About MigRefHealth

What is the MigRefHealth Project?

The Project
A “community asset” is a service which supports or is used by diverse refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant communities.

This project explores the use of community assets by refugee, asylum seekers and migrants in their daily lives. Community assets are fundamental to people’s ability to navigate complex and unstable living situations and include community organisations, food banks, green spaces (e.g parks, allotments, gardens etc), blue spaces (e.g. lakes, swimming pools, canals etc) and support services (e.g. law and advice centres, drop-ins etc) among others. 

The project seeks to understand the ways that these groups make use of the different assets within and beyond their local communities to support their health and well-being – focusing in particular on access to accommodation and housing, food and nutrition and services.  

Our Objectives
Our project aims to achieve the following:
  1. To identify and evaluate how social determinants of health impact health outcomes for diverse refugee, asylum seeking and migrant communities living in the selected project sites.
  2. To develop a model which will support ICSs, civil society agencies, and research communities to collaborate on creating and implementing co-created initiatives.
  3. To research the scope for community assets to support health and wellbeing for communities.
  4. To co-design models for the delivery of place-based integrated systems that tackle the wider social determinants of health.
  5. To identify how holistic approaches to health over the life course can be embedded within integrated health services to better tackle health inequality.
  6. To build opportunities for wider community impact through sharing knowledge so that it can be used in other communities and other regions.

Who we are

This project is a collaboration between Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Middlesex University (Mdx), University of Greenwich working with a project team of partners including East of England Local Government Association – Strategic Migration Partnership (EELGA SMP), Great Yarmouth Refugee Outreach and Support (GYROS), Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign (CRRC), Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI), Migration Works CIC, Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network (LRMN) and Barnet Citizens.

It is funded by UK Research and Innovation and the Arts and Humanities Research Council under the mobilising community assets to tackle health inequalities programme, which aims to improve health through access to culture, nature and community.

Project Team

1_margaret_greenfields
Professor Margaret Greenfields (ARU)
Principle Investigator

Margaret is a Professor of Social Policy at Anglia Ruskin University, specialising in equity of outcomes for minoritised communities. 

Her key focus is on leveraging the potential for policy analysis, design and implementation to enhance equity of outcomes for minoritised communities and individuals at risk of discrimination and marginalisation experienced as a result of their (intersectional) personal characteristics and situation in society 

https://www.aru.ac.uk/people/margaret-greenfields  

Eleonore Kofman
Professor Eleonore Kofman (Mdx) 
Co-Investigator

Eleanore is a Professor of Gender, Migration and Citizenship at Middlesex University and co-Director of the Social Policy Research Centre. 

Her research focuses are on Gender and Migration, especially in relation to theory and policies in family and labour migration. 

https://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/staff-directory/prof-eleonore-kofman/   

Elena Vacchelli
Professor Elena Vacchelli (Greenwich)
Co-Investigator

Elena is a Professor of Sociology in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Greenwich.  

She works with local communities to produce evidence of migrants’ lived experience. Her interests are social policy, access to services in urban environments, inclusion, intersectionality,  and social movements. 

https://www.gre.ac.uk/people/rep/las/elena-vacchelli  

Chantal Radley
Dr Chantal Radley (ARU)
Co-Investigator

Chantal is a Research Fellow in Migration and Development at Anglia Ruskin University.   

She has led a range of NGO-based research projects and managed a range of international development programmes focusing on issues including migration, refugees and female reproductive health. Her research interests include international development, migration and refugees. 

https://www.aru.ac.uk/people/chantal-radley  

Louise Humphries
Louise Humphries (GYROS) 
Co-Investigator

Louise is the Chief Executive Officer of Great Yarmouth Refugee & Outreach Support. 

sanjiv ahluwalia
Professor Sanjiv Alhuwalia (ARU)
Co-Investigator

Sanjiv is a General Medical Practitioner who has a special interest in understanding the influence of clinical education on patient care. 

