Virtual social activities are a good option to increase engagement with people who live far away or are self-isolating.
This wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of Refugee Roots, TimePeace and The Boaz Trust.
Virtual social activities involve facilitating interactive activities online. Similar to social activity groups except done remotely, they can be centred around an interactive activity such as reading club, jam sessions, quizzes and art sessions.
Social activities help create a community for people seeking asylum and refugees when seeing each other in-person isn’t possible. Depending on the activity, staff/volunteers may send materials directly to participants. As they are held online, people will require access to digital technologies with fast internet, and knowledge on using communication platforms.
“Try to find some way to form connections and keep a sense of community; working on an activity together and delivering some social engagement can really benefit people’s wellbeing.”
Refugee Roots
“The aim was to keep people feeling connected and the sense of community alive during incredibly challenging times”
TimePeace
“We recommend speaking to your participants first. It is really important to listen to them and allow that to influence any proposals of activities you will offer.”
Refugee Roots
“Digital literacy and confidence coupled with lower levels of confidence in English has made it more challenging for some. But to resolve this we offer 1-2-1 support with onboarding as we believe putting the time into building someone's digital confidence is incredibly beneficial in the long term.”
TimePeace