Supported Accommodation Services for Young Refugees in North West London

Turn to Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd for supported accommodation services and advice. Based in Edgware, London, our staff and volunteers are committed to helping young refugees and asylum seekers who are alone in the UK. Since 2002, we have done our utmost to provide the appropriate emotional, cultural, and linguistic support required to reach out to members of the Afghan and other refugee communities. Supplementing and complementing the work of statutory agencies and mainstream service providers. Get in touch today for more details.

Helping Young People

Opening a supported accommodation service stemmed from our desire to relieve the housing shortage for homeless young people aged 16 – 21 years old within the refugee and ethnic minority communities in England. There have been alarming instances of homeless young refugees lacking basic skills and feeling overwhelmed by living alone in a big city. This has often resulted in substance misuse, depression, mental health issues, delinquency, and in some cases, suicide.

The majority of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are aged between 16 and 17 years of age, most of whom have been through traumatic experiences before their arrival to the UK. Upon arrival, they have faced with the further challenges of adapting to a different country, culture and climate. The uncertainty of their asylum status and living away from their loved ones adds to the stress and anxiety already experienced by these young people. If they are not provided with the appropriate support, it could markedly hinder their integration into British society.

Through our experience and involvement in community work with refugees, we believe that we are one of the best-suited organisations to deliver this kind of service. Sharing the same socio-cultural background with young people helps us establish a strong rapport and climate of trust, which enables us to become role models for them, thus reducing the risk of delinquency and associated problems.

Supported Accommodations

Based in the London borough of Harrow, each of our supported accommodations consists of a shared house and private garden. All of our spacious accommodations are suitably decorated and situated in pleasant locations, with easy access to public transport and local amenities.

Accommodations include:

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Single or Double Bed
Wardrobe
Desk
Small Fridge

Additionally, each young person is allocated their own bedroom, which is fully furnished with:

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NICEIC Electrical Safety Certificate
Gas Safety Certificate
Fire Exit Signs
Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms
Fire Extinguishers and Fire Blanket in the Kitchen

All accommodations are maintained to the regulatory safety standards for housing and environmental health requirements, including:

Repairs are carried out promptly and professionally, whenever needed. Please note that non-accidental damage to the property is not covered in the rent or by our insurance policy.

Support Plans

Paiwand recognises the importance of supporting refugee and asylum-seeking young people within the framework imposed by the relevant immigration rules without isolating or damaging the aspirations of the service users.

Recognising that support plans must be realistic and carefully set out, we do our utmost to incorporate the possibility of young people visiting their country of origin while planning to remain in the UK. Each plan focuses on supporting all spheres of the user’s life, including:

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Building Skills and Resilience to Cope with Problems When They Arise
Raising Awareness of Rights, Responsibilities, and Where to Seek Help
Building Knowledge of Their Personal and Family History and Cultural Identity, and How These Influence Ideas, Attitudes, and Behaviour
Developing Relationships outside of the Service
Developing Communication Skills and Overcome Language Barriers
Accessing Education, Training, and Employment, as well as Career Planning, including Short, Medium and Long-Term Aims
Maintaining/Sustaining Contact with Family, Important Individuals, Groups, and Agencies

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Also, to Use International Tracing Services to Attempt to Trace Family Members

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Parallel Planning for the Possibility of the User Returning to Their Country of Origin
Encouragement and Support to Take an Active Role in the Formulation of Their Care, Pathway Plan and Transition to Independent Living
Planning Finances, Household Budgeting, and Matching Expenditure to Income
Carrying out Practical Tasks to Live in Independent Accommodation without Endangering Their Physical Well-being
Recognising, Accepting, and Valuing Differences, including Culture, Lifestyle, Religion, Sexuality and Gender
Developing Strategies to Deal with Discrimination
Learning to Live Peacefully with Themselves and Others
Recognising in Oneself and Others the Limits or Boundaries of Consent, e.g. Noise Levels; Abuse Either Physical, Racial, or Verbal; Contact Either Physical Or Sexual.
Health Education, including Mental Health, Personal Hygiene, Sexual Education, including Contraception and Preparation for Parenthood;
Resettling in Independent Accommodation

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Prepare Young People for Their Transition to Adult Status
Work in Partnership with Local Authority Services and Other Agencies to Provide an Effective Service for Young People
Enable Young People to Develop Life Skills and Knowledge of British Society and Culture through a Formal Preparation for Independence Programme
Acknowledge and Celebrate Culture, Race, and Ethnicity
Provide Opportunities for Support and Integration into the Community
Encouraging Refugees to Support Themselves through Education and Training
Commend Young People’s Personal Achievements
Plan and Prepare Young People to Move on within Agreed Timescales
Carefully Implement and Monitor Each Young Person’s Pathway Plan
Deliver an Effective Resettlement Programme That Teaches the Skills Necessary to Live Independently and Promotes Resilience to Survive on Their Own
Support Asylum-Seeking Young People within the Framework Imposed by the Immigration Rules
Deliver a Service in accordance with the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000, The Children’s Act 2004, and All Relevant Government and Statutory Regulations and Guidance
Deliver a Service in accordance with the Housing Act 1989, the Care Standards Act 2000, the Health and Safety Act 1974, and the Fire Precaution Act 1971.

