This week (17- 23 June) is Refugee Week, the UK’s largest festival celebrating the contribution of refugees and promoting understanding of why people seek shelter and asylum in the UK.

Leicestershire Life Links would like to show our support for all refugees and asylum seekers currently residing in Leicester.

Richmond Fellowship’s Leicestershire Life Links service provides a wellness and mental health recovery service tailored to meet your needs. We offer a range of support, including:

One-to-One support sessions

Peer group support

Information advice and navigation services

According to The Mental Health Foundation:

Asylum seekers and refugees are more likely to experience poor mental health than the local population, including higher rates of depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders.

• The increased vulnerability to mental health problems that refugees and asylum seekers face is linked to pre-migration experiences (such as war trauma) and post-migration conditions (such as separation from family, difficulties with asylum procedures and poor housing).

• Research suggests that asylum seekers are five times more likely to have mental health needs than the general population and more than 61% will experience serious mental distress. However, data shows that they are less likely to receive support than the general population.

For more information about Refugee Week and how you can get involved, visit: https://refugeeweek.org.uk/.

To find out more about the support we can provide and our self referral process, contact us on:

0800 0234 575 (Freephone) or email us at Leicester.lifelinks@richmondfellowship.org.uk.