Information for people new to Manchester
Keeping in touch

  If you became separated from your family members while you were fleeing your country and you would like to try to find them or if you want to meet people from your own country here in Manchester, or to bring your family to join you in the UK: this section tells you about the possibilities for doing these things.

Tracing family members

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The British Red Cross works with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in other countries to reunite families. If you have lost contact with family The British Red Cross may be able to help you to find them and make contact.

The British Red Cross cannot guarantee that the person you are seeking will be traced, but every effort will be made to do so. If the person or people you are looking for are traced, but do not want their whereabouts to be known, their details will not be passed on to you.

You will be given a special Red Cross tracing form to fill in, on which you give essential information about the person (or people) you are looking for, including full names, dates of birth and last known address. All enquiries are kept confidential, and there is no time limit on finding the lost person.

Sending a message overseas

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If you want to send a message to a relative overseas who is living in a difficult place to contact – such as a refugee camp – the British Red Cross Message Service can help you. The Message Service staff will give you a special Red Cross Message form to write your message on. Messages must be about family or personal messages only; they must not include political or military information. The Red Cross cannot send money or packages.

Visits to overseas relatives

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If your relative overseas is ill, elderly, living alone and they fail to communicate with you, then they may need some help. The British Red Cross may be able to ask a member of the Red Cross in that country to visit your relative and report to you about their health and welfare.

Family reunion

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Once you have been given indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK, it is possible to apply for overseas members of your family to come and join you. You will need to ask your solicitor to make the application for family reunion for you. However, once all family members wishing to come to the UK have been issued with entry visas by the British embassy in the home country the British Red Cross can get involved in helping to organise their journey to the UK. This help is given primarily to those refugees on a low income: contact the British Red Cross for further information.

NB Permission to bring family members into the UK is only given to those refugees with ILR; if you have been given discretionary or humanitarian leave to remain, you will not be able to apply for family reunion. The British Red Cross has no influence in this matter, nor is it able to help with obtaining entry visas.

Refugee Community Organisations in Manchester

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While you are staying in Manchester, you may want to get in touch with people of your own country or who speak your language. There are a number of refugee community organisations (RCOs) in the city which exist to serve their communities.

It is not possible to list all the RCOs here, because their contact details often change, but you can make enquiries about existing groups to Manchester Refugee Support Network, Multi-agency for Refugees in Manchester (MARIM) or Refugee Action. If no group exists for your community, these organisations can give you information and help to set up your own group.

Return to your home country

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If you are thinking about returning to your home country on a permanent basis, you can get help and advice on how to do this from the Choices team at Refugee Action.

Contact details

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