This page contains regularly updated information sheets which list available resources for refugees and asylum seekers in Derby.
Contingency Hotel Support
This factsheets lists organisations who provide support for those in Derby's contingency hotels.
Support in Derby's contingency hotels (90.83 KB)
Red Cross Support Service in Derby
The British Red Cross helps people in crisis whoever and wherever they are. They provide support for refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants across Derby and Derbyshire.
Their Refugee Support Service is held every Monday and Wednesday between 10am and 1:30pm. At British Red Cross, 7 Liversage Street, Derby DE1 2LD.
Click here to view their flyer
Praxis Migrant Guide - written by migrants for migrants
This is an interactive guide to support you through your immigration journey in the UK.
Click here to view this resource
Clothing Support
This factsheet provides information on organisations providing clothing, baby equipment, bedding, nappies and toiletries.
Clothing organisations in Derby for refugees and asylum seekers. (73.88 KB)
East Midlands Councils SMP - Quaterly Migration Briefing May 2025
Each quarter, EMC publishes a briefing that brings together different sources of information relating to Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Migrants, as well as upcoming training and events.
This briefing contains information from Q4 2024/2025 and includes key recent announcements. The next briefing will be published in June 2025, covering Q1 of 2025/2026.
Click here for more information
Home Energy Advice
This document provides information about the help and support available to residents in Derby to help reduce bills, improve comfort and reduce carbon emissions.
Home Energy Advice & Support in Derby
What's On Guide for Refugees and Asylum Seekers
This factsheet is a guide for what's on in Derby City for refugees and asylum seekers.
What's On for Refugee and Asylum Seekers in Derby
What's On for Families - Jan - April 2025
Mental Health Support for Refugees & Asylum Seekers
This factsheet lists mental health support organisations and resources for refugees and asylum seekers in Derby.
Mental health resources for refugees and asylum seekers. (112.70 KB)
Banking and eVisas - Home Office guidance
The Home Office has published useful guidance on banking and eVisas.
Click here to read the document
Electronic Travel Authorisation upon entering the UK - Free Movement guidance
Free Movement has produced useful guidance on Electronic Travel Authorisation, their guidance thoroughly explains who needs one and who doesn't.
Click here to read the full guidance
Measles awareness
NHS England is worried that more people are becoming unwell with measles.
Please make sure you know the signs of measles. Measles is a serious infection that can spread very easily between people and can make people seriously ill.
In the UK, we give the MMR vaccine, which protects against Measles, Mumps and Rubella. The measles virus can make you very unwell, sometimes needing hospital care. Having the MMR vaccine protects you from becoming ill.
For more information on measles and the MMR vaccine, click the leaflet below.
Measles flyer - Kurdish Sorani
Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit - eVisa guide
Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit has produced a handy guide on how to get an eVisa.
They have also translated this guide into more languages, see below for the full list:
Free Computers in Derby
This factsheet lists places in Derby city with free computer access.
Free computer locations in Derby (154.04 KB)
English Language Organisations
This factsheet lists English language organisations and resources.
English language providers for refugees and asylum seekers (75.49 KB)
St James Centre - Help into Work Service
St James Centre have a free Help into Work Drop In Service every Wednesday 10am - 12pm at Normanton Library, Almond Street, Derby DE23 6LX.
They can help with CVs, Internet searches, interviews etc.
No appointment is necessary, just turn up!
Click here to download the flyer.
Serco's local area information pack
Useful information that Serco provide to all their residents upon arrival,.
Derby local area information leaflet (271.62 KB)
Benefits & Welfare Organisations
This factsheet lists relevant mainstream welfare and benefits advice organisations in Derby City.
Benefits & Welfare Advice Organisations (111.22 KB)
Benefit Calculators
This is a independent, free and anonymous benefits calculator to check what you could be entitled to.
Click here to read more and use the calculator
Transition from asylum support to mainstream benefits
When an individual’s asylum application is successful, their asylum support payments will stop. They will, instead, be entitled to seek employment and apply for mainstream benefits. This document summarises the process to be followed during this transition.