His research explores the relationship between clinical education and patient care/outcomes, and he has developed an interest in the relationship between clinical education and patient outcomes in primary care. 

https://www.aru.ac.uk/people/sanjiv-ahluwalia  

Tamara Joseph (Barnet Citizens)
Co-Investigator

Tamara is a co-chair of Barnet Citizens. 

sue_ ukes
Sue Lukes (MigrationWork)
Co-Investigator

Sue is a Director of MigrationWork, and a recognised expert on housing and migration.   

She teaches migration and housing law to local authorities, NGOs, migrant communities and lawyers, co-edits the CIH website on migrants and housing and is author of many relevant reports such as Long Term Sustainable Housing Solutions for the Intercultural City (for the Council of Europe) and Slippery Discrimination: a review of the drivers of migrant and minority housing disadvantage. 

She is also currently facilitating the housing community of practice in the Eurocities CONSOLIDATE city learning exchange, evaluating the Greater London Authority’s Migrant Advice and Support Fund and Employment Training Programme and working on strategy development with the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants.  Sue chairs Hear Me Out and is on the board of various of local migrant focused projects and her synagogue. 

https://www.migrationwork.org/people/  

9_ligia_macedo
Ligia Macedo (GYROS)
Co-Investigator

Ligia is a migration Advisor/Community Trainer at GYROS 

Ligia works at GYROS with migrant communities and has worked in different Community Projects since 2014. 

farsh raoufi
Farsh Raoufi (EELGA SMP)
Co-Investigator

Farsh is an effective independent equality and inclusion champion, trainer, and consultant. He brings a wealth of experience in fostering diversity and promoting inclusion across various sectors.  

With a background in senior leadership roles within the charity, public services, and commercial sectors, Farsh consistently prioritise the principles of equality and inclusion, and has developed skills in creating safe environments, driving organizational change, tailoring strategies to address systemic inequalities and foster a culture of belonging 

http://linkedin.com/in/farsh-raoufi  

alan robertson
Alan Robertson (LRMN)
Co-Investigator

Alan is the CEO at Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network (LRMN) and a trustee at Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers (SDCAS). 

Alan has shown an outstanding commitment to supporting refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. He has been vital in supporting the organisation to develop its strategic vision, provide invaluable advice and guidance during challenges like the pandemic, and expand the services we provide to sanctuary seekers.  

12_gill_searl
Gill Searl (EELGA SMP)
Co-Investigator

Gill is a project manager for the Employability for Overseas Nationals (EON) Strategic Migration Partnership. 

Gill has a background in languages and business and worked for over 20 years as a freelance translator. After initially mapping then coordinating ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) for the refugee resettlement programme between 2017 and 2020, and involvement in Wellbeing and Work for Refugee Integration. Gill now leads the EON – EELGA SMP project across 6 counties in the East of England. She is also EELGA SMP’s lead for the MigRefHealth project. 

https://smp.eelga.gov.uk/about-us/our-team/gill-searl/  

kirit sehmbi
Kirit Sehmbi (QNI)
Co-Investigator

Kirit is a registered Advanced Nurse Practitioner who has been working in various community-based roles for 12 years. 

Kirit works for the QNI as the Homeless and Inclusion Health Project Lead, facilitating meetings for a national network of nurses, health visitors and other professionals who work with vulnerable populations.  

https://qni.org.uk/people/kirit-sehmbi/  

Catherine Walston (CRRC)
Co-Investigator

Catherine is the head of Communications and Outreach for the Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign

15_erminia_colucci
Professor Erminia Colucci (Mdx)
Researcher

Erminia specialises in Cultural and Global Mental Health, focusing on low-and-middle-income countries, immigrants, and refugees.  

Her research interests include human rights, suicide prevention, domestic violence, child neglect, spirituality, and first-hand accounts of mental illness. She is passionate about using arts-based and visual methods, particularly photography and ethnographic film-documentary and participatory creative methods, in her research, teaching and advocacy activities.  

Erminia is the founder of movie-ment.org. 

https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/researcher/80968/dr-erminia-colucci  

egle dagilyte
Dr Eglé Dagilyte (ARU)
Researcher

Eglé is an Associate Professor in European Law and Society. She is an educator, researcher and consultant, who specialises in European Union law, human rights, social justice, migration and legal education.  

