National Lottery funded charities transforming the lives of refugees across the UK

Scottish Refugee Council

With the support of a £1.5 million grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, thirteen grassroots groups across Scotland have been able to deliver community-driven refugee projects. Among the initiatives, Bikes for Refugees have provided bicycles, repair services, accredited mechanic training and group rides in Glasgow and Edinburgh, aiding 480 people.

In Dumfries and Galloway, the Happy Faces Project have created a hub offering employment guidance, cultural cooking sessions and weekly welcome meet ups for 200 people. The project provides a friendly and welcoming hub where refugees and the wider community can come together to exchange ideas.

Welsh Refugee Council

The Welsh Refugee Council is dedicated to empowering refugees, helping them to integrate and build new lives across Wales. By providing a wide range of services including face-to-face support, employment help and more.

Thanks to National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery Community Fund funding, the Welsh Refugee Council launched the Shaping Nations project. The project celebrates the importance that migration stories hold in Welsh history, working to change negative narratives by showcasing how refugee communities have contributed traditions, skills, and perspectives to Welsh culture.

Friends of Africa in Belfast

Friends of Africa is a charity in Belfast that works with young people in Ireland and partner countries in Africa, providing personal and social development opportunities. The organisation sends volunteers to support projects in Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa, while running integration programmes for refugee communities in Ireland.

Thanks to a National Lottery Community Fund grant of £19,950, Friends of Africa launched their innovative Warm Welcome Programme, a 12 month initiative that pairs young people from the refugee and asylum-seeking community with Friends of Africa members. The programme creates meaningful connections through social activities, residential weekends, facilitated workshops, and English classes, helping to support refugee integration through friendship and community.

Refugees at Home

The UK’s largest independent hosting charity, Refugees at Home helps to connect people who have spare rooms in their home to refugees and asylum seekers in need of somewhere to stay.

They have successfully placed over 6,300 guests across more than 635,000 homes.

Thanks to a National Lottery Community Fund grant of £436,349, Refugees at Home is now expanding its reach with targeted support in London and the South East, the North West, and Yorkshire and Humber.

The funding has allowed the charity to enhance placement coordinator roles and provide even better services for both guests and hosts, with plans to support an additional 3,000 guests by the end of 2027 whilst engaging with 2,500 hosts ready to open their homes.

Thanks to National Lottery players, over 2,500 projects and organisations have collectively received more than £143M of National Lottery funding to support refugees since 1994.