Flourish – Refugee and Asylum Seeker Service

About the service

Our countywide Flourish service is here to provide advice, information, onward referral and holistic support to refugees who are experiencing mental ill health, or need support with their mental wellbeing or daily challenges.

This service is available to refugees and asylum seekers aged 16 and above, offering up to 10 sessions.

We work in partnership with local agencies and charities such as the Refugee Council, Communities First, Herts for Refugees, local district councils, social prescribers, Citizens Advice and other professional agencies.

We will work alongside you to develop a tailored package of support that meets your needs, working with you to find the solutions that are right for you.

Our high quality service is flexible and will help you to resolve real-life difficulties and to improve your own independence, quality of life and wellbeing.

Our high quality service is flexible and will help you to resolve real-life difficulties and to improve your own independence, quality of life and wellbeing.

How can we help

The areas of support will be built around your needs, to help you with the goals that are most important to you.

We can provide:

• Emotional and practical support
• Help to improve your health and wellbeing
• Housing related support and advice, including homelessness
• Support with benefit applications and other applications such as visa applications
• Support with job applications
• Psycho-education around your mental health and how it might affect you
• Support to attend appointments with other services and community resources
• Signposting and onward referral to other services and community resources
• Help to reduce episodes of crisis
• Building life skills, confidence and self-esteem
• Support to build social networks and reduce isolation
• Support around relationships with hosting families
• Drug and alcohol support
• Access to Peer Support Groups

We can also help you to access other services, groups and activities that Hertfordshire Mind Network offers.

We can provide short-term advice, information and support.

We can meet with you within your local community, at one of our Wellbeing Centres and can also arrange home visits.

Flourish support made me feel that I have a friend who I can talk to and trust. It helped me enormously to settle down in England, to understand different mentalities and traditions.  I cannot even imagine how I would have managed without this support.

Groups

We also offer drop-in groups that provide mental health support for Asylum Seekers & Refugees, these are in the following locations:

• Markyate Holiday Inn (London Road, AL3 8HH) every Monday from 10.30am to 12.30pm
• South Hill Centre (Cemetery Hill, HP1 1JF) every Tuesday from 1pm to 3pm.
• Best Western Hotel (Homestead Lane, Welwyn Garden City, AL7 4LX) every Wednesday 10am to 12pm.
• Novohotel (Stevenage, SG1 2AX) every Friday from 12pm to 2pm.
• Needham House Hotel (Hitchin, SG4 7JJ) every Friday from 10am – 11.30am

If you have any questions about the groups, please email [email protected] 

How to refer

To access the service, you need to be 16+ and experiencing challenges that are impacting your mental health.

You can self-refer to this service. Referrals can also be made by any individual wishing to support you. All referrals to this service need to have consent of the person being referred.

Please contact us to find out more about the service, or to talk to us about a referral.

How to contact us