Eglé is Law REF Convenor at ARU. A fellow of the Centre of European Law at Kings College London, a Senior Fellow of Advanced HE and is actively involved in the ARU Centre for Access to Justice and Inclusion (CAJI). In the past, she acted as a Country Expert on the European Commission’s projects and has consulted for NGOs and several IT business start-ups.  

In 2015, she was named as one of the Top 50 UK Higher Education social media influencers by JISC – The UK’s expert body for digital technology and digital resources in higher education, further education and research. 

https://www.aru.ac.uk/people/egle-dagilyte  

nick drydakis
Professor Nick Drydakis (ARU)
Researcher

Nick is a distinguished economist with a comprehensive background in labour economics, discrimination, and inclusive societies.  

He is currently a Professor of Economics at Anglia Ruskin University and a Course Convenor and Lecturer at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. He also serves as the Director of the Centre for Inclusive Societies and Economies (CISE) at Anglia Ruskin University.  

His research prominently explores the intersection of labour economics with health, discrimination, and economic crises. Nick has made significant contributions through his studies on the effects of economic downturns on mental health, productivity outcomes related to health impairments, and labour market discrimination against minority groups. His work has informed guidelines and policies for organisations such as the World Bank, European Commission, and Canada’s largest labour union. 

https://www.aru.ac.uk/people/nick-drydakis  

marques hardin
Dr Marques Hardin (ARU)
Researcher

Marques is a creative technologist and researcher. He investigates methods in which immersive and interactive mediums can support knowledge exchange and promote social impact. 

Marques’ primary research interests revolve around utilising interactive technology and embedded, co-created narratives to generate impactful user experiences, particularly for enhancing teaching, education, knowledge dissemination, and understanding wider community/social issues. 

https://www.aru.ac.uk/people/marques-hardin  

Catherine Kennelly (ARU)
Researcher
20_runa_lazzarino
Dr Runa Lazzarino (Mdx)
Researcher

Runa Lazzarino (PhD) is a socio-cultural and medical anthropologist specialised in migration and health.  

She has expertise in critical, transcultural and global (mental) health, in relation to vulnerable migrants/minorities and to advanced technologies. She also co-leads theory-based studies in health care and human mobility to deliver user-centred, impactful research. With specialised expertise in migrant, digital, and mental health, Runa strives to critically and creatively connect users’ experiences with structuralfactors of inequalities and social determinants to improve policies, serviceprovision, and EDI.   

https://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/staff-directory/dr-runa-lazzarino/ 

21_anna_paraskevopoulou
Dr Anna Paraskevopoulou
(ARU)
Researcher

Anna is an Associate Professor of Management and EDI Lead in the Faculty of Business and Law at Anglia Ruskin University and a Fellow in the Global Labor Organization.  

Her primary research focuses on work and inequalities, particularly on employment experiences in the contemporary neoliberal economy. Within this theme, her work examines equality and diversity, disadvantaged groups and their labour market outcomes, workplace relations, migration, and the rise of precarious work.  

Her research findings have been utilised by various national and international organisations such as Oxfam, Essex Council, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Anna is a member of the Centre of Inclusive Societies and Economies, and her work aligns with ARU’s priority research theme, ‘Safe and Inclusive Communities’.  

https://www.aru.ac.uk/people/anna-paraskevopoulou  

Natalie Bignell
(ARU)
Project Manager

Advisory Board

nazee akbari
Dr Nazee Akbari
New Citizens Gateway

With over two decades of experience as a licensed psychotherapist, Nazee offers invaluable support to individuals and families confronting diverse mental health challenges. She serves as a clinical supervisor and, since arriving in the UK at 20, has dedicated herself to the charity sector, creating initiatives to aid immigrants with mental health issues. Since 2007, she has served as the CEO of New Citizens’ Gateway, a charity devoted to supporting refugees and asylum seekers through their Holistic Model of Support.  

