EP 39: Emma Bamber on community peer support, asylum seekers, and building belonging through food

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Shoulder to Shoulder, Cate is joined by Emma Bamber, co-lead of Cafe Laziz, a peer-led community space supporting asylum seekers and refugees in St Helens.Café Laziz welcomes people who are socially isolated, traumatised, and living with long-term uncertainty, many of whom are survivors of war, displacement, and dangerous journeys. What they find there isn’t assessment or diagnosis, but warmth: a shared meal, routine, kindness, and people who understand. The episode explores why peer-led mental health support works so powerfully in community settings, and how peer support happens naturally when people are given space to connect. Emma talks about food as a universal language, the importance of routine and purpose, and why kindness and consistency can stabilise lives shaped by trauma and uncertainty.We also confront the wider context: misinformation, hostility, protests, and the dehumanisation of asylum seekers. Emma speaks with clarity and compassion about the harm this causes — and the extraordinary solidarity that can emerge in response.At its heart, this is an episode about peer support mental health, not as a service, but as a shared human practice.You’ll hear about:Building peer support through community and foodSupporting asylum seekers living with trauma and isolationWhy shared experience matters more than professional labelsPeer support beyond services and systemsLanguage, belonging, and mental wellbeingChallenging myths about refugees and asylum seekersCommunity as protection against despairWhat hope looks like when people come togetherShow Notes:Cafe Laziz links: https://linktr.ee/cafelazizListen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.With-you consultancy: www.with-you.co.uk