Advocacy Officer

• Jun 2022 - Present

Education and Employment Adviser

• Aug 2021 - Jun 2022

Volunteer Support Assistant

• Jun 2021 - Aug 2021

President

• Oct 2020 - Jun 2021

In October 2020, I restarted the University of Leeds British Red Cross on Campus group which went on to run a successful awareness and fundraising campaigns working to address UK poverty exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic. During our month dedicated to this issue, we led information sessions that explored some of the causes of this crisis, the intersectionality of social factors such as race, class and gender, as well as some of the steps that the British Red Cross took to begin tackling this national emergency. We hosted a food and clothing drive for the 'Love in a Box' food bank in Leeds which saw a large and generous turnout, with donations going directly to anyone in our local community struggling to afford food, toiletries and other essential items. We also ran an online fundraiser for the British Red Cross' UK Crisis Appeal and raised a total of £147 that will be used to provide emergency financial aid to those in need of everyday essentials, such as food, clothing, medicine and transportation. Another campaign focused on raising awareness of challenges and obstacles faced by those seeking refuge in the UK, through information and myth-busting sessions along with fundraising, we aimed to help dispel some of the misinformation and rising scepticism that is taking place among some parts of the UK population. Through another fundraising event we contributed to the 'Leeds Hardship Fund' led by LASSN, which was donated directly to help support asylum seekers and refugees in our local community. Finally for this campaign, we ran a highly successful stationary drive in aid of the Leeds Refugee Forum, with all donations going to local refugee school children.

Regional Representative

• Sep 2020 - Jun 2021

Part of the Leeds Solidaritee campaigns team, I helped to raise awareness and funds for this student-led charity that funds legal aid for asylum seekers and refugees living in refugee camps in Greece. My role, along with my team, was to plan and organise four major fundraising and educational events to boost engagement with the charity and spread Solidaritee's message and key values. In addition, I was responsible for selling the charity's t-shirts and organising my own fundraising initiative for Solidaritee. In February 2021, I was part of a small research team that presented at the Solidaritee National Conference and gave a presentation talking about the topic of education and the effects that forced migration has on the educational attainment and career prospects of asylum seekers and refugees.