Upbeat Communities has been supporting those seeking sanctuary since 2005 and was founded in response to the needs of refugees arriving in the UK. The stories they shared of their lives and their journeys helped shape the organisation.
Our Vision: to see thriving, positive communities, where every refugee can contribute and make the most of opportunities
Our Mission: to empower refugees to thrive as they rebuild their lives
We believe that making those who are fleeing war, persecution, and conflict feel welcome will give them the best possible chance of integration. We know that making connections and building friendships can help to overcome many challenges and positively impact a refugee’s mental health. We offer opportunities for people to learn English and take part in activities that will provide therapeutic outlets to the trauma they may have experienced.
We support people to develop their skills and talents and build community in a safe place where they feel empowered to take their next steps. We also offer children the chance to be kids again when they may have experienced things that no child should experience. We work across the East Midlands (Derby, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire) and want to see thriving, positive communities where every refugee can contribute and make the most of opportunities.
When we began, relationships we built with refugee communities enabled us to identify their needs and the best ways to respond. Initially this was practical help and support, but rapidly grew into projects to build cohesion among the whole community. An early project was a community café in a multicultural part of Derby, providing employment and volunteer opportunities for refugees and a space for community activities, arts, and family events.
We continue to listen to the needs of the community, developing opportunities to empower those rebuilding their lives, operating from our hub in Derby City Centre. Since 2016 we have been delivering refugee resettlement (initially the SVPRS, now UKRS) for Derbyshire County Council and, in 2018, began the same work for Lincolnshire County Council. In addition to the multi-year support for those families, we are contracted to provide resettlement for those fleeing Afghanistan (ARAP/ACRS schemes). We are also contracted to provide training and support for hosts in the Homes for Ukraine scheme across Derbyshire.
Upbeat Communities also runs two social enterprises Derby Language School and Upbeat Clean, the latter offers excellent cleaning and life changing employment. Refugee women often face the most barriers to accessing employment once they have their refugee status due to childcare responsibilities and Upbeat Clean offers them rewarding work which is flexible around their needs
Upbeat Communities’ Christian ethos is the motivation for all our work. It is the reason why we do what we do. It is to work together to demonstrate God’s love to refugees who have been displaced by war, conflict or persecution.
Upbeat Communities works with and supports people whatever their faith, religion or beliefs. We believe in working together with others and have developed good partnerships with voluntary groups, faith groups, statutory agencies and local government. Our staff and volunteer team is made up of people of all faiths and none.
Our Values
We create COMMUNITY
Our desire is to see genuine belonging and family established between those seeking sanctuary and local people, so that local communities might be diverse and inclusive.
We are inspired to act with INTEGRITY
In knowing the unconditional positive value placed on each of us, we want to live and work with honesty, humility, and transparency, and by honouring others.
We exist to EMPOWER
Our hope is every person we engage with recognises and embraces their potential, and is encouraged and equipped to achieve it.
We are committed to CREATIVITY
We seek to pioneer creative and innovative responses to the needs of those we work with, reflecting the unique creativity we each possess.
We run on RELATIONSHIPS
We are people-centred and are dedicated to loving and caring for each other with dignity, equality, respect, openness and trust.
We are proud to be PROFESSIONAL
We give our best to all we do, and are committed to finding ways we can continually improve as an organisation.
We have COMPASSION at our core
At the heart of everything we do is the desire for compassion, kindness, and warmth to be extended to all those we work with.
We recognise that while many refugees, asylum seekers, and vulnerable migrants share common experiences, each person’s journey is unique. Therefore, we treat every individual as distinct, with individual goals, perspectives, and ways of navigating challenges.
Our work spans a wide range of countries, including Afghanistan, Albania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, Libya, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Ukraine and Vietnam. Through years of supporting these communities, we have identified key areas where support is needed. We have developed a Theory of Change and used this to develop a set of impact measures covering all areas of service delivery. The difference we make to the lives of asylum seekers and refugees is focused around seven key outcomes:
- Feeling recognised and valued
- Meeting basic survival needs
- Physical health, Mental health & emotional well-being
- Feeling integrated and connected in the community
- Able to deal with day-to-day challenges
- Employment opportunities and aspirations
- Connection, empathy and compassion from wider community
To achieve these outcomes, we have implemented a variety of projects:
Refugee Resettlement: Supporting local authorities with newly arrived refugee families via various resettlement schemes.
Befriending: Matching local volunteers with newly arrived refugees to provide support with integration.
Community Integration: Organising community meals, social activities, and sports events.
English Classes: Offering classes from beginner to advanced levels.
Training and Skills Development: Providing confidence building, CV writing and employability training.
Hosting: Offering temporary accommodation to destitute asylum seekers and refugees facing homelessness through volunteer hosts. In additional we also provide rematching support across Derbyshire for those part of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, on behalf of the local authority.
Family and Children Support: Providing family English classes, school access, and wellbeing sessions.
Support for Women: Providing women only English classes (with childcare provision) and facilitating peer-led support groups for refugee and asylum-seeker women.
Awareness Raising: Conducting asylum awareness sessions led by those with lived experience of the immigration process
Key outputs during the last 12 months included:
- 42 families supported through the UKRS, ARAP & ACRS schemes across the East Midlands, with 24 families (91 individuals) newly resettled during this period
- A total of 3182 support sessions delivered (2268 hours), with 26,278 attendance records at our Derby Integration Hub (this includes group sessions and 1 to 1 appointments)
- 1206 unique individuals accessed our Integration Hub support (compared to 787 in the previous 12 months) from 69 different nations
- 858 people attended English language classes, with 590 English classes provided
- 187 women were supported through Upbeat Women to access peer-networks, parenting support and life-skills programmes
- 6519 free hot meals served to help mitigate food poverty
- 567 welcome packs were provided to new arrivals at our Integration Hub (for those living in hotels and hostel accommodation)
- 96 individuals provided with accommodation through our hosting provision (totalling 11,375 nights of accommodation)
- 27 refugees employed through our commercial cleaning social enterprise, Upbeat Clean