We are proud to share our Voices in Exile 2025 Impact Report, highlighting the collective impact of our staff, volunteers, partners, supporters, and the incredible resilience of the people we work alongside every day. 

Over the past year, we supported more than 1,000 refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants at risk across Brighton and Sussex through specialist immigration advice, homelessness prevention, food provision, ESOL classes, employability support, wellbeing groups, and wraparound resettlement services. 

At a time when refugees and migrants continue to face increasingly hostile policies, rising homelessness, and barriers to safety and stability, this report reflects both the growing need within our communities and the importance of compassionate, community-led support. 

A year of impact 

In 2025, Voices in Exiles: 

• Supported 1,009 clients across our services 

• Provided immigration advice and support to 364 people 

• Supported 770 clients through our generalist advice and casework service 

• Delivered 70 outreach sessions in asylum hotels and homelessness settings 

• Supported around 45 people each term through our weekly wellbeing, ESOL, and orientation groups 

• Provided practical support to around 115 households through our food bank 

• Distributed over £50,000 in hardship funding to people facing crisis situations 

Alongside these figures are the personal stories that sit at the heart of our work. Throughout the report, service users, volunteers, and staff share their experiences of rebuilding their lives, finding community, and supporting others in turn. 

One service user reflected: 

“Voices in Exile helped us build the confidence to start a new life here.” 

Another shared: 

“The most important thing for me was simple. Someone cared about me. I felt it.” 

Supporting people beyond crisis 

As well as meeting urgent needs, the report highlights our growing focus on long-term wellbeing, inclusion, and systems change. 

This year, we strengthened our campaigning and influencing work locally and nationally, advocating for: 

• The right to work for people seeking asylum 

• Safe and legal routes 

• Improved housing and move-on support 

• Better mental health provision 

• A more compassionate and fair asylum system 

We also launched new initiatives focused on lived experience leadership, participation, anti-racism, and community engagement, ensuring the voices of the people we support continue to shape our work and future direction. 

The people behind the work 

The impact highlighted in this report is made possible through the commitment and expertise of our staff team, alongside the contribution of volunteers, partners, funders, and supporters across Sussex and beyond. 

This year alone, around 50 volunteers contributed more than 5,500 hours of support across our food bank, ESOL classes, casework teams, administration, communications, and resettlement services — complementing the day-to-day work of staff delivering specialist advice, advocacy, outreach, and frontline support. 

We are deeply grateful to everyone who makes this work possible and who continues to stand alongside refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in our community. 

Read the full report 

Our 2025 Impact Report shares more about the realities facing refugees and migrants today, the impact of our services, and the stories of the people who make Voices in Exile what it is. 

Read the full report here: Impact Report 2025

The post Stories, impact and community: Launching our 2025 Impact Report appeared first on Voices In Exile.

A new report published by Safe Passage, Routes to safety: a new approach to people crossing the Channel makes an evidence-based case for a competent and compassionate alternative to current failed policies, and calls on the UK government to change course.

Read and download the report here: safepassage.org.uk/new-blog-1/routes-to-safety-a-new-approach-to-people-crossing-the-channel

The report recommends three key priorities:

1. Ruin smugglers deadly trade by establishing safe routes for those seeking safety in the UK.
2. Renew Britain’s commitment to international cooperation.
3. Restore the right to seek asylum and rebuild our asylum system.

The post Read a new report from Safe Passage, Routes to safety: A new approach to people crossing the channel appeared first on Voices In Exile.

The report’s findings underscore the importance of safe and legal routes for people seeking refuge, as well as the need for a compassionate response that recognises the legitimate protection needs of those arriving in the UK. The Refugee Council’s analysis also challenges stereotypes about Channel crossings, showing that many are escaping conflict, political oppression, or other serious threats to their lives.

At Voices in Exile, we encourage everyone to read the Refugee Council’s full report and press release to better understand the realities faced by refugees arriving in the UK.

Visit the Refugee Council website to explore this important research and join us in advocating for a just and humane asylum system: Read the full report and press release.

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