Welcome to our Centre
We offer a warm welcome and safe space to people seeking support and sanctuary; together we share food, stories and build relationships.
We offer specialist advice on immigration and asylum support, and one to one support with welfare, housing, health and access to wider services. We provide hot meals, English language classes, training, cultural, social and wellbeing activities, trips and volunteering opportunities. We have a nursery, spaces for reflection and an integration service. As a core member of the Calderdale Valley of Sanctuary, we want to share stories and build awareness about human rights, advocating and campaigning locally and nationally.
We began in 1968 as a Church playgroup and in 2009 became an independent charity, continually evolving and welcoming all, regardless of faith, ethnicity or background. We have 12 staff, 140 volunteers and a community of 750 individuals and families from 57 different countries.
Latest News
Refugee Week 2021
Refugee Week is a UK-wide festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Founded in 1998 and held every year around World Refugee Day on the 20 [...]
English for Life in the UK – Seeking Asylum in the UK, Part 1
Season 2, Episode 24 The right to asylum. How the process I supposed to work. Some of the challenges. The voices of experience from asylum seekers and refugees. Download Transcript Transcript MarkHello, and welcome [...]
English for Life in the UK – Elections in the UK
Season 2, Episode 23 In May 2021 there were local and mayoral elections in England, national elections in Scotland and Wales. We interview one of the local candidates to find out what it [...]
English for life in the U.K. is one of the ESOL classes here at the Centre, run by a team of our volunteers. There is a weekly podcast to support this class which is available here, which we hope will be of interest to anyone wanting to improve their English and learn more about life in the U.K. There are also transcripts of most of the episodes here, and there is additional material available through our twitter account here.