At Omid International we believe that everyone deserves the right to be free to pursue a better future.  

 Many of the young people who we support are forced to leave their families either as a product of war and ethnic cleansing or because their family has decided that at as young as 14, they are old enough to go and live a ‘prosperous life’ in Europe.  Separated from their families, and everything that they know and understand, these children arrive in a place where they are discriminated against and treated as second class citizens.  They do not have the life skills to survive in a different culture, alone without any support network.  Although some unaccompanied minors are placed in foster care, it is not uncommon to hear how they are mistreated.  When they seek out work, they are used as cheap labour, sometimes working 12 hour shifts with no break for as little as 2 pound an hour.  They become trapped in an endless cycle of abuse and exploitation.  We continue encountering these young people up to adulthood because many years on, the majority find themselves in the same dire situation as when they first arrived. 

At Omid International, we provide hope and the opportunity of a future that is more than existing, with no prospect of ever breaking free.  How do we achieve this? 

It’s simple: our mentors will give these young people respite from the difficult and lonely lives they lead.  They will be given the opportunity to have someone to talk to, to listen to them.  Someone who is there because they care, and not because they want to take advantage of them.  Mentors will support young refugees and provide them with a safe and caring role model, someone who can guide them to a more positive future.  The advice may be how to manage challenging situations, or signpost them into getting education or vocational training.  The money we raise will fund these meetings as well as allow us to give some financial support to those who choose but cannot afford higher education.   Your money will bring hope to these young people, who are trapped in a no-man’s-land, alone without any possibility of a brighter future.

You can find out more about the work of Omid International, and further information about the walk, on our website: www.omid.org.uk. 

We cannot do this without your support so please make our walk worthwhile.  

Many thanks