We Belong Dami Makinde & Chrisann Jarrett Co-CEOs Brief history
We Belong builds upon Let Us Learn, a project previously hosted by Just for Kids Law since 2014. As Let Us Learn we have successfully organised and mobilised young people who migrated to the UK, and led campaigns that have achieved change on a national scale. We have a client base of over 1,200 young people brought to the UK from over 70 different countries, our vision is for all young migrants living in the UK to be treated equally and fairly in the society they call home. We Belong’s Projects
Let Us Learn
Leadership Academy
Chasing Status We work with 16-24 year olds, many of these young people migrated to the UK at a young age, it is the only home they know. However, they may not be aware that they are undocumented or that their status will be a barrier to their educational aspirations and career development.
They often get in contact with us after being rejected from student finance and being classified as international students£9,000 vs £17,000
Scale of the problem: • A study by COMPAS at Oxford University that estimated there were 120,000 ‘irregular migrant children’ in the UK, who were largely either born here or who migrated here at a young age. • • We Belong are in contact with just over 1,000 of these young migrants. Tip of the Iceberg! • • Generation of untapped potential. Long Residence Route
• To be eligible you must have lived in the UK for over half of your life and must also have had some sort of ‘lawful’ status in the UK for three years before starting a degree. • The only way to become 'lawfully ordinarily resident' is by being granted what's known as Limited Leave to Remain' (LLR) (formerly called Discretionary Leave to Remain), or 'Indefinite Leave to Remain' (ILR) by the Home Office, or becoming a British Citizen (people with ILR or citizenship are exempt from meeting the half-of-life rule). After that, they face a three-year wait before being eligible for a student loan, and before automatically qualifying for home student fees. Young Gifted and Blocked
Aim: We are calling on universities to set up scholarships or bursaries so we can carry on learning, and pursue our educational and career ambitions.
We want to fulfil our potential so we can fully contribute to our communities and wider British society. Mince Pie Friday RESULTS 1. UCL 2. LSE 3. St.Andrews 4. King’s College London 5. University of Birmingham 6. University of Bristol 7. City University 8. De Montfort University 9. University of Exeter (Not currently advertised on website but one student accessed in 2017-18) 10. University of Glasgow 11. Goldsmiths University (International Response Scholarship) 12. Keele (TBC to be changed for academic year 2018-19) 13. King’s College London 14. University of Manchester (TBC to be changed for academic year 2018-19) 15. Queen Mary University 16. Royal Holloway University 17. University of Salford 18. SOAS 19. University of Sussex 20. University of Strathclyde Teesside University 21. University of Westminster: Education for All and International Scholarships 22. University of Winchester 23. York St John University: Article 26 (those with Limited Leave to Remain can apply) Embedding the changes
• Maintaining a relationship with Widening participation officers within universities; • Recognition that the ‘scholarship’ itself does not solve the the problem of hostile environment, universities can take to ensure they understand the complex nature of the UK’s immigration system as it affects the scholarship recipient • Developing more initiatives; • Universities must share best practices; Case Studies- Sustainability
Kings College London- Sanctuary Scholarships or a Jesus the Light Sanctuary Scholarship, wider hostile environment work, partnership with EduAid and CitizensUK to develop a loan scheme for child citizenship.
SOAS: scholarship, opening up the conversation within the university, Student Union is informed.
LSE: scholarship was enhanced, future fund, interaction with alumni to extend the fund. Questions