“They visited me and made me feel comfortable and gave me hope that one day I would get out of that place.”

--Former Campsfield detainee, supported by Asylum Welcome

Campsfield Immigration Removal Centre, in North Oxfordshire, has reopened, and people are once again being held inside a system that causes fear, isolation and profound distress.

Asylum Welcome remains firmly opposed to immigration detention. However, with vulnerable people now behind those locked doors, facing uncertainty, separation from loved ones and the trauma of confinement, we are committed to supporting them to the best of our ability.

From January 2026 we will be running a three-month pilot visiting service so that people detained at Campsfield are not left completely alone and forgotten. We’re seeking additional funding so we can continue this vital service beyond the pilot period so that people detained in Campsfield are shown ongoing solidarity from our local community. Your support could make that possible.

For those in Campsfield, a visitor may be the only person they encounter who is not part of the Home Office system. Our team of staff and volunteers are carefully trained and supported, so they can offer thoughtful, informed support and help people find their way through an intimidating and unfamiliar system. Beyond the practical support and friendship that visitors offer, visitors are a source of hope to people in detention and sign that they are not forgotten.

We plan to visit people held at Campsfield on a regular basis, offering a kind and supportive presence while helping people in detention to understand the processes affecting them and their options. Where needed, we will bring volunteer interpreters to support with translation.

Asylum Welcome has a long history of standing alongside people in detention. Our volunteers visited Campsfield before its closure, and we continue this work through our Huntercombe Prison Visiting Programme. This new pilot draws on that experience and the good practice of the AVID network to ensure visits are safe, well informed and rooted in solidarity and compassion.

As another former Campsfield detainee shared:

“Thank you for being there for me at a time when it felt like the whole world had forgotten me.”

And one young person’s words still echo painfully:

“Reassure me that I am a human being.”

What your donation could do:

• £15 – helps cover travel costs for a visitor

• £75 – contributes towards volunteer management and safeguarding checks

• £150 – helps fund a day of coordinated visiting

• £300 - funds a day’s visiting and follow-up casework

Every gift, whatever the amount, enables us to support some of the most marginalised people in our society at what can be one of their darkest moments.

Whatever you can afford, your support will help bring human presence into a place defined by isolation. Please do share this page with others and help this message reach more people who may be able to support our work.

Thank you for standing with us.