Travelling to English classes. Commuting to job interviews. Travelling to church, the mosque, or social events. For a refugee being able to drive can be the difference between successfully settling into and contributing to a community and isolation.

Maun Refuge aims to support Syrian refugee families in Mansfield to become independent within their new community. When the families arrive, they have nothing having to build their new lives from scratch. Many of our families have worked hard; learning English, looking for work and engaging with the community. However, a significant barrier to their independence is the cost of driving lessons. They have studied hard and passed their theory tests but are not able to afford lessons. The average learner needs around 40 - 45 hours of lessons, even purchased in bulk (an option not readily available to our families due to cost) this would cost over a thousand pounds.

We support 8 families and we would like to fund lessons for 1 female member from each household. As a sign of commitment and to make the process as collaborative as possible we ask the families to pay for their own theory and driving tests. Learning to drive will allow the family the independence to travel to work, job interviews, educational course, community events and so much more.