Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group
Supporting people affected by immigration detentionAre you in detention at Tinsley House or Brook House IRC’s? Call us on 0800 389 4367
Immigration Detention
Find out more about immigration detention and why we support people being held there.
Are You In Detention?
If you or someone you know are currently being detained at Gatwick, you can find information on what you can do here.
Latest news from GDWG
Read our latest newsletter to keep updated with what is happening in our community.
Become a friend of GDWG
Help us respond to the needs of people in immigration detention and after release, through befriending, advocacy and practical support.
Get Involved with us
If you would like to support our work or are already volunteering for us, find everything here.
Refugee Tales
Refugee Tales is an outreach project of Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group inspired by the experiences of men held in immigration detention at Gatwick and the work of the group in 20 years of visiting.
I wanted to be a trustee to be able to empower other people who are going through difficulty in their lives now, as far as detention is concerned. I want to encourage them to hold on.
Pious
“Over 25 years, the work of the Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group has required much empathy, experience and patience in assisting those whose lives have been shattered by appalling circumstances… For those who have often been deeply traumatised, who may have lost all trust and witnessed systemic failings, GDWG shines out as a beacon of hope in a troubled world.”
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC
When my friend told me about people being in detention in the UK, I thought I would visit and tell people: I went through this experience and it gets better.
Mariam
I remember one man. His case seemed black and white. He was clearly a victim of torture, and was from a minority ethnic group and we knew there was an issue there and his life would be in danger but still his case was refused. Each time he was taken to the airport in a van not knowing what would happen but expecting to die if he was taken back to his country. He was eventually released from detention. His experience showed the way people are relentlessly and constantly ground down.
Karris
When I see people being deported for no other reason than the colour of their skin, the fact that they are poor and without influence or agency, I ache for what is happening to them, but I also hate what we are allowing ourselves to become when we allow it to happen as we watch. We need to do better, as humans, as society; in our neighbourhoods, in our nation, in our world.
Sameena