Our Mission

At GARAS (Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) we offer support to those seeking asylum in Gloucestershire, welcoming them when they arrive, advocating for them in their daily struggles, supporting them if they face being sent back as well as helping them adjust to their long term future if they are recognised as refugees.

Contact Information

Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS)
The Trust Centre
Falkner St
Gloucester
GL1 4SQ

Telephone: 01452 550528
General enquiries: info@garas.org.uk
Administrative enquiries: admin@garas.org.uk
www.garas.org.uk

Director
Adele Owen

Two Blog posts today!

June 19, 2019

If you haven’t already seen it, there was a fab article on Gloucestershire Live’s website posted earlier this week- have a look here . (If you’re local, the print copy of The Citizen newspaper will come out tomorrow.) The Chief City Reporter met Michael Zorek, the New Yorker who’s made a trip to Gloucester this Refugee Week to mark 80 years of the Kindertransport [his father was one of 10
boys brought to Gloucester in 1939], and in GARAS’s twentieth birthday year. The online version contains a video clip with him – worth a watch. He first got in touch with us last year, having been signposted to us by Gloucestershire archives, whose excellent online resources he had found. He was one of the main speakers at a moving event last night, featuring also the grandchildren of the couple who were house parents to Michael’s father in the Gloucester hostel where he lived for several years when he first arrived here as a teenager. Other speakers included GARAS staff and trustees, along with Barbara Winton, daughter of Sir Nicholas Winton, who rescued 669 children from Czechoslovakia on the Kindertransport before the Second World War began.

Tonight, I’ll be in conversation with Jon Smith on BBC Radio Gloucestershire, reflecting on last night’s event and also talking a little bit about how I got involved in working at GARAS, where I am one of the Advice Workers. Tune in live from 7pm tonight (Wednesday) or listen on catch up later – first conversation starts a little after 19:20.  Thanks.

Hannah