Shared Sunderland

• Improved wellbeing and access to services, including the establishment of free immigration advice in the city for the first time.
• Developed group of leaders from migrant, Black and minority communities, which disrupts patterns of racialised power in the city.
• Public and voluntary services in Sunderland are more inclusive and responsive to the specific needs of migrants.
• Increased recognition and understanding around issues of racial justice in Sunderland

• Advice, guidance and support services will be provided across the three organisations, in the areas of housing, benefits and immigration.
• Staff members of partnering organisations will participate in OISC training to become the first provider of free immigration advice in Sunderland.
• Community Leadership Development – we will support BME community to take up leadership roles in the city.
• Advocacy and influencing – we will support statutory authorities to understand the needs of, and opportunities brought by migrant, Black and minoritised communities in Sunderland

• Awareness of the availability of services needs to be raised among BME community.
• Project will tackle inequalities that create barriers for people from minority communities in Sunderland from taking part in leadership roles.
• There are very few organisations supporting people who have migrated to Sunderland and there is no free immigration advice provision in the city.
• Migration organisations in the city report that newcomers rarely feel welcome and many refugees leave when they secure their legal status.

Spring 2024 progress update- so far, since the beginning of the project in January 2022:

Since February 2022, it the project has provided direct one–to–one support to 280 people, and
provided support with a range of issues, including benefits, housing and healthcare, as well as
immigration support/advice. Out of the 142 have left the project: 72 have reported improved
financial situation. 61 have reported improved housing situation. 98 have reported improved
wellbeing. 24 were in need of immigration advice and support, 58 needed support with
housing (including registrations with housing associations, presenting to the council as
homeless and general advice on housing, such as disrepair), 82 needed support with benefits,
including applying for benefits and understanding decisions, as well as reviews and appeals,
16 needed support with accessing the health service, e.g., GP registrations, 33 needed support
with managing their universal credit account, 36 were facing other problems, such as
domestic abuse.

Most accessed more than 1 type of advice, and often struggled to navigate the system, hence,
our holistic help enabled them timely access vital support in one place, providing an effective
and streamline service.
The project has also made progress in empowering migrant and minoritized people in
Sunderland, and making Sunderland a better place for them:

-21 migrant people have become Community Voting Champions, enabling them to learn about the
importance, and the process of voting, and to engage with others to vote. This workshop was
delivered with Tyne and Wear Citizens (TWIC).

-5 have become Project Steering Group members and taken part in project planning/shaping,
creating the microgrants scheme, and appraising applications.

-3 have become school governors.

-30 are involved in working on the Shared Sunderland microgrant-funded-project, including applying,
designing their projects. This includes one-off events, regular activities (e.g., coffee mornings).

-9 have become research champions/members of the PSG, working on a project researching the
impact of the cost of living crisis on EE families.

-2 people have become board members (e.g., at a local regeneration charity) and 8 volunteers of
mainstream organisations (e.g., Children’s Services).

-2 BME individuals have been elected as councillors. 6 have applied to become candidates with
various parties in the 2026 all-out elections.

-We have delivered Intercultural Sessions to staff at 7 local public (including schools) and
voluntary/community sector organisations; these included information on cultures, such as East
Asian, Eastern European, and African, and were delivered by lived-experience staff.

-We have worked with TWIC and 2 local schools to encourage them to implement the Antiracism
Charter (https://neu.org.uk/latest/library/anti-racism-charter-framework-developing-anti-racist-
approach ).

Moreover,
We have worked with Tyne and Wear Citizens to create a grass roots movement for change in
Sunderland, which will lead to people – led change, where Black and Minoritized communities are in
charge of driving racial equality.
The Racial Justice in Education Campaign Shard Sunderland is part of has been voted for as the 1st
priority by TWIC members during the annual Delegates Assembly on 22/11/2023. While this
campaign remains a priority for ICOS, staff members are also involved to a lesser degree in two other
campaigns- the housing campaign and the cost of living campaign, which have also been confirmed
as Tyne and Wear- wide priorities.

Moreover, ICOS has now been regulated by the Office of Immigration Services Commissioner, and
can now deliver basic immigration advice at level 1. This makes us the only non-profit, Sunderland-
based provider of immigration support. Two staff member are regulated as of May 2024, and
another one will sit the OISC exam in the summer of 2024.
The two other partners- New Horizon and the Sunderland Bangladeshi International Centre are also
working on becoming regulated.

All three partner organisations have also worked together in order to create the Intercultural
Sessions, which are now delivered to public sector and VCSE organisations in Sunderland. The
sessions include information about diverse local cultures, including Eastern Europeans, Bengali and
African, and basic information about minority ethnic populations in Sunderland and the problems
they face. So far, we have delivered 7 such sessions to public and voluntary and community
organisations in Sunderland, including Northumbria Police, Sunderland City Council, and local
schools.