Da'aro Youth Project

Da’aro Youth Project is a community-led organisation in London that supports unaccompanied child and young adult asylum seekers and refugees from countries in the Horn of Africa. It was established by members of the Eritrean community in London in response to the deaths of a number of teenage Eritreans by suicide. Our services are open to young people aged 14 to 21 years old from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia. Asylum-seeking young people from the Horn of Africa often arrive in the UK after traumatic journeys. Once here they often struggle to adapt to new lives separated from their families and find that navigating the complex asylum and social care systems can be stressful. We provide direct support to these young people through youth work, casework and advocacy. We want newly arrived asylum-seeking young people to feel at home and to know they have someone to turn to in a crisis. We currently run a weekly youth club called ‘Injera Club’ where young people can relax, play games, meet and socialise with new friends, eat homely traditional food and listen to traditional music. Injera Club is a culturally-relevant, fun and lively space where young people can feel safe and protected. From this space, we work with young people to identify and respond to their support needs through our 1-to-1 casework service. Our youth caseworkers are from refugee backgrounds and fluent in languages commonly spoken by our client group. This service is trauma-informed, holistic and responsive to the needs that service users present with. Most service-users present with multiple issues (on average 3-5) including: homelessness and housing issues; accessing healthcare (including mental health care); regularising immigration status; access to education or employment; transitioning from being a looked-after child/social care issues; criminal justice issues; and accessing family reunion. We also undertake policy and campaigning work on issues affecting unaccompanied young people.