Origins

The Anchor Project was founded in 2004 following a needs assessment with separated minors attending the Refugee Council for advice. The survey found that young people seeeking asylum in London were at a real loss at the weekend and without a safe space in which to meet peers, engage in sports activities and be themselves. Statutory services do not usually operate on the weekends and so young people are left to their own devices, feeling lonely and missing their relatives.

In parallel to this research, interviews were conducted with local youth providers and youth leaders. It was found that few asylum seeking young people were accessing their services. The reasons behind this were thought to be lack of language skills and lack of accessibility of local youth forums in Lambeth and surrounding boroughs.

With an initial grant from the British Council, the Anchor Project was able to begin running activities every saturday in a rented youth centre in Lambeth. Volunteers were recruited from the local community and contacts were made with various organisations offering creative and educational activities. Collaborations have included work with: Akdemi, the Barbican Education team, Brooks sexual health clinic, PAN Arts for Social Change. The Anchor Project joined the Refugee Youth network which enabled further collaborations as well as joint residentials outside London. The Anchor Project has worked with over 200 young people.

In 2007, further grants from Lambeth Endowed Charities enabled the project to recruit a coordinator to undertake outreach work, volunteer management and the day to day running of saturday activities. The coordinator has been instrumental in enabling volunteers and young people to find out about the project as well as encouraging young people from the Anchor Project to become volunteers themselves. This was followed by funding from BBC Children in Need in 2008 and Comic Relief in 2010.