What's your specific role and what does a typical day involve?
My title is home school liaison worker and trainer and my role has two parts. The first involves giving advice to refugee parents in the community about issues relating to both the education of their children and their social needs. Home-school liaison means that I provide a vital link between the school and refugee parents who might be very unfamiliar with the British education system and how they can help their child's learning.

At the same time we recognise that parents will not be able to support their child effectively if they are also facing a mountain of social problems too. So we also give advice and support on issues such as housing, health, training and employment, the benefits system etc. Our hope it that parents will be more able to engage in their child's learning and development if their social needs are addressed.

As well as providing advice and advocacy, we also regularly refer people on to other agencies or services who can help. For example, if someone comes to us because they want to apply for family reunion we will help find them a solicitor to apply to the Home Office on their behalf.

The other part of my role involves training teachers on how to successfully integrate refugee children into school. I help teachers develop practical policies and classroom strategies that encourage a welcoming environment and greater understanding between refugee and non-refugee pupils and staff. This involves running teacher training sessions and workshops and talks at conferences.

What's the difference between refugees and asylum seekers?
There's a very important distinction between the two. Refugees have "status", which means the government has recognised that they have suffered persecution in their own country and as a result are granted refuge. Asylum seekers are people who have not yet had their case assessed and they are waiting to find out whether they will be granted refuge.

How did you first become involved in this kind of work?
Like many students and graduates, I had a vague idea that I wanted to “get into the charity or development sector” when I left university, but didn't really know what was out there or what skills and experience I needed.

I spent two years in teaching, but was very unhappy and I didn't know what to do next. I applied for jobs in development, but didn't get any interviews. Lots of people advised me to do some volunteering, so I took the brave step of leaving my job to volunteer for the Oxfam UK office in Oxford. Leaving my job voluntarily meant I couldn't claim Job Seekers Allowance, so I supported myself by doing private tuition.

I was with Oxfam for 10 months and during that time spent a day a week volunteering for Save The Children, who had just started a project working with unaccompanied children seeking asylum. They wanted volunteers to help run a social club. My experience volunteering for Oxfam helped me secure a paid job with People & Planet and I stayed there for over a year whilst continuing to volunteer for Save The Children a couple of evenings a week and some weekends.

By now I had two years experience in the field and when a job came up with Asylum Welcome as a youth worker, I applied. I got the job and realised that I had found the career I really wanted, that suited my skills and strengths.

My role was very varied. I gave lots of support to the children I was working with (helping them settle in Oxford, being a listening ear andworking with them to access different services), ran three youth clubs and worked hard with statutory bodies to improve provision for asylum seekers. Statutory provision in this area was very new and slow moving and I had to do lots of high level lobbying and talking to service providers. I loved the mixture of hands-on and policy work.

The next natural step for me was the move to my current work at the Salusbury World Refugee Centre. This is a unique project, being the first refugee support centre to be set up within a school