Allocate time and resources to developing relationships with UK consulate staff. This can bring significant benefits in terms of improving on the standard consulate ‘offer’ around applications for documents and accessing other types of support.
It’s worth considering how you will develop these relationships. For example, it may be possible to arrange to visit consulates or to invite consulate staff to visit your own project. This approach can be particularly effective as it enables consulate staff to see for themselves the work that goes on to help vulnerable citizens of their country.
It’s important to understand the relationship with consulate staff as a two-way process. Find out what opportunities there are to support consulates. One way to do this might be to offer to carry out needs assessments for vulnerable clients who are not known to your service, but visit the consulate seeking assistance.
If possible, try to arrange visits to projects in EU countries. Meeting people face to face helps to establish a personal connection between staff and to develop trust. Again, this is a really good opportunity to inform staff about your service and the UK system of welfare and support services. Sending a senior-level representative from your organisation may improve the response you receive.
