East of England Local Government Association's Strategic Migration Partnership

The Wellbeing and Work for Refugee Integration (WW4RI) project, led by the East of England Local Government Association’s Strategic Migration Partnership (EELGA SMP), provides employment, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and skills development, as well as wellbeing support to refugees across the East of England.

Project objectives

The Bell Foundation funded the evaluation of the WW4RI project and the development of a comprehensive framework for refugee resettlement and integration. Currently, the Foundation is funding the roll out of the lessons learned from WW4RI across the East of England through the dissemination of the framework and the delivery of training and events with key stakeholders.

Project partners

The Strategic Migration Partnership is hosted by the East of England Local Government Association. The Strategic Migration Partnership is a tiered regional network that works with partners to develop and support local migrant worker, asylum seeker and refugee networks, encompassing grass roots organisations and a network of multi-agency groups as well as specialist and task groups.

About the project

The WW4RI project supported approximately 1,000-1,200 refugees between 2020 and 2022 across six counties in the East of England (Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex) and is currently seeking to reach a further 1,000 refugees across the region.

The project provides participants with support across three strands. This includes an employment strand, through which participants work with a dedicated employment advisor to support their path into work and in some cases, a business adviser who can help them establish a business. An ESOL and skills strand enables participants to attend a range of language and wider skills courses, including sector-specific ESOL. A wellbeing strand also provides participants with access to targeted wellbeing support, including access to a therapist.

The evaluation report was published in September 2022.