Student Action For Refugees (STAR)


Student Action for Refugees is the national network of students groups working to improve the lives of refugees in the United Kingdom by:
The organisation has close ties with several other refugee agencies such as the Refugee Council, Refugee Action and UNHCR.

History

STAR was the idea of Andy Davies, a post-graduate student at Nottingham University, he set up the first STAR group in 1994. A member of the first STAR group committee, Elly Hargreave went on to form the national charity of STAR, building a network of groups. She started the next 25 STAR groups nationwide from 1997. She secured the support of a wide range of funders and refugee organisations who partnered with and supported STAR as it grew.
In 1999 the organisation became a registered charity with an office in London to support the network with 4 staff members as well as a number of short and long term volunteers.

STAR Network

The STAR network now consists of 50 university groups as well as Friends of STAR for individuals and organisations to support STAR's work.
The groups are supported by the national office which provides various resources, training and organisation.
Each year STAR organises a national Conference in the Autumn Term, an Annual Action Day in Spring and a Summer training weekend. These events are for all young people interested in finding out more about refugee issues.

University Groups

The following universities have a STAR group:
Some STAR groups are supported by the University Union as volunteering projects. Other groups are supported by their Union Societies sabbatical officer or similar. Each STAR group is different and unique in what they do depending on the groups interest.
All groups, and those interested in starting a group can access support from the National Office in the form of training, advice, visits to meetings and events, awareness raising materials and regular contact with the rest of the network.