Life Transitions Refugee Support
Donation protected
Life Transitions Refugee is a new initiative aiming to help refugees in Europe come to terms with the past, accept the present and step into the future with hope.
The project is based on audio led interactive journeys with complimentary training for community groups and churches offering support to refugees.
We are looking for donations to help cover the first 6 months of operation while the project is developed and becomes established.
The Journeys
LT Journeys consists of 4 interactive stations with audio recordings guiding participants through in their own language.
There are two versions of the journey. One focuses on building resilience for those still in transition, and one helps those starting to settle to process the emotions of their experience.
The 4 stations sensitively take refugees on a journey of gaining understanding of the impact of trauma, providing a safe space to start to grieve, encouraging resilience, and offering hope for rebuilding their life one step at a time.
Impact
LT Journeys have been successfully piloted in Germany, Greece and Belgium with non-profits, community groups and churches taking on the project. Feedback from refugees and partner organisations has been overwhelmingly positive with the following direct outcomes identified.
Refugees:
- develop a positive outlook on the future
- gain understanding to build their resilience
- begin to process difficult memories in a healthy way
- are less isolated and find a welcoming community
Community Groups:
- are resourced to run the programme themselves
- are trained to offer effective support
- gain confidence in working with vulnerable refugees
- can compassionately welcome new arrivals
Alongside these benefits LT Journeys can be used to identify those requiring further emotional support, and can work as an introduction to longer term support initiatives.
Recommendations
“I was reminded of painful memories in my life, and I realized that I had been focused too much on the past, I needed to let go of the past and look more to the future. I felt that this project has helped me find more peace. I want to share it with my Kurdish friends here... They have been through their own exodus, and this would be very helpful for them.” (Bnar - Kurdish Refugee)
"Life Transitions is a powerful tool that offers space for individuals to honor their past through grief and celebration. It also encourages them to identify strengths that will help them on their journey ahead. As organizations host this simulation, they are able to come alongside individuals in their journey and offer support." (Sandy Hennip - LMSW, Former Director of Catholic Charities Refugee Resttlement Program)
"As we were confronted with the task of caring for a thousand refugees in our community, we cried out to the Lord for help. The challenges were not only logistic or language or culture. No, we often had to deal with traumatised people .The communities did not know how to handle so many people who had experienced so much loss, especially given the language barriers. Then Tim introduced "Life Transitions" and we felt like we finally had an effective tool in our hands to help. Over the next months we were able to serve our city with "Life Transitions" meetings held in different places. Every meeting was well received. As a pastor and missionary among refugees I highly recommend "Life Transitions" for churches enganged with displaced people. (Reinhard Leistner - Head of Refugee work for BFP / Assemblies of God Churches in Germany)
Funding Details
The requested funding will give the initial kickstart to help cover development and start-up costs for the first year. It will allow more refugees to gain access to the program and more community groups to receive training.
Your donation will be used for the following:
- Translation: So far the original Journey is available in 6 langauges (English, German, French, Arabic, Farsi, Sorani Kurdish) but our hope is to add more so every refugee can experience the program in their heart langauge. Professional Translation costs in the region of £600 / language / journey.
Desired - All languages for new resilience version (£3000) and new languages for original resettlement journey (£1800) (Pashto, Tigrinya and Kurmanji Kurdish)
- Equipment: LT costs £200 / Kit. Through donations we hope to subsidise this price for smaller community groups looking to take the project on.
Desired - 5 kits (£1000)
- Travel: Interest in LT Refugee is already being expressed in a number countries. Our hope is to be able to take it to community groups supporting refugees wherever they are located.
Desired - £500
- Administration: There are a number of hidden and administrative costs to starting and running Life Transitions Refugee. We hope to be able to put money aside to cover these areas such as accounting and insurance.
Desired - £700
- Developing Resources: Alongside the existing reflective journey we are looking to develop a children's version and an adapted version for victims of human trafficking
Desired - £800
-Training: We also want to subsidise training costs for smaller community groups and churches so that LT can be made available to as many people as possible.
Desired - £2000
So overall we are looking to raise £10,000 in 6 months. We really appreciate your generosity.
Thank you for making a difference.
Tim Elverson
Director
If you are interested in finding out more about Life Transitions Refugee visit www.ltrefugee.org
Life Transitions Refugee is the operating name of Life Transitions Development Ltd, a registerd UK Company No. 10549818. The company is based in Sheffield in the UK and was founded by Tim Elverson in January 2017 to support refugees across Europe and beyond. Tim has previously worked in a number of projects supporting vulnerable people including post-conflict mental health, support for victims of human trafficking and addiction rehabilitation.
The project is based on audio led interactive journeys with complimentary training for community groups and churches offering support to refugees.
We are looking for donations to help cover the first 6 months of operation while the project is developed and becomes established.
The Journeys
LT Journeys consists of 4 interactive stations with audio recordings guiding participants through in their own language.
There are two versions of the journey. One focuses on building resilience for those still in transition, and one helps those starting to settle to process the emotions of their experience.
The 4 stations sensitively take refugees on a journey of gaining understanding of the impact of trauma, providing a safe space to start to grieve, encouraging resilience, and offering hope for rebuilding their life one step at a time.
Impact
LT Journeys have been successfully piloted in Germany, Greece and Belgium with non-profits, community groups and churches taking on the project. Feedback from refugees and partner organisations has been overwhelmingly positive with the following direct outcomes identified.
Refugees:
- develop a positive outlook on the future
- gain understanding to build their resilience
- begin to process difficult memories in a healthy way
- are less isolated and find a welcoming community
Community Groups:
- are resourced to run the programme themselves
- are trained to offer effective support
- gain confidence in working with vulnerable refugees
- can compassionately welcome new arrivals
Alongside these benefits LT Journeys can be used to identify those requiring further emotional support, and can work as an introduction to longer term support initiatives.
Recommendations
“I was reminded of painful memories in my life, and I realized that I had been focused too much on the past, I needed to let go of the past and look more to the future. I felt that this project has helped me find more peace. I want to share it with my Kurdish friends here... They have been through their own exodus, and this would be very helpful for them.” (Bnar - Kurdish Refugee)
"Life Transitions is a powerful tool that offers space for individuals to honor their past through grief and celebration. It also encourages them to identify strengths that will help them on their journey ahead. As organizations host this simulation, they are able to come alongside individuals in their journey and offer support." (Sandy Hennip - LMSW, Former Director of Catholic Charities Refugee Resttlement Program)
"As we were confronted with the task of caring for a thousand refugees in our community, we cried out to the Lord for help. The challenges were not only logistic or language or culture. No, we often had to deal with traumatised people .The communities did not know how to handle so many people who had experienced so much loss, especially given the language barriers. Then Tim introduced "Life Transitions" and we felt like we finally had an effective tool in our hands to help. Over the next months we were able to serve our city with "Life Transitions" meetings held in different places. Every meeting was well received. As a pastor and missionary among refugees I highly recommend "Life Transitions" for churches enganged with displaced people. (Reinhard Leistner - Head of Refugee work for BFP / Assemblies of God Churches in Germany)
Funding Details
The requested funding will give the initial kickstart to help cover development and start-up costs for the first year. It will allow more refugees to gain access to the program and more community groups to receive training.
Your donation will be used for the following:
- Translation: So far the original Journey is available in 6 langauges (English, German, French, Arabic, Farsi, Sorani Kurdish) but our hope is to add more so every refugee can experience the program in their heart langauge. Professional Translation costs in the region of £600 / language / journey.
Desired - All languages for new resilience version (£3000) and new languages for original resettlement journey (£1800) (Pashto, Tigrinya and Kurmanji Kurdish)
- Equipment: LT costs £200 / Kit. Through donations we hope to subsidise this price for smaller community groups looking to take the project on.
Desired - 5 kits (£1000)
- Travel: Interest in LT Refugee is already being expressed in a number countries. Our hope is to be able to take it to community groups supporting refugees wherever they are located.
Desired - £500
- Administration: There are a number of hidden and administrative costs to starting and running Life Transitions Refugee. We hope to be able to put money aside to cover these areas such as accounting and insurance.
Desired - £700
- Developing Resources: Alongside the existing reflective journey we are looking to develop a children's version and an adapted version for victims of human trafficking
Desired - £800
-Training: We also want to subsidise training costs for smaller community groups and churches so that LT can be made available to as many people as possible.
Desired - £2000
So overall we are looking to raise £10,000 in 6 months. We really appreciate your generosity.
Thank you for making a difference.
Tim Elverson
Director
If you are interested in finding out more about Life Transitions Refugee visit www.ltrefugee.org
Life Transitions Refugee is the operating name of Life Transitions Development Ltd, a registerd UK Company No. 10549818. The company is based in Sheffield in the UK and was founded by Tim Elverson in January 2017 to support refugees across Europe and beyond. Tim has previously worked in a number of projects supporting vulnerable people including post-conflict mental health, support for victims of human trafficking and addiction rehabilitation.
Organizer
Timothy Elverson
Organizer