Transition from asylum support to mainstream benefits (148.35 KB)
Refugee resettlement Scheme - Child Benefit Awards
Refugee Resettlement Scheme – Important information re Child Benefit awards
We have been sent the following information from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP):
‘From 2/12/2024 the Child benefit On-Line (CBOL team) will be reviewing 4000 Universal Credit (UC) claims from those in the UK on the Afghan refugee and asylum schemes who have at least one child, to identify whether Child Benefit is in payment and ensuring this is correctly recorded.
In circumstances where a customer claims UC and Child Benefit at a similar time, Child Benefit may not yet be in payment at the point the CBOL team makes their checks. Where the Benefit Cap is reached and Child Benefit is recorded as in payment, the claim may potentially have built up overpayments. In such cases recovery action on any overpayments will be taken.
The DWP would like to emphasise the importance of families notifying DWP when they begin receiving Child Benefit. This cannot currently be done via a Change of Circumstances, so a Journal Message should be sent by the customer.
All overpayments of Universal Credit, regardless of fault, are recoverable under Section 71ZB of the Social Security Act. The Secretary of State has an obligation to protect public funds and to ensure that, wherever legislated, overpayment debt is recovered. The DWP’s overarching policy is that debts should be recovered as quickly and cost effectively as possible without causing financial hardship to customers. The Department is committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms. DWP’s approach balances the need to protect public funds by maintaining recovery levels, whilst providing a compassionate service during times of economic uncertainty.’
Legal Aid Funded Immigration & Asylum Advice
This factsheet contains a list of legal aid funded immigration & asylum advice in the East Midlands.
Legal aid funded immigration & asylum advice in the East Midlands (547.21 KB)
Guidance on refuse and recycling bins
Find guidance on refuse and recycling bins here.
Refuse & Recycling Guidance (2,376.61 KB)
Government Changes to Ukranian Schemes
The Home Office has made some changes relating to Ukranian schemes.
To read about these changes in full, click here.
Connected Perinatal Support
Connected carefully recruits and trains volunteers to provide evidence-based, non-judgemental peer support to new and expectant families. This can be provided on a one-to-one basis during pregnancy, at labour & birth if required and until baby is approximately 3 months old, it is also provided on a community basis.
- One-to-One Support - Connected Perinatal Support
- Community Support - Connected Perinatal Support
- Dads Space - Connected Perinatal Support
The best email for enquiries is admin@perinatalsupport.org.uk or the office number is 01332 412561 – Connected appreciates it isn’t always easy for families to reach out for support, so they will always endeavour to find a way that feels right for the family or parent.
Confidential support for drug and alcohol misuse
Confidential support is available for individuals struggling with drug and alcohol abuse.
You can download the leaflets (in English here)
Confidential support for drug misuse - English
Confidential support for alcohol abuse - English
Or, this leaflet has been translated into several different languages, which you can download below:
Confidential support for drug and alcohol abuse - Latvian
Confidential support for drug and alcohol abuse - Punjabi
Confidential support for drug and alcohol abuse - Polish
Confidential support for drug and alcohol abuse - Russian
Confidential support for drug and alcohol abuse - Urdu
Mobile phones and SIM cards
Useful information about getting a SIM card.
Derby SIM cards (108.47 KB)
Hepatitis B factsheet
This is a factsheet on the Hepatitis B vaccination. The factsheet is available in 18 languages.
Click here to view the factsheet
Free Mobile Data, Minutes and Calls
O2 UK is offering free data to those who need it most. Visit any O2 store and ask for the National Databank to access free data on your mobile.
Far Right Activity - Advice and support
Local Information
Derby City Council has some advice if you're concerned about protests available on its website, as well as a statement from the Council Cabinet. The advice includes the following steps to follow if you believe that you might be in immediate danger:
- always remove yourself from the area of danger
- return to a location where you can safely call the police or your organisation
- remain in a safe space until help arrives. A safe place is somewhere public with other people around, with lots of exits you can easily leave from
- in an emergency always call 999 and ask for the police. If you can’t, ask someone nearby to do so.
