Brent Action for Refugees (BA4R) was formed in 2014 by a group of people concerned about the plight of refugees fleeing war and persecution in Syria.

BA4R worked together to change the narrative that surrounds refugees by taking positive action. The group asked Mohammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, to resettle 50 vulnerable Syrian refugees over five years. Cllr Butt agreed, and BA4R successfully worked with Brent Council to resettle vulnerable refugee families under the Government sponsored Vulnerable Persons Refugee Scheme (VPRS).

The Association has continued to work successfully with Brent Council and Brent Borough of Sanctuary to achieve its aims and objectives. Since 2016 with Brent we have welcomed more than 50 Syrian Refugees into our community. These families are, for the most part, thriving, although there remains work to be done to help them fully integrate into our community. This support is provided by Brent Council, specialist charities, community organisations, faith institutions and BA4R.

For the past year we have been thinking about what we can do to support the wider community of migrants and refugees living across Brent. However, this community is hard to reach, and their voices are rarely heard. We realised that we need to spread our net, and understand the views of our community by listening.

We have therefore started a Listening Campaign, with funding from Near Neighbours. This project involves speaking with members of our local community about their experiences and the issues that are impacting their day to day lives.

We believe that these stories and testimonies will help us to make sure that we never see a Windrush scandal again.The Association will, funding permitting, apply to become a member of Brent Citizens in the near future

You can help us listen. To get involved contact [email protected]