Programme Aims

Through our supported accommodation programme, we aim to provide safe and structured accommodation for young refugees and unaccompanied minors between the ages of 16 and 21. Encouraging an atmosphere of safety, mutual respect, and care, we provide complete support for young people by assessing their needs and presenting behaviours.

Support sessions are arranged for a minimum of 5 hours per week, but this is flexible and can be increased as needed. Paiwand also aims to:

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Build and Maintain Both General and Intimate Relationships with Others
Develop Their Self-Esteem and Resilience
Obtain Practical and Financial Skills and Knowledge
Make Positive Lifestyle Choices
Preparing and Cooking Food
Communicating with Others and Developing Friendships outside of the Care System
Applying and Interviewing for Jobs
Exploring and Managing Feelings and Wellbeing
Developing Personal Values
Developing Problem Solving and Negotiation Skills
Planning and Reviewing Actions

Education and Life Skills

Maintaining strong links with local Youth Stop branches and other youth support agencies, we help to connect young people with opportunities for suitable courses, training, and employment. Additionally, we encourage people to attend college open days to explore further education opportunities.

We also offer a supplementary Saturday school at Stag Lane Junior School in Edgware. This includes English and maths classes and Afghan mother tongue lessons in Pashto and Dari.

Our preparation for independence programme will help develop young people’s ability to:

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Copy of the Pathway Plan
Risk Assessment
Relevant Reports to Assist in Our Work with the Young Person, including:

Additionally, we organise a range of youth activities, including football, cricket, drama, music, girls’ and boys’ clubs and other social activities at various schools, colleges, and community venues across North West London. Mentoring sessions are also available, and we arrange one-to-one key work sessions to discuss and review the young person’s progress.

Admission Policies and Referrals

Referrals are accepted from Local Authority Housing, Social Care and Youth Offending services nationwide. We accept asylum seekers and young refugees aged between 16 and 21 years old, who have been assessed as being vulnerable and in need of supported housing.

On receiving an initial referral or enquiry, a copy of the statement of purpose, fees, referral form and young people’s information will be sent to the referrer. The referral form must be returned to the Housing Manager, along with the supporting documentation.

The referrer may organise an informal visit with the young person either before or after the submission of the referral form. Once a placement has been accepted, the referrer will receive two copies of the placement agreement for signing, one of which will be returned to the Housing Manager. This must be completed prior to the young person moving in.

On the day of admission, we require a meeting to take place to plan and agree on the details of the placement plan, including:

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Referral Form
Fee Structure
Risk Assessment Form
Policies and Procedures

On arrival at the accommodation, the young person will be greeted by the Housing Manager, who will show them around the property and facilities, discuss health and safety procedures, day-to-day activities, housekeeping, and house rules. The young person will receive keys to their room, the front door, and allocated kitchen cupboard, along with contact details for the Housing Manager, office number, and emergency contacts.

Furthermore, the Housing Manager will meet with the young person for a key work session within two days of admission to introduce them to the local community, highlighting the following:

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Learn Communication and Other Effective Skills
Alleviate Social Isolation and Loneliness by Making Friends
Improve Mental Health
Integrate into the Community

Placement Referrals

Placement referrals are co-ordinated by the organisation's Housing Project Manager. Initial contact can be made by calling the main office on 0208 905 8770, the House Manager's number at 07538573820, or by email at accommodation@paiwand.com. The referrer is sent a referral pack containing information that will help them.

Placement referrals are co-ordinated by the organisation’s Housing Manager. Initial contact can be made by calling the main office on 0208 905 8770, or by email at housing@paiwand.com. The referrer is sent a referral pack containing:

Emergency Referrals

Emergency referrals will only be accepted where there is reason to believe the placement will be successful and that Paiwand’s supported accommodation service is an appropriate resource for the young person.

Transitioning to Independent Accommodation

Providing supported accommodation services for refugees, our team specialise in preparing young people for independent living.

