Our Second Home: Building the next generation of leaders with refugee backgrounds

Sarah Avery from Our Second Home (OSH) writes about how you can get involved in supporting OSH residentials for young people with refugee status or seeking asylum.

We are Our Second Home, a youth movement of young people with refugee backgrounds. OSH was started by former youth leaders who wanted to open up the transformative experience of a youth movement to the thousands of young people in the UK who may lack the vital community and support that is fundamental to flourish into adulthood. 

We are a community of powerful young leaders ready to inspire their peers. We run residentials, a leadership programme for young people who want to lead on our trips, and weekly hubs in London and Bristol. 

At our youth movement’s heart are the young people. Our residentials work like this: young people with refugee status or seeking asylum come on an OSH residential trip. They cook together. Play games. Try new things. Meet new people. Lead workshops. Learn dances from each other’s cultures. Many had their childhoods taken away from them and at OSH they just get to be kids.

The perfect recipe: 

40 young people, 

20 leaders, 

chefs,

nutritious ingredients, 

fun, 

creativity 

and noise. 

During our trips the kitchen is at the centre. It is a space where we welcome like-minded chefs who want to share their tasty recipes. It is often a focal point for important discussions, down-time, young people learning new skills, or sharing their already mind-blowing cooking skills. It provides solace for the participants who may not want to join the larger group, and leaders who want a chat. 

Quote from one of our regular kitchen volunteers: 

“It is the most fun and fulfilling charity work I have ever been involved in. It’s supportive and challenging in equal measure. It’s pushed me to be creative with my cooking and I’ve learnt so much about new cuisines from wonderful participants!“

Bristol Hub

In Bristol, we run a vibrant weekly hub for a growing community of young people based in the area. We welcome a range of facilitators from the city who share their skills with us. Everything from Sri-Lankan cooking classes to woodwork sessions. As well as games, movie nights, boxing workshops, mural painting and skills sessions, and trips around the city. We have a small but dedicated team of staff, volunteers and youth leaders who support participants to feel celebrated by a positive network, try new things, build friendships and gain leadership skills. Our hub wouldn’t be the same without a hot community meal at the end of every session.

Bristol Residentials

Last year we ran our first-ever Bristol residential and this year we have big plans to run two trips …. Watch this space.

Chefs who join us run the kitchen – or help to run it – and plan what they want to cook. We try to represent the cultures of our young people in the food and welcome adventurous spirits (within the realm of teenage tastebuds).

We currently order most of our food online, for ease and consistency. We would like to change this. We want to be able to offer locally grown and nutritious food and minimise wasteful packaging where possible while connecting our young people to the land around them. 

We are building the next generation of leaders with refugee backgrounds, good food is key. 

How can you get involved: 

Join us for volunteering on our residentials (running in school holidays)

Donate surplus food for our residentials! 

Volunteer at our weekly youth hub, Tuesday evenings

Or just get in touch, say hi, follow us!

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