By 2025 we want to be in a position to:
- Advocate effectively for our client group to effect change where legislation, government guidance and service provision are forming barriers to a safe, legal route to reunion.
- Ensure all organisations and services working with asylum seekers and refugees having some understanding of the family reunion process, the barriers and the financial and emotional impact and being in the best position to support their clients and signpost to specialist services where required.
- Lead on a collaborative partnership approach to delivering our service to ensure that clients receive the best support from the most appropriate organisation and eliminate duplication between organisations.
- Offer advice on all aspects of the process from actions that might place the entry visa application at risk, the visa application and where to go to for specialist advice.
- Offer financial support at every stage where this is a barrier to reunion.
- Offer an end-to-end support service for families, from the very early stages maintaining family links, through the visa application, to travel assistance and a comprehensive post arrival service long after the family come to the UK.
- Have a comprehensive network of peer mentors with experience of the family reunion or asylum process to offer ongoing relationship based support to clients.
- Provide comprehensive resources available in a range of languages for clients who prefer to go through the process independently.
- Be fully and sustainably resourced to allow us to meet the above aims and deliver a reliable and consistent service.
Our Front and Centre strategy sets out our plans to transfer ‘ownership’ of Together Now to people with lived experience of refugee family reunion or the UK asylum system.
Principles of our strategy
- People with lived experience of family reunion also have a lot to offer to the future of Together Now
- Together Now will be better able to serve refugee families if it is run by those with lived experience
- People with lived experience will be treated as any other board member or volunteer but given support as needed to contribute fully