About Us

Supporting Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Hull and East Riding.

Hull, in being declared a City of Sanctuary in 2017, has ensured there is now a momentum across the city to ensure Hull expands this commitment, enabling the City to be identified as a recognised place of welcome and safety for people seeking sanctuary.

Never more so than in these challenging times of Covid-19, which have impacted on the health inequalities, both physical and mental, of people so much in need of support.

Who we are?

Welcome House is a local registered charity, set up in 2020, working across Hull and East Riding, offering welcome and support to asylum seekers and refugees in order to make them feel welcome, included and supported, in collaboration with Hull City Council, people, civil, business, charitable and public sector organisations, faith communities, volunteers and staff under the auspices of the Board of Trustees.

Welcome House will harness the skills and commitment of refugees and those seeking asylum as well as professionals and volunteers. We will be co-creating our services with partners and, most importantly, refugees and asylum seekers.

Our Values

Our interactions with others (including fellow team members, partners and service users) will always be respectful, compassionate, understanding and empowering:

We will treat others with respect, valuing their opinions and their experiences;

We always listen intently to our beneficiaries, their needs and aspirations, ensuring we aid communities to hear the true voice of asylum seekers and refugees arriving and living in Hull and East Yorkshire;

We have the courage to stimulate new conversations, constructively challenge existing services, frequently putting our resources where our mouth is, when looking to improve lives every day;

We connect people, thriving as part of a consortium not looking to become the only answer, but frequently the glue that signposts and binds together collective solutions;

We empower continuous learning encouraging our beneficiaries to never stop learning, and we practice what we preach ourselves looking to learn from national best practice and ultimately continually strive to be that for asylum seekers and refugees now and in the future; and

Above all we deliver with compassion using our hearts as well as our minds when working with our beneficiaries; seeing people as individuals with all their strengths, experience, resilience and spirit, not defined by their migration status. Understanding that each individual is unique, and that no process and principles can replace compassion, respect and above all humanity.

Our Vision

Welcome House aspires to see asylum seekers and refugees empowered to build and lead fulfilling lives, connected to local services, integrated with local communities and actively contributing to society in the Hull & East Yorkshire area.

Our Mission

Welcome House exists to provide a place of welcome, safety, care and compassion for asylum seekers and refugees where they can start to rebuild their lives and be empowered to engage positively with the wider community. We provide a platform for the community of Hull and East Yorkshire to embrace asylum seekers and refugees. We and our partners are experts in transforming that generosity into enabling those seeking asylum and refuge to have the confidence, skills and resources to invest back in the community that has welcomed them and fulfil their potential.

Our Trustees

Leonne Griggs – Chair

Trisha Dalby – Vice-Chair

Humphrey Forrest – Finance Lead

Dr Andrew Palfreman – Trustee

Ayman Chakouch – Trustee

Ibrahim Munkaila – Trustee

Dr Nigar Mahomed – Trustee

Our Team

Bashir Siraj – General Manager

Mel Jassim – Service User Support Worker

Jill Barton – Administration and Support Officer

Our Funders

The Breslaff Centre
The National Lottery Community Fund
Two Ridings Community Foundation
The Sir James Reckitt Charity
The Leonard Chamberlain Trust
Active Humber
Hull City Council
The Mother Humber Memorial Fund
Individual local donors