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Our Story
Since 2001, we have been offering hope to people detained in Yarl’s Wood IRC through friendship, practical support and advocating for justice.
The beginning
Our story starts with the struggle of men and women who find themselves caught up in the hostile environment of the UK's immigration system. Yarl’s Wood IRC was originally intended to hold refugees for two weeks until a decision had been taken on their case. But in practice men and women are detained indefinitely for months and even years while our broken, inhumane system decides whether to deport or release them. Between 15,000 and 32,000 people are detained each year in immigration detention across the UK. Over the last 20 years, Beyond Detention has borne witness to the traumatic and degrading impact of indefinite detention.
The now
Befrienders have been visiting Yarl’s Wood IRC since it opened in 2001. We are now a registered charity with paid staff and 70 volunteers, who between them speak 25 languages. The change in name to Beyond Detention reflects the work we do both inside and outside Yarl’s Wood IRC. On the board of trustees and among staff and volunteers are people with lived experience of detention who inform and shape our way of working.
Who we work with
We work with a number of partners to share best practice and experience so we can learn from one another, advocate for change, inform policy and generate platforms for those who have lived through detention. We are members of AVID (Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees) and liaise with many organisations across the UK who work to counter the hostile immigration environment.
Who we are
Staff
We have a small team of staff, a large body of volunteers and a board of trustees.
Bio
Belal joined Beyond Detention first as a Trustee, then joined the staff team in 2021. As a refugee from Syria, he has a passion for helping people and understands those who are desperate to leave their countries to find a safer and better life here in the UK. Belal worked as an accountant for many years, most recently as Chief Accountant at the Egyptian Aluminium Company.
Bio
Blandine joined the Beyond Detention Team in June 2021. Prior to this she was a Nurse in ICU. A few years ago, Blandine experienced prison and immigration detention in Yarl’s Wood. Beyond Detention is a platform for her to work with and support others like herself. Blandine is working with the team to restore and give a voice to the voiceless.
Bio
Donna-Louise joined Beyond Detention from a senior management role with Wintercomfort for the Homeless, a homelessness charity in Cambridge that works with those who are homeless and vulnerably housed. She is also a Listening Volunteer with Bedford Samaritans.
Bio
Katrina joined the team in 2018 and works part time in the office. She also runs her own virtual administration business. She enjoys supporting the team to deliver and make a difference to the people we work with.
Bio
Lorna joined the Beyond Detention Team in August 2022, after volunteering as a BD befriender for five years. Lorna has worked closely with volunteers for over 20 years, the last ten years as a Volunteer Coordinator at Sands, a national bereavement charity for vulnerable bereaved parents. Lorna is passionate about supporting those in the UK immigration detention system, having come from an immigrant background herself.
Volunteers
We could not do the work we do without our team of dedicated volunteers. We hold regular information sessions about what visiting people in Yarl’s Wood involves, and we recruit volunteers throughout the year. If you are interested in volunteering with us, please getin touch.
Trustees
Our trustees have between them a wide range of skills and experience. Their role is to ensure that the charity achieves the goals and objectives defined in its governing documents, maintains financial and operational viability, and complies with charity law.
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Bio
Angela has a background in teaching modern languages, including English as a second language, and has lived and travelled in a number of countries and cultures. She has been a befriender for 11 years, frequently visiting French-speaking women, and is passionate about girls’ education and women’s rights.
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Bio
Catherine has over 20 years of experience in international health and women’s rights, with a specialisation in sexual and reproductive health. She has overseen work in more than 40 countries in Africa and Asia, providing technical and strategic leadership and innovative programme design. Catherine has lived and worked in India, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Tanzania.
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Bio
Eleanor is a chartered psychologist with over 10 years' experience of working in the NHS and 8 years' experience working with an international humanitarian medical organisation in a range of countries around the world, sometimes in with those in immigration detention centres, such as in Libya. She has an interest in global mental health and human rights.
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Bio
A volunteer befriender since 2017, Jivan owns and manages her own small management consultancy business. She enjoys using her languages to communicate with those people we support who have little English, and hopes that her consultancy experience will help to support the organisation, staff, trustees and volunteers.
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Kristen has over a decade's experience in the voluntary sector using participatory research methods with children, families, communities and governments to develop programmes that uphold children’s rights; prevent and respond to violence; and increase children’s access to justice. Kristen has coordinated a number of international, multi-agency advocacy initiatives focusing on child participation and empowerment.
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Bio
After a degree in Chinese, Robina worked at the British Council and in publishing, then for 16 years ran the Stephen Spender Trust, whose activities included multilingual workshops in schools. She now works as a freelance editor, specialising in translated fiction and non-fiction. She has been a befriender since 2018 and a trustee since 2019.
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Bio
Sarah has a background in teaching children with severe learning difficulties and supporting their families. She has been a befriender since 2018, helping to run the drop-in sessions at YWIRC, and befriending and supporting those with very complex needs. An avid traveller, she is also actively involved with projects in Malawi.
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Bio
A business administration graduate, Stella has worked as a legal secretary/personal assistant for banks, local authorities and non-profit organisations. She is now studying for a degree in international relations, politics and security studies. She has experience of helping those in detention to research information to help build their legal cases.
