Overview

AVID is a national network of 13 visitor groups representing over 400 volunteers who visit people detained under immigration powers in the UK. Collectively, members of our network visit all seven Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs), all four Residential Short-Term Holding Facilities (RSTHF) and various prisons.

We exist to reduce the immediate suffering of people detained and work towards a future without detention. We do this by enabling the vital role of visitors to immigration detention whilst facilitating collective action amongst UK visitor groups.

We are raising £10,000 to go towards our ongoing costs. We are a small charity working in a time of uncertainty and hostility for many immigrants for whom immigration detention, the threat of detention, and the aftermath of detention, are all points of extreme crisis in their immigration journey. This funding will support us to be more agile so that we can make sure that those in immediate need in detention have access to visitor support whilst also working with local communities and the wider movement to stop detention expansion.

We are launching this campaign as we reluctantly mark our 30 year anniversary. Please join us, donate and be part of the AVID community so that we can ensure we are not still here in 30 years’ time.

Our Story

Our 30th anniversary is a significant milestone which brings mixed feelings.

It brings hope and pride, marking 30 years of acting alongside a committed community of visitors who - for almost as long as detention has existed – have been moved to provide vital support to people in detention.

Simultaneously, it marks over 30 years of continued harm to people detained and significant failures in that time to respond to mounting evidence against the use of detention.

We are currently in a pivotal moment of increasing uncertainty and hostility and our help is needed more than ever. We have seen a period in the UK of steadfast immigration deterrence, with past lessons being ignored. Earlier this year, 220 people were detained for removal to Rwanda and tormented with the prospect of removal to an unknown country, resulting in senseless suffering for many. Such policies have paved the way for increasing hostility towards immigrants, with recent far-right riots targeting accommodation housing asylum seekers.

With the Rwanda plans - thankfully – scrapped, a change of direction is needed. We believe that the new government should follow the example set by visitors to people in detention and embrace a politics of community and hospitality, where every person is treated with dignity and respect.

Our 30 year history has made it clear that detention is out of step with these values. People with lived experience have described life in detention as “mental torture”, with “prison-like” conditions with all personal liberties removed. A 2023 guardian news report exposed the tragic consequences of this reality, revealing that there has been a self-harm incident or suicide attempt nearly every day in a UK Immigration Removal Centre over the last 6 years (1). Rates of self-harm have risen in 2024 with incidents occurring almost twice a day during January–May (2).

We exist to support a network of visitor groups with guidance and advice so that they can reach more people in detention. As a collective, we are working towards a different future for the next 30 years - a future which will see our support no longer needed and with people being supported in communities where they belong. Whatever you are able to pledge, your support goes a long way to provide hope and humanity to those suffering the realities of immigration detention in the UK.

The £10,000 raised will be used for us to develop our work and respond to the current moment by:

1. Providing accurate and up to date information on immigration detention:

We are regularly contacted by friends and families, local solidarity groups and people in or who are fearing detention. The context is continuously changing and there is a desperate need for accurate information on detention: how to prepare, what to expect, what rights people have in detention have and who can provide support. Our 30 years of experience means that we have an extensive knowledgebase on detention, and we are working hard to make sure that this information available in a range of forms so that it reaches the right people.

2. Ensuring that people in detention have access to visitor groups and the support of visitors:

Information can only go so far, and we exist to make sure that people in detention have support from visitors who can be with them during their time in detention as a friend, ally and to provide practical advice. This could involve making sure that someone knows their rights in detention or how they can find a lawyer. It could involve getting them practical necessities and comforts to make their time in detention just a little bit easier. Or it could involve acting as a listening ear at a time of isolation from the outside world. We are supporting visitor groups in our network to recruit and train more visitors, facilitating peer support amongst visitor groups and keeping visitor groups up to date of changes to policy and practice.

3. Fighting to STOP Detention Expansion:

The new Home Secretary has recently announced proposals to expand detention, continuing with plans made under the Conservative government to reopen two controversial centres with a history of harms, including hunger strikes and suicides (3). We are acting alongside local communities and the wider movement to advocate for community-based solutions and to bring an end harmful and violent migration practices. We have an important role to play and are building evidence through detention monitoring, raising public awareness, engaging with communities and working with people who have first-hand experience of the harsh realities of detention to build the power of our movement.

For smaller charities like ours, navigating the funding landscape can be a considerable challenge. However, contributions from individuals like you will support our continued work on the ground. You will be supporting visitor groups to be more resilient with the framework, knowledge, skills and connections to support people in detention.

By donating to this campaign, you will also become part of the long-term vision to end the practice of immigration detention. You become the eyes and the ears on immigration centres, helping us to build evidence on the realities of detention and advocate for a more humane future.

Please help AVID to raise £10,000 and ensure we are not still here in 30 years’ time.

1. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/27/self-harm-incident-nearly-every-day-in-uk-immigration-detention-data-shows

2. Self-Harm Rates in UK Immigration Centres Soar Following Report That Found 'Worst Conditions Ever Seen' – Byline Times

3. Labour's immigration plans: tough action or Tory-lite? | The Week UK