Refugees and asylum-seekers in the London borough of Ealing are getting their lives back on track, with help from the volunteers at EASE and SIM cards from Vodafone's everyone.connected initiative.
Ealing and Acton Support Enterprise (also known as EASE) is a small group of volunteers making a big impact. This entirely volunteer-operated charity runs drop-in help sessions for refugees and asylum seekers in the London borough of Ealing. The people helped by EASE are all highly vulnerable, facing significant uncertainty in almost every aspect of their lives, from people waiting for decisions on their asylum applications to refugees living rough on the streets. Whatever their status, EASE gives them a helping hand – and that includes Vodafone SIM cards.
EASE hosts its drop-in sessions in a local church, every week during term-time, totalling 40 weeks of the year, with the other weeks dedicated to logistics such as sourcing donations. Attendee numbers fluctuate, but average around 100 a week.
While EASE provides various forms of assistance, from English lessons to nappies and period products, the Vodafone SIM cards are especially appreciated. Provided by the company’s everyone.connected initiative, each SIM is free for six months and comes with 40GB of mobile data each month.
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“People are desperate to avoid digital exclusion,” said Sara Nathan OBE, co-founder of EASE. “For example, we had a woman with a toddler, who was only recently moved away to Cheshunt, who travelled for two hours with her child to get a SIM card. She was so tearfully grateful.”
Although the recipients of the SIMs wish to remain anonymous, Sara Nathan testified to the impact that the SIMs have had on their lives. For asylum seekers living in accommodation without home broadband, they can still stay in touch with their GPs, lawyers, and their children’s schools. For asylum seekers who successfully gain refugee status, the SIMs can help them finally establish and get on with the new lives that they’ve sought for so long.
For refugees sleeping rough on the streets, the SIMs are often their only means of accessing support, the most critical of which is, of course, housing.
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EASE has attempted to address other aspects of the digital divide, such as a lack of access to computing devices. It has previously acquired and distributed nearly 100 laptops to the people it helps, but demand has always far outstripped supply. The charity’s need for donations of devices in good working order has never been greater.
It’s not all sweat and tears at EASE, though. Sara remembers one of the art classes hosted by the charity for the people they help: “It was such a joy to see creativity amidst all the stress in their lives.”
Charities can apply for SIM cards from everyone.connected, either for those they help or for their own operations, by using the charities.connected webpage.
Anyone with unwanted tablets and smartphones can donate them to the Great British Tech Appeal. Donated devices will be refurbished and equipped with an everyone.connected SIM and distributed to the digitally disadvantaged by Vodafone’s charity partners, including EASE.