Useful Resources
Hope Not Hate has an extensive range of publicly available resources to support community engagement, community events and changing the local narrative, including:
- Far Right Activity – Advice for Asylum Seekers and Refugees - A resource with advice for asylum seekers and refugees on how to keep themselves and their family members safe.
- Far-Right Attacks on Organisations - A resource pack with guidance on how to keep your organisation safe.
- Staying Safe Amidst Far Right Activity - A resource, which pulls together some basic considerations to guide decisions about how to keep staff, volunteers and the people they are working with feeling safe and supported.
- Keeping Safe Online - A resource with a number of practical tips on how to improve online safety preventatively and how to respond to breaches of security.
- Safety and Security - A guide for organisations, volunteers and individuals working in temporary asylum seeker accommodation.
Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants resources
Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants have released a toolkit to help navigate the UK immigration system.
The toolkit is available in English, Urdu, Tamil, Amharic and Arabic.
Click here to access the toolkit
Checklist for healthcare workers working with new arrivals to the UK
See below for more information on support for healthcare workers welcoming new arrvials.
Checklist for GP's working with new arrivals (198.10 KB)
Home Office: Voluntary return to your home country
The Voluntary Returns Service’s (VRS) role is to offer practical support to people in the UK with no right to live in the UK who have decided that they wish to return home. This support is also available to people who have claimed or who are claiming asylum
The Home Office recognises that there will be people who choose to return to their home country, but who have no means of doing so, or who need help, depending on their personal circumstances.
To read more about the Home Office guidance, click here
The ENIC-NARIC Networks
The joint website of the ENIC (European Network of Information Centres) and NARIC (National Academic Recognition Information Centres in the European Union) Networks is an initiative to enhance navigation to relevant online resources.
The website aims to help interested organisations and individuals find information on current issues in international academic and professional mobility, and on procedures for the recognition of foreign qualifications.
Click here to read more about ENIC-NARIC
TENT - Supporting Refugees
TENT work with leading companies across America and Europe to connect refugees across America and Europe.
Click here to read more about what TENT do
Your Sexual Health Matters - NHS Derbyshire Community
Your Sexual Health Matters website has a range of resources and information around sexual health.
Aslyum Central Communications Hub - Home Office
The Home Office has produced a helpful list of guidance on what to include when emailing the Asylum Central Communications Hub (ACCH).
The page provides email templates which can be used when contacting ACCH, to ensure all the necessary information is captured to enable them to progress your query. As well as providing any relevant links to guidance on navigating certain scenarios, and any relevant alternative email addresses.
Click here to visit their website
Migrant Help Aire Newsletter
This is the newest addition of the Migrant Help Newsletter
Skills Grant Funding from Migrant Help
Migrant Help is supporting the start-up of new ESOL and Employability projects and the expansion of existing projects supporting asylum seekers, refugees and survivors of modern slavery across the UK.
To read more about this grant, head to our Funding and Tender Alerts page
Workpays: Upcoming courses
Workpays courses are designed to support learners in gaining valuable skills and progressing towards their personal and professional goals.
Courses Available:
- Health and Care
Ideal for individuals looking to enter or progress in the health and social care sector. This course covers key foundational knowledge and workplace readiness.
- Essential Digital Skills
A great opportunity for learners to build their confidence with technology—whether it's using devices, managing emails, or improving online safety and digital communication. - Boost your confidence & job prospects
This Employability Progression Pathway is designed to help you build confidence, improve your job prospects and take the next steps towards employment or further learning.
These programmes are fully funded (subject to eligibility) and offer supportive, learner-focused environments designed to meet individual needs.
If you would like more information, please email: Lindsay.Hodgkinson@workpays.co.uk or Nicole.Thomas@workpays.co.uk
