Reg. Charity Number: 1171368
The Harbour Project was born in May 2000, when Kosovo Albanian refugees fled the fighting in former Yugoslavia. We were founded with funds from the Baptist Church and help from other churches and groups. Harbour’s focus was on providing friendship, free refreshments, and emergency help with food and clothing. It also gave basic advice and signposted people to appropriate agencies
The Harbour Project for Swindon Refugees and Asylum Seekers was registered as a Charitable Trust: Reg. Charity No. 1097227.
Our annual income in 2004/5 was around £30,000.
The Home Office designated Swindon a ‘dispersal town’ for asylum seekers; and a 3-year grant (instead of annual awards) from Swindon Borough Council from 2006/7 offered stability, and recognition of this status.
We were awarded a grant of £197,000 over a 5-year period from the Big Lottery Fund. The award not only enabled rapid expansion and a wider range of activities but also provided us with medium-term resilience around which other initiatives could coalesce.
Annual income topped £100,000 for the first time. The Harbour Project was visited by HRH The Princess Royal which highlighted our growing recognition in the town.
We saw an unprecedented rise in the number of asylum seekers dispersed to Swindon. Refugees were impacted by significant changes to the Benefits System. Fortunately, Harbour had robust procedures and sufficient flexibility to meet the challenges without losing its important ‘family’ atmosphere of support and practical help.
Our annual income in 2016/17 had risen to more than £155,000.
The Harbour Project changed its legal status to that of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, Reg. Charity No. 1171368. The Big Lottery Award was renewed with funding up to 2022. The trustees decided to use part of this grant to commission an independent consultant to determine how we could build our organisational capability. A key recommendation was to appoint a part-time fundraising-focussed CEO.
Our cost base for 2017/18 grew to £169,000.
We launched our Steps2Work Programme to support all employment- and volunteering-related matters for our Visitors
The Young Visitor Engagement Lead was created to be the first point of contact for our young Visitors (under 25 years old). To ensure that their voices are heard, and their needs are understood. To arrange, coordinate and lead activities specific to this cohort
The Women’s Engagement Lead was created to be the first point of contact for adult women Visitors at Harbour. To ensure that their voices are heard, and their needs are understood. To arrange, coordinate and lead activities specific to this cohort
Initial Accommodation opened in Swindon for the first time. Two hotels were used to accommodate lone adult men. The role of the Initial Accommodation Liaison Officer was created to address the needs of this cohort and support Harbour with the increased number of Visitors.
A third hotel opened in Swindon, accommodating a mix of lone adult men and women, as well as families
The Harbour Project successfully moved to Broadgreen Community Centre. We rent the space from South Swindon Parish Council and could not be happier with the premises. We had outgrown our previous office, and the time was right to find somewhere bigger, modern, and more fit for purpose.
The Harbour Project became a member of the South West Immigration Alliance (SWIA). SWIA is a project funded by the Justice Together Initiative (JTI) to make immigration advice more accessible in the Southwest of England region. This project aims to establish a more coordinated, collaborative, and sustainable legal advice ecosystem that ensures that people who use the immigration system can access justice fairly and equally so that they can pursue their lives independently.
The Harbour Project is a dedicated member alongside the following fantastic organisations:
Bristol Law Centre, Bristol Refugee Rights, Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers, Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support, Refugee Support Devon, Plymouth Hope and The University of Plymouth Law Clinic.
The two hotels housing lone adult men were closed by the Home Office in February. We created our Lived Experience Panel. The Panel is made up of group members with Lived Experience of the asylum system, to offer insight and make suggestions to ensure our service delivery remains helpful and relevant to our Visitors