What Freedom from Torture does#
Freedom from Torture was founded on Christmas Eve 1985 by Helