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New Europeans UK – #EUVote: Community at the Heart of Participation  

By GLA Democratic Participation Grants Team | 24th September 2024
A group of people sitting and standing around a table holding information leaflets on Voter registration and Voter ID

New Europeans UK (NEUK) supported three partner organisations – Shpresa Programme, Roma Support Group and Gargaar Somali Welfare Association – who provided outreach to Albanian, Roma and Somali European communities across London, respectively. These groups delivered in-person and online awareness-raising sessions with their communities using translated resources to assist.  

NEUK also co-designed two extensive resources around the themes of ‘How to Vote’ and ‘Why Vote’ with its partner organisations; these were then translated into nine community languages. Furthermore, New Europeans UK had a large social media campaign and made awareness-raising posts across social media platforms.  

They had a reach of 5,700 on Instagram and 46,200 on Facebook. 

  • 80 percent of participants, engaged via in-person or online events, had an increased awareness of the Voter ID requirement as a result of this project, compared with their previous knowledge  
  • 80 percent of respondents reported an increased understanding of the democratic system as a result of this project/ activity 

The three partners provided the following testimonies.  

“We found through our sessions that once people had discussed why and how to vote, and had become properly informed on the subject, everyone (that was eligible) wanted to register. They had not registered in the past not because they do not care, but because they had not been engaged, and were not informed about voting in the UK. Once they were engaged, they were very keen to contribute to this country through democratic participation.”  
Roma Support Group  

“They felt they were supported and given all information to vote. They very much appreciated my support. Right information at the right time.”  
Gargaar Somali Welfare Association  

“K, 17 years old, did not show any interest to vote, being part of the information session gave him confidence and knowledge to decide to register to vote. H, a pensioner, got the information from our session and decided to ask family members to register them to vote afterwards.”  
Shpresa Programme