human Still Here and the Regional Asylum Activism (RAA) project Overview of the proposal The Ordinary People Extraordinary Lives project (OPEL) provides a forum for taking forward and building on the successes of both Still Human Still Here and Regional Asylum Activism (RAA). These two initiatives will be merged together under OPEL and the project will seek to drive forward and secure the eight goals identified at the Sanctuary Summit (November 2014). OPEL would employ the three existing RAA staff in the North West, Yorks & Humber and West Midlands and recruit two new coordinators for the North East and Wales. OPEL would have its own Director who would manage and support staff, take forward some of the key functions previously carried out by Still Human’s Advocacy Manager and be responsible for fundraising and the financial management of OPEL. It is proposed for OPEL to be a separate project, hosted by City of Sanctuary. The OPEL (Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives) project: helping refugees to thrive, not just survive Mandate and objectives OPEL mandate will be to secure the eight goals identified at the Sanctuary Summit (November 2014). These goals incorporate and build on Still Human Still Here’s advocacy priorities and include all the issues that RAA has been working on to date:  Improved decision making, so protection is granted to all those who need it  Improved access to good quality legal advice and representation  An end to the indefinite detention of asylum seekers and migrants  An end to destitution, by providing sufficient support to all asylum seekers to ensure that they can meet their essential living needs while in the UK  Permission to work for asylum seekers whose case has taken more than six months, or they have been refused and are temporarily unable to return home  Free access to healthcare for all asylum seekers while they are in the UK  Asylum seekers to be welcomed & befriended on arrival, and offered free language tuition so they can fully participate and contribute to the local community  All asylum seekers, refugees and migrants to be treated with dignity and respect These goals are reflected in the Birmingham Declaration which has been endorsed by more than 320 organisations, so there is already consensus and strong support for a project which is designed to

1 promote these objectives as well as an opportunity to engage a much larger cross-section of the general public with our work. The broader mandate also provides a greater range of issues which can be worked on and more flexibility to take forward goals as and when the opportunities present themselves. Structure Still Human and RAA’s work has demonstrated that securing improvements in asylum policy and practice, both at a local and national level, requires dedicated and sustained resource to coordinate and drive forward the necessary advocacy work (the absence of this resource is precisely the reason why the momentum behind the Birmingham Declaration was lost). The partnership work between Still Human and RAA has already provided evidence of the added impact that integrated local and national advocacy work has on outcomes. With this in mind, OPEL will seek to amalgamate the successful aspects of these projects and build on them. It is proposed that it would employ six members of staff: - Campaigns Coordinator (North West - existing RAA post) - Campaigns Coordinator (Yorkshire &Humber - existing RAA post) - Campaigns Coordinator (West Midlands - existing RAA post) - Campaigns Coordinator (North East – new post) - Campaigns Coordinator (Wales – new post) - Project Director (replacing both the advocacy role played by Still Human Still Here and the management of the RAA project currently performed by STAR) The current RAA coordinators would be absorbed into this project and their role would remain fundamentally unchanged. Additional coordinators are proposed for Wales and the North East. These areas represent nations/regions to which significant numbers of asylum seekers are dispersed and which would benefit from the additional resource that a campaigns coordinator would provide. Alternative locations either do not receive sizable numbers of asylum seekers or have already proven effective in taking forward a coordinated and effective advocacy agenda (e.g. Scotland and Northern Ireland1) The expansion of the RAA structure to two additional areas will increase the project’s ability to influence the attitudes of both the public and decision makers and to have an impact on both national and local policies relating to asylum. The increase in staff will also provide further opportunities for the coordinators to share tasks and learning between each other. The Project Director will be responsible for all staff management, administration and fundraising for the project and will also provide policy and campaigns advice and support. This would mirror the role that Still Human’s Advocacy and Campaigns Manager has played and its functions would include: - Providing policy and campaigns advice and support to the campaigns coordinators - Engaging with senior officials in the Home Office and lobbying them on policy issues - Undertaking research and policy work to support local and national advocacy work - Identifying national campaign targets and strategies for achieving them

