Charity gives me someone to trust, says refugee

"Through the counselling service it got easier for me, I have someone I can trust, I have a support system," says Bella, a refugee from Pakistan.

The artist, who has changed her name to protect her identity, has a masters in English literature and dreams of becoming a teacher.

Some of her work is now featured in an art exhibition at University Church in Oxford.

Bella arrived in the UK alone as an asylum seeker 18 months ago, after fleeing her home due to fears for her safety.

She then spent more than a year in an asylum hotel in Banbury, before being granted refugee status by the Home Office.

Bella says, like many asylum seekers in her position, she struggled with isolation, loneliness and found it hard to trust others.

She was put in touch with Oxfordshire charity Refugee Resource, which gave her one-to-one trauma-based counselling.

It provides counselling for about 165 asylum seekers, refugees and migrants a year, as well as a women's group and outdoor wellbeing support.

Bella says many asylum seekers also suffer from depression because they do not know anyone and struggle to speak English.

"They are in a different cultural shock and they don't know how to survive, it's hard, they're not earning money and any benefit they get is extremely small that they can not get by," she says.

Bella now works part-time at a school in London and volunteers for the charity.

"I like to share the stories of struggle, but also that there is hope and we can get through it," she adds.

Another refugee who has received counselling from the charity, 37-year-old Malika, whose name has also been changed, joined its women's group where she has built strong friendships.

She fled from Afghanistan with her family when she was 16 after the Taliban killed her brother.

They moved to Pakistan, Iran and then to Turkey where she studied for a masters and PHD in sociology.

After getting married she followed her husband to the UK in 2010, where she received refugee status before being granted permanent residence last year.

But her mother and sister, both teachers, returned to Afghanistan, and Malika worries for their safety.

"For me it's very hard, because it's eight years I've not seen my family... I miss my mum, my country, my friends, school, my city."

She says the charity has become like a second family to her.

Malika is now taking an English course to improve her language skills, which she hopes will enable her to work as a lecturer in a university.

As a designated city of sanctuary, Oxford aims to offer a place of safety for people fleeing persecution and violence.

Refugee Resource, based in Cowley, was established 25 years ago in response to a growing demand for specialist services.

"We are specialists and understand how to support those clients without triggering them back to their original state of how they got to the country, so it's a really niche piece of work that our nine counsellors do," says Chief Executive, Jacqueline Adusei.

At the end of March 2025, Oxfordshire was hosting 671 asylum seekers, according to Home Office figures.

Mrs Adusei says demand on their services has increased by 40% in the last three years, but competition for grants and donations means they have seen a drop in funding.

This year the charity says it faces a £100k shortfall and has been forced to dip into its reserves.

As part of Refugee Week, the charity has launched a fundraising campaign to raise £10,000 through donations to its website.

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