Conversation Over Borders is a charity local to Brighton and Hove, reducing social isolation and building refugee and asylum seekers' confidence in spoken English. We started during the first UK lockdown, and have so far facilitated over 1000 one-to-one online English Conversation Classes between our volunteer tutors and refugees and asylum seekers. You can see more about the charity here: www.conversationoverborders.org, and on our Instagram and Facebook @conversationoverborders.

This Christmas, we are seeking to give back to our community and show that Refugees are Welcome - now, at Christmas, and always!

Whether our clients celebrate Christmas or not, we recognise that the festive season is a time of sharing what we have. It is also a really difficult time to be alone and can be extremely isolating for those who are separated from their families and friends. We have all had a taste of isolation this year, and many of us have found it difficult - the reality is that this is the lived experience of many asylum seekers every year.

For this reason, we are organising a gift drive in the local community and asking our local community to donate a gift for a refugee living in the UK. We have two collection points - one in Hanover and one near Western Rd.

Recognising that not everyone will be able to donate a physical gift, but might still want to be involved, we have set up this JustGiving page to fundraise the cost of delivering the gifts to some of the refugees we work with.

The suggested donation is £4 to pay for the cost of delivering one box of gifts to a refugee. We believe that small actions mean a lot; all of the time, but especially after this very difficult year. Thank you for your support! ❤️