ACCESS – supporting migrants in East Anglia (formerly KLARS) was set up in 2000 by a group of local people from Churches Together who wanted to help the asylum seekers and refugees arriving in the area. The organisation’s full name then was King’s Lynn Asylum and Refugee Support, and this was changed a few years later to Kings Lynn Area Resettlement Support – reflecting a change in role for the organisation, but without changing its name as such.
The world in which we now operate is very different from in 2000. Changes in the EU have greatly increased the number of migrants, rather than refugees, turning to us for support. Early in 2017 we therefore decided to change our name to ACCESS – supporting migrants in East Anglia.
At the core of our service now are four busy advice clinics every week, spread between King’s Lynn and Wisbech. These are run by our highly trained multilingual Project Workers and volunteers and provide support for migrants across a wide spectrum of issues.