Contact Our Team

By filling out this form and accepting below, you are giving explicit consent to us contacting you. By doing this you are acknowledging our privacy policy. It is your right at any time to unsubscribe and stop receiving further communications.*

This Privacy Policy applies to Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd. (along with all subsidiaries, affiliates, successors and assigns thereof, referred to hereinafter collectively as “Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd”, "we", "our" and/or "us"), our websites and services. Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd knows that you care how information about you is used and shared, and we appreciate your expectation that we will do so carefully and sensibly.

By visiting this or another Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd website displaying this Privacy Policy or a link thereto (a "Website", or collectively the “Websites”), or by otherwise interacting with Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd you agree to accept the practices described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is further subject to the Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd Services Agreement related to the Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd services you utilise and/or purchase. For questions on this Privacy Policy please contact our team via the contact information found on this Website.

Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd values your privacy and is dedicated to protecting your personal information and providing you with notice about what personally identifiable information we collect and how it is used, what choices you have regarding the collection, use and distribution of that information, the security procedures we implement to protect that information and what access you may have to correct any inaccuracies in the information we have collected from you.

What Information Is Collected
We receive and store any information you enter on our Websites or give us in any other way, such as via telephone, electronic mail, online or otherwise. For example, this information may be collected when you contact us for customer support.

Here are the types of information we gather:

Contact Information: We collect and retain personal contact information that you submit to us voluntarily and this includes, but is not limited to, your name, mailing address, web address, telephone number, and e-mail address. This information may include your full name, mailing address, phone number, email address, and, where provided, your fax number. Such contact information may be used, for example, to communicate with you when necessary with respect to transactions. Additionally, we may collect contact information provided to us during any correspondence relating to customer support, as well as in connection with products and services offered on our Websites.

Financial Information: We collect and retain certain financial information from when you purchase our products and services. For example, when you sign up for any other product or service through Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd, we require you to provide a credit card number and billing address before we will process that application. We will not sell, share or rent any financial information collected from you except as disclosed in this Privacy Policy or as necessary to fulfil any order for our products or services.

Demographic Information: We may collect and store anonymous demographic information (such as your postcode, gender and age), and use this data to tailor your experience on our Websites, provide content that we think you might be interested in, perform general improvements to the Websites, and display the content according to your preferences. Such demographic information may be shared with partners, market researchers and other third parties on an aggregate, non-personally identifiable basis. No personally identifiable information will be linked to such aggregated demographic information that is shared with third parties.

Other Information: We collect and store certain types of information whenever you interact with us. For example, our servers track the type of web browser you are using and the page from which you link. Additionally, we log IP addresses (a unique number assigned to every computer on the Internet) in order to improve security, analyse trends and administer the Websites. We may track your movement within the Websites, the third-party website pages from which you were referred, access times and browser types. We use this information to gauge the effectiveness of our Websites, track information for statistical purposes and to improve the products and services we provide. We collect this information to better develop a sense of what services our customers need and identify areas of improvement to the Websites. We may use such information for marketing purposes, and to send information to you that we believe might be of interest. In addition, such information may be shared with partners, market researchers and other third parties on an aggregate, non-personally identifiable basis. No personally identifiable information will be linked to such aggregated information shared with third parties.

We may supplement the information you provide us by acquiring publicly or commercially available information as available in the public domain or from third parties, for instance, to verify your address or to update your information and to create a profile of your preferences. We tie your personally identifiable information to information in the profile, in order to improve the content of the Websites for you or to inform you about products or services that we think will be of interest to you. From time to time, we may also ask you to participate in surveys or other communications conducted by us or third parties designed to help us improve the Websites or the products or services we provide.

Cookies: The Websites use “cookies” such purposes as enhancing your online experience by making it easier for you to navigate through the Websites and making certain features work better. Cookies are text files which are commonly deposited by websites on a user's hard drive when the user visits a website. The file identifies a user's computer and can record the user's preferences and other data about the user's website visit. We do not extract information about individual users during this process. Your web browser may enable you to disable cookies, but please note that certain services may not function correctly without it and your experience on our Websites may be hindered.

Third Party Cookies: We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads on our behalf across the Internet. These companies may collect and use information about your visits to this and other websites and your interaction with our products and services in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. However, no personally identifiable information (such as your name, address, email address or telephone number) will be connected with such information. They may use information about your visits to this and other websites to target advertisements for goods and services and may be used to keep track of user response to each advertisement. These targeted advertisements may appear on our Websites or on other sites that you visit. The anonymous information is collected through the use of a pixel tag or cookies, which are industry standard technologies used by most major websites. If you do not want such companies to collect this information you may opt-out.

To learn more about the use of this information or choose not to have this information used by certain third-party advertising partners, please visit the Network Advertising Initiative at http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices. Please note that if you delete your cookies, use a different browser, or buy a new computer, you will need to renew your opt-out choice.