Throughout the years, Nazee has collaborated with various universities, supporting students in the migration field. She has also worked as an external supervisor at Anglia Ruskin University, guiding PhD students. 

emily clark
Dr Emily Clark
GP and NIHR In-practice Fellow – University of East Anglia

Emily Clark is a GP and NIHR In-practice Fellow based at UEA. She has a specialist interest in inclusion health, working clinically in an area of deprivation in Norwich with patients who are easy to exclude including people seeking asylum and refugees.

Her community-based action research focuses on improving the evidence base on interventions which lower distress in those seeking asylum. She runs the Norwich city of Sanctuary Health stream (https://norwich.cityofsanctuary.org/) and Co-ordinates the Deep End East of England network (https://www.deependeastofengland.co.uk/) 

3. maria faraone
Dr Maria Faraone
Oxford Brookes University
Maggie Pacini
Essex County Council
neelam raina
Dr Neelam Raina
Middlesex University

Dr Neelam Raina is an Associate Professor of Design and Development and the Director of Research at Middlesex University, London. She has a PhD in Design and Development, and a Master’s in Design and Manufacture from De Montfort University, Leicester. From 2018-2021, she was the Challenge Leader for UKRI’s Conflict and Security Portfolio for the Global Challenges Research Fund.  
 
Her research interests include conflict, security, peace building, material cultures, gender, and livelihood generation in fragile, conflict affected states. Raina’s work explores notions of healing, trauma, peace and reflection through the embodied practices of making, using material culture and tacit knowledge as the underpinning for approaching violence and peace building and for sustainable income generation. Raina is a post conflict reconstruction expert with a focus on South Asia where she has conducted extensive empirical research over the last two decades. The Women, Peace and Security agenda is key to Neelam’s and her research seeks to foreground voices of vulnerable and marginalised women.  
 
Raina is a strong advocate for Afghan women and is the Director of the Secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Afghan women and girls in UK parliament. Her research in Afghanistan is ongoing as she brings women’s tacit knowledge to commercially viable spaces from the confines of the home.” 

Twitter @neelamraina 

LinkedIn Dr Neelam Raina 

Dr Rahhiel Riasat
GP NHS England – East of England
7. haroon siddique
Dr Haroon Siddique
GP and Southend Integrated Healthcare for the Homeless

Dr Haroon Siddique MRCGP has been working as a GP in Southend-on-Sea since 1997. He is a medical educator in his roles as a GP trainer and medical student teacher.  He has a particular interest in the health of homeless and disadvantaged populations and became a trustee for HARP, the main homelessness charity in Southend in 2017. He was privileged to have led a local PCN as Clinical Director during its adoption in 2019 and played a leading role locally in the organisation and implementation of covid vaccinations particularly for the homeless and care homes.  

In 2020 he set up Southend Integrated Healthcare for the Homeless (SIHH) which provides an integrated health service to the homeless in primary as well as an outreach service. In January 2021 in recognition of the work he has done he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at the Faculty of Homelessness and Inclusion. The service was also a Finalist in the 2021 HSJ awards. In Autumn 2021 his work for the homeless was recognised with an award from the RCGP Essex faculty. 

8. claire thompson
Dr Claire Thompson
University of Hertfordshire

Claire is a Reader in Food, Inequality and Health at the University of Hertfordshire, where she is theme lead for the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) prevention and early detection in health and social care group.  Her research interests focus on place-based inequalities, particularly in relation to food, health and wellbeing. 

Before joining the University of Hertfordshire, Claire was based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine working on a variety of projects including Olympic regeneration, alcohol licensing, and a Wellcome Trust Society and Ethics fellowship investigating the health and wellbeing challenges of foodbanking. She completed a PhD in Human Geography at Queen Mary University of London.   

c.thompson25@herts.ac.uk 

Christopher White
Essex County Council

Christorpher is the Programme Manager of Overseas Arrivals at Essex County Council.  

With three decades of leadership and management experience in the public and third sectors within Essex, he has primarily focused on developing innovative collaborative partnerships both within and between organizations at strategic and operational levels to deliver tangible benefits to people. 

Project Timeline

Timeline of research activities taken over the course of the project.

Currently in Development...

Project Partners