1 For example, in 2015, the Northern Ireland Executive approved extra funding for the Crisis Fund for destitute asylum seekers and migrants; a statutory system of guardianship for all separated children (whether trafficked or asylum seeking); and free primary and secondary healthcare to all asylum seekers, regardless of the status of their claim. 2 - Engaging with a range of national stakeholders within and outside the refugee and migrant sector to ensure good coordination, share resources and maximise the impact of joint actions. As with RAA and Still Human, the OPEL project would seek the support of existing organisations to host both the coordinators and director, thereby reducing the overall costs of the project (although a contribution towards the fixed costs of hosting agencies will be made). Coordinators would be based in their regions and the Project Director would be in London. It is envisaged that the project would initially be funded for three years (2017-19), with a view to renewing the funding for a further three years, if the project is proving successful, so that it can work to influence the political agenda of the next government following the May 2020 election. Implications for City of Sanctuary of hosting the OPEL project OPEL would be a separate project which is hosted by City of Sanctuary. This mirrors the arrangement that Still Human has had with Amnesty International UK over the last eight years and which has worked effectively. The key practical elements in respect to CoS’ proposed relationship to OPEL are as follows:  OPEL will do its own fundraising and be financially self sufficient  OPEL’s funds will go through CoS’ accounts, but will be ring-fenced for the OPEL project  OPEL staff will be physically based in the offices of other NGOs around the UK  OPEL’s Director would manage the five Coordinators and the project  All OPEL staff would have employment contracts with CoS  OPEL’s Director would be line managed by someone at CoS Benefits of the project Still Human and RAA have contributed to very significant improvements in the lives of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK in recent years (see below for further details). OPEL will not only allow this work to continue, but will strengthen it and facilitate greater synergy between national, regional and local awareness raising and advocacy. The momentum behind the Sanctuary Summit was lost because there was no organisation tasked with responsibility for driving it forward. OPEL will fill that gap. CoS has had an effective partnership with both Still Human and RAA in recent years (e.g. on the Destitution Conference in Bristol and Sanctuary in Parliament events) and in many ways it is the natural home for this project. CoS should benefit from hosting the OPEL project through access to additional resources and expertise. There is also potential for OPEL and CoS to work together on a range of initiatives and for OPEL to provide local CoS groups with additional opportunities to engage in activities to support refugees and asylum seekers. These opportunities could relate to awareness raising to ensure sympathy and support for refugees; practical support to help refugees restart their lives in the UK; campaigning for progressive policy changes; etc.

3 Potential risks of the project for CoS CoS would end up having to cover core costs of OPEL CoS would not have to cover any of OPEL’s direct staff or project costs. Funders are positive about this project and initial discussions with just five funders indicate that they are likely to contribute £650,000, which is around 80% of the total running costs over a three year period. However, funders are keen that the project should sit within an established NGO rather than set up as a new charity. New posts for the North East and Wales would not be recruited until they are fully funded. CoS would have to contribute significant resources towards the running of OPEL There will minimal indirect costs as a result of hosting the project as all staff would be working from other NGO’s offices and only the Director would need to be line managed (this is also desirable for risk management purposes – see below). The other resource implication of hosting is adding OPEL’s staff to CoS’ payroll and having OPEL’s finances running through CoS’ accounting systems. Hosting OPEL would impede CoS’s ability to secure grants from those funding OPEL The hosting arrangement will not inhibit CoS’s ability to fundraise from the same sources. Both AIUK and STAR have not had a problem with “double funding” as funders recognise that grants to Still Human or RAA are not grants to the host organisations, but rather to separate projects. The fact that CoS is facilitating and cooperating with another project may actually assist in securing funds for CoS. Reputational risk to CoS As OPEL would be a separate project, OPEL staff would only speak for OPEL, not CoS, as has been the case for Still Human’s Advocacy Manager who is employed by Amnesty International. CoS could be exposed to significant costs through its additional employment responsibilities to OPEL’s staff OPEL staff would be formally employed by CoS and there is financial risk for CoS associated with this (e.g. if staff have to be made redundant and OPEL does not have sufficient funds to cover this). This risk would be mitigated through appropriate planning, management and fundraising by OPEL’s Director which CoS would be aware of through its line-management function. If at any point CoS were concerned about financial risks and felt that provision need to be made, this could be done by building up reserves or setting aside a contingency fund. Furthermore, if at any time, and for whatever reason, CoS felt that the current arrangement was not working to CoS’ benefit, they could then ask the Director to take steps to establish OPEL as a separate charity. _ _ _ _ Email from Jonathan Ellis for Trustees Jun 16 The proposal from Mike Kaye for CoS to host the new OPEL project (previously the Regional Asylum Activism project) is probably one of the most exciting proposals that we have received to date and it is a testimony to how our movement is seen by the wider sector. Mike has done brilliantly in securing funding from a variety of funders to fund campaigning capacity in more of the UK's regions and nations. We know from our experience with the Sanctuary Summit that this capacity to make things happen is so vital as we seek to build our movement and ensure that political pressure is maintained for change. The one thing holding back the funders is the lack of an appropriate home for this new project. There is growing support from the sector and funders that CoS is the natural home as a neutral base for this project - it will not be branded as CoS but having this capacity within our movement is very exciting. With our new chief officer we will have the capacity to manage this project mindful that it will have its own senior manager position. And it is clear that if the funding is not continued, this project will not continue so there is minimal risk to us but the massive opportunity to boost our growing movement. To my mind this proposal will allow us to step up even more in our efforts to build a movement, and I do hope that you will feel able to support it. Jonathan Ellis Vice- Chair

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