Youth, Integration & Volunteering Matters:Young Refugees & Asylum Seekers in Brighton & Hove

This thesis began when themes started to emerge between my paid employment coordinating a youth volunteering project and my academic migration studies, which pointed towards policy campaigns promoting volunteering to both young people and refugees. It investigated the emergence of an integration-through-volunteering strategy that focused on volunteering as a route to employment and a path to citizenship. Policy analysis revealed that the link between integration and volunteering matters is complex, presenting both opportunities and risks. Interviews were carried out with young refugees and asylum seekers in Brighton & Hove in order to understand how this policy message might be filtering downwards. An investigation of both strands of employment and citizenship revealed how young refugees are able to negotiate volunteering in their own life strategies