Audacious Veg Welcomes Refugees

CFGN member ‘Audacious Veg’ is running a crowd funder which you can find out more and support through this link, and also some info below

Welcome a refugee to the UK this Christmas with a gift of a weekly bus pass

It only costs £21 pounds to change a refugee’s life with a seven-day bus pass – donate today!

Here at Audacious Veg, we wanted to find a way to make newly-arrived refugees feel welcome in London, and make their lives a tiny bit easier. We asked ourselves- “how can a tiny food growing project make a big difference to people seeking asylum in the UK?”

Refugees seeking to claim asylum in the UK are not legally allowed to work, and often struggle to survive on less than £5 a day. This makes London’s high transport costs unaffordable, leaving many refugees isolated and unable to access support services. You can help change this.

We’re running this crowd funder to help refugees rebuild their lives in London through getting involved in our local food growing project, Audacious Veg. We’re a small social enterprise with a big vision: a world in which local food is a driving force in local economies, positively transforming peoples lives through work placements and volunteering.

We are working in partnership with the Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London and Forest Farm Peace Garden (the community garden hosting Audacious Veg, who have 12 years’ experience working with refugees like Ismail) to create volunteering placements for recently arrived refugees, giving them the chance to meet people, experience the therapeutic effects of nature and community, and gain new skills that will help them settle into life in London. Because the volunteering placements include helping out at Audacious Veg, participating in sessions at RAMFEL and attending English classes, volunteers will be given weekly bus passes so they can attend the various components of the placement.

We are aiming to raise £2,500 because that will let us fund 100 weekly bus passes, cover Crowdfunder fees and rewards, and even buy some food that we can share together while volunteering. If we make any funds in surplus of this, they will go towards additional hot meals for volunteers, tools and work clothing for the volunteers to use.

As we’re heading towards the winter holidays, consider giving the gift of freedom of movement. By contributing £21, we’ll send a greeting card to a friend or family member telling them that you’ve dedicated your gift of a weekly bus pass to them.

Audacious Veg is about empowering people to take control of their lives, even when it feels like everything is going against them. If you help out by contributing towards travel costs, we can create a supportive and welcoming community for refugees to meet people, learn skills and start to rebuild their lives.

The rewards: 

Due to shipping times, we cannot guarantee delivery before Christmas Eve for international deliveries.