Daniel is our Chair of Trustees, taking the lead on ensuring that we are well governed and act in the best interest of our beneficiaries. He helped set up Refugees at Home in 2015 and has been actively involved in running the charity ever since.  He is a senior equity partner at leading law firm, Travers Smith and an expert in corporate governance and diversity and inclusion.  Daniel is an experienced charity trustee and his other appointments include serving as Trustee Chair of Just Like Us, the LGBT+ Young People’s Charity.  He has hosted a number of our guests and can frequently be found encouraging others to get involved.

Emily brings her 13 years of experience as a social worker and manager in children’s social care to her role as safeguarding trustee. Emily has had a life long commitment to social justice and has previously been a host and a home visitor for Refugees at Home. Emily currently manages a  looked after children and leaving care service and has 9 years experience working with Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children.

Matt Blacker is the Chief Executive of Hope for the Young, a charity supporting young refugees in the UK through mentoring, advocacy, and financial support. For the past 12 years, he has also worked for the British Red Cross, delivering their Young Refugee and Befriending Programme in London. He has a background in operations, project management, peer training, and business development within the charity sector.

Lauren is our Executive Director and has been part of the team since 2018. Working closely with our Trustees and placement team, Lauren is responsible for the effective delivery of our day to day operations and development of our projects. After graduating from the University of Dundee with a Masters in International Criminal Justice and Human Rights, Lauren developed her frontline and managerial experience working with charities across London. This includes frontline experience of working with families in crisis and managing a winter night shelter, which supported asylum seekers and refugees with temporary accommodation.

Areej comes from a Science background with an MSc in Environmental Management. She is originally from Sudan. Areej has worked in the social justice and migrant integration sector for the past 8 years. She joined the Refugees at Home team in 2018, her role now is Placement Team Manager focusing on working closely with our referral organisations as well as training and supporting the placement team.

Tiffany is the Volunteer and Engagement Manager at Refugees at Home and is responsible for identifying and improving our volunteer experience. She joined the placement team in June 2022, and recently started her new role. Tiffany previously worked in Corporate Events for over 10 years for Barclays Wealth, EYG and Deutsche Bank and after taking a break with her family, volunteered with several refugee charities before joining Refugees at Home.

Rossana is our Senior Outreach Coordinator. She is from Italy with an academic background in Japanese studies. In 2015, she moved to London looking for a new life experience and job opportunities. She joined R@H in 2022, after graduating from SOAS University of London with a Masters in “International Politics” developing a strong interest in migration & diaspora politics. As Senior Outreach Coordinator, she is leading on the day-to-day activities relating to  host approval, identifying trends and resolve challenges around host availability, and engaging with hosts and Home Visitors.

Alf Dubs came to the UK on the Kindertransport from Czechoslovakia aged just 6. He grew up to become Labour MP for Wandsworth and is now a peer and a figure-head for the Safe Passage campaign to bring unaccompanied refugee children – like he was – to safety in the UK.

Our other patron is Shappi Khorsandi, the fabulous comedian and author who also came here as a child refugee from Iran – but with her family, unlike Alf, because her father had to flee after he fell out with the regime there.