Refugee Youth Service creates immediate and lasting change in the lives of unaccompanied children and young people on the move in Europe.
Through a holistic approach we support unaccompanied children and young people to restart their lives where they are, or safely and legally reach an alternative destination that is in their better interests.
We provide children and young people with safer spaces, where they can access legal, social and psychological support from trained professionals, and seek respite through engagement in creative activities, organised sports and informal learning.
Taking place within safe spaces or as part of regular community outreach and street work, a holistic approach aims to ensure that the unique needs of unaccompanied children and youth on the move are met comprehensively. Daily activities are designed to build trusting relationships between young people and trained professionals, in order to aid the successful promotion of safe steps that will see the endings of perilous journeys, the resuming of childhoods, and rebuilding of lives.
Our current focuses are Athens, Greece and Calais, France, where we continue to support local organisations to provide direct support to children and young people on the move. Previous projects have been in Ventimiglia, Italy and Dunkirk, France.
We recently launched our Journey with an Unaccompanied Child capacity-building training for a UK audience. The training's core objective is to improve the care and reception of unaccompanied children arriving to the UK. For more information see our Projects page.