Web Beacons: The Websites may contain electronic images (called a "single-pixel GIF" or a "web beacon") that allow a website to track the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. No personally identifiable information will be transmitted via web beacons.

Telephone Recording and Monitoring: To ensure Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd customers receive quality service, Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd selects phone calls for recording and/or monitoring. These calls, between Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd customers (or potential customers) and employees, are evaluated by Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd representatives. This is to guarantee that prompt, consistent assistance and accurate information is delivered in a professional manner. In contacting Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd creating an account with Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd, or by otherwise utilising any Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd products or services, you hereby consent to any such call recording and/or monitoring.

How Personal Information Is Used

Our Use: We receive and store any personal information you enter on our Websites or give to us voluntarily in any other way and may use it to contact you from time to time. We take steps designed to ensure that only the employees who need access to your personal information to fulfil their employment duties will have access to it. By registering on a Website and providing your telephone number, you agree that this action constitutes a purchase, enquiry and/or application for purposes of telemarketing laws. Regardless of the fact that your telephone and/or cell number may be listed with the TPS, you are providing your express written consent to receive future information (including telemarketing) about products and services from us and/or our affiliates, and you hereby agree and consent to our contacting you using the information you have provided and will provide to us. This means we may contact you by e-mail, phone and/or cell number (including use of automated dialling equipment and/or pre-recorded calls), text (SMS) message, social networks or any other means of communication that your wireless or other telecommunications device may be capable of receiving (i.e. video, etc.). We may also send you information or offers from time to time to the postal address or email address we have on file (as further outlined in this Privacy Policy). You further acknowledge that you are not required to agree directly or indirectly or enter into an agreement regarding our telemarketing efforts as a condition of purchasing any goods or services from us or our affiliates.

Electronic Mail: From time to time, Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd may use your personal information to contact you by electronic mail concerning our services. These communications are often intended to inform you of important information regarding your account, or about general services provided by Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd and/or its affiliates. If you do not want to receive email from us or our affiliates regarding new services, please click the "unsubscribe" link which is included at the bottom of any email you receive from us. However, in order to fulfil our service obligations to you, we will continue to send you emails regarding your account administration, as well as any necessary information, such as renewal notices and instructions. By providing us with your email address you consent to receiving communications from us electronically and all notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

Service Related Uses: We may use your personal information to contact you about the goods or services you have purchased from us, or for other purposes in which you have expressed an interest, for example, if you have contacted customer service or made an enquiry. We will also provide you with service and account related announcements. For instance, if the delivery of a service or product is delayed we might send you an email, or other message, or if there is some service issue with something you might have ordered. Generally, you may not opt-out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature. If you do not wish to receive them, you have the option to cancel your services with us.

Protection of Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd and Others: We may release account and other personal information when we are required to do so by law, court order, subpoena or other government or law enforcement authority or regulatory agency, including ICANN, in order to enforce or apply our Services Agreement or other agreements, or when we believe in good faith that disclosing this information is necessary or advisable, including for example, to protect the rights, property, or safety of Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd, our users, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for fraud protection, credit risk reduction or other similar purposes. Sites Other Than Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd, Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd has no control over and is not responsible for the privacy policies or information gathering practices of other websites, including those to which we may link and those which may link to us. We strongly recommend that you review the privacy policies of every online service you use before submitting any personal information and direct any concerns to the site administrator of that website.

How Long We Keep Your Personal Data.
We keep information only for as long as we need it to provide you services, manage our business or as required by law or contract. Where you have a contract with us, we will retain your data for the length of the contract, and will further retain that information for a time period consistent with our legal or regulatory responsibilities, after you terminate all your services with us to resolve disputes, enforce our relevant Service Agreement, and to adhere to the technical and legal requirements and constraints related to the security, integrity and operation of the Sites. If you have any questions about how long we will keep your specific data, please contact us.

How We Keep Your Personal Data Safe.
We work to protect the security of your financial information during transmission by using Secure Sockets Layer ("SSL") software, which encrypts the information you input on the Site. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure and we cannot guarantee its absolute security. You can further help to ensure your security by taking a few simple precautions. For instance, it is important to protect against unauthorised access to your computer, and to be sure to sign off when you are finished using a shared computer.

Limitation Of Liability
Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd assumes no responsibility or liability with regard to any theft, loss, alteration or misuse of personal or other information lawfully provided by Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd to third parties, or with regard to the failure of any third party to abide by this privacy policy or such third party.

Contacting Us.
If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, you can contact us by mail at Afghan Association Paiwand Ltd, 11 High Street, Edgware, London, HA8 7EE.

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