We support refugees and those who help them.
Shaftesbury Refugee Group is a network of local people offering help to refugees and the communities that support them.
We provide befriending, practical advice and financial support to help refugees settle into the communities of Shaftesbury, Gillingham and the adjacent towns and villages.
Support and community
We give local practical advice to help meet needs in areas such as:
We link to local Councils and other services and help people get the support they need. If we can’t help, we usually know someone who can. Just contact us.
We enable events that help people meet their community away from home and build new friendships in North Dorset and South Wiltshire. We help children to additional activities that build their confidence in their English and themselves.
We work with partners to provide additional services such as gifts of clothes and IT devices and we build a community of support.
We raise funds and provide grants that make it possible for people displaced by conflict and oppression to start a new life.
We make friends who share the load with acts of kindness. We look forward to hearing from you too.
To see how we have been working recently, see our news pages
Want to help but not sure how?
Become a Friend of our group and stay in touch with how help is evolving for those fleeing conflict or oppression.
Want to join in without feeling overloaded? Why not join one of our events.
Want to donate but not sure it’s getting to the right people? We can help meet the real needs of refugees in our area with your acts of kindness.
‘We had to leave, there was no choice. Our home, our farm, everything was destroyed. We walked for days to reach a camp in another country.
There was no security, no schools, no work. Now we are safe, our children have a future.
We can’t put into words our feelings for the people in Shaftesbury Refugee Group who helped us, they are like our family.’
Samar