Action for Social Integration is a registered charity that aims to advance social and cultural integration, social justice, inclusion, equality & diversity and to eliminate prejudice, stereotype and discrimination in relation to asylum seekers, refugees and minority ethnic communities from all ethnic backgrounds.

We work to enable our service users to effectively integrate into the society by helping them to access services, rights, entitlements and opportunities and to overcome barriers to learning, employment and training. Our support service gives our beneficiaries new ideas that encourage them to take their own initiatives and control of their own futures. Various activities are designed to help them gain new skills, confidence and motivation so that they can be able to help themselves and become independent and more sustainable.

Our services are provided through social integration centres which provide a starting point for supporting the needs of our beneficiaries. The centres offer support services including advice, information, training and advocacy that responds to their different needs.

• Providing advice, guidance, ideas and information to refugees and asylum seekers and BME communities to enable them to effectively integrate into the society and access services and opportunities;
• Raising awareness amongst refugees and asylum seekers and disadvantaged people from BME about available services and how services can be accessed;
• Facilitating and supporting the participation of refugees and BME communities in local activities for leisure, learning, volunteering and decision-making processes.
• Organising public awareness on issues relevant to social integration, equality and inclusion;
• Representing our service users in decision-making and consultations arrangements to ensure they reflect the make-up of local communities.
• Organising access to appropriate training (e.g. ESOL) and other community learning opportunities that contribute to provide new skills, increase confidence and motivation.
• Supporting refugees and people from BME communities to overcome barriers to learning, employment and training.
• Assisting children and young people in overcoming any barriers they may face by offering information, advice, advocacy and practical support and by brokering access to services that individuals might need including leisure and sports services.
• Providing advocacy on behalf of young people with their education, training, employment and social needs.
• Promoting and encouraging young people to develop their creativity and confidence, technical and performance skills.
• Act as facilitator to promote self-help in the community.

"Accommodating people's growing demands for their inclusion in society, for respect of their ethnicity, religion, and language, takes more than democracy and equitable growth.

Also needed are multicultural policies that recognize differences, champion diversity and promote cultural freedoms, so that all people can choose to speak their language, practice their religion, and participate in shaping their culture - so that all people can choose to be who they are."
(Human Development Report 2004 'Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World', United Nations Development Programme)

Our strategic vision is to be the leading organisation in advancing the social integration of people from refugee, immigrant and minority communities wherever they live and work.

• To work towards a cohesive and well integrated and inclusive society.
• To combat all forms of discrimination and inequalities in accessing to services.
• To combat structural barriers to the integration of refugees, ethnic minority and migrant communities.
• To challenge the stereotypical perceptions of refugees, ethnic minority and migrant communities which hamper their full participation in the UK society.
• To develop and provide further services to meet the needs of black and ethnic minority communities., especially hard to reach groups.
• To ensure ethnic minority's issues and concerns are given a high profile within all sectors.
• To facilitate refugee and minority ethnic communities' access to essential services, training and employment opportunities.

- work in partnership with our stakeholders;
- actively involve ethnic minority people at the grass roots level in all aspects of our work;
- demonstrate openness, accountability, and professionalism;
- operate in a simple and transparent way;
- undertake research and critical analysis to inform and add value to our work;
- raise awareness of the needs and aspirations of our targeted group;
- achieve real excellence for ourselves and our customers.

• Be a strong voice of ethnic minority communities of the UK and Europe;
• Raise the profile of ethnic minority groups;
• Identify and use resources to tackle needs of ethnic minority communities;
• Implement community activities in the most deprived parts of the UK where most members of the ethnic minority communities live.

1. Dialogue and consultations with mainstream service providers on how to meet the needs of asylum seekers, refugees and ethnic minority communities.
2. Working with, and on behalf of, communities who define themselves as ethnic minorities.
3. Promoting networking and mutual support among refugee and minority groups and organizations, where possible.
4. Serving as a focal point for refugee and ethnic minority groups and organizations to discuss local needs a as well as encouraging co-operation.
5. Link and network with pertinent agencies and organizations.
6. Serving as a link between our clients and relevant voluntary/community/statutory agencies and services.
7. Combining direct client servicing with action research, advocacy and lobbying.
8. Providing an access point that enables out target groups to find solutions to their problems and needs.
9. To continually assess and review the needs of our target groups.