Supporting refugees with their mental health – a short video

Thrive LDN and the Refugee Council have developed a short video for volunteers and professionals on engaging with refugees and asylum seekers, particularly in relation to supporting mental health and wellbeing. In the video, Paul Cilla La Corte, London Therapeutic Services Manager for The Refugee Council, shares helpful information and advice learned from the nine years he has spent working with refugees and asylum seekers.

You can also find some further resources and guidance on the Thrive LDN website for supporting Ukrainians and for supporting the Afghan community.

Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of displaced Ukrainians

Thrive LDN and partners have put together a short guide to help families in London create a safe and welcoming environment for displaced Ukrainians arriving to the UK.

Outlined in the guidance are some simple dos and don’ts, based on the experiences of other groups of refugees. The guidance highlights how kindness, patience, and empathy will be vital for creating a safe and welcoming environment and avoid the potential for further harm. The guidance also contains further information on assisting displaced Ukrainians to access professional support, including NHS mental health and wider community support services.

Updated wellbeing support for Afghan evacuees in London

Thrive LDN has worked with community partners to create a range of updated resources to support the mental health and wellbeing of the Afghan community – both for newly arrived evacuees and the many Afghans already living in the capital.

A ‘Help with your concerns and worries’ booklet is now available in English, Dari and Pashto. Many Afghan evacuees have also found support through local faith groups and the updated booklets now include extracts from Good Thinking’s Five Ways to Good Mental Wellbeing & Islam resources, which helpfully show how wellbeing ideas are encouraged in Islamic teachings.

Thrive LDN has worked with London boroughs and community organisations to print and distribute around 7,000 hardcopies of the updated booklets to Afghan evacuees in bridging accommodation and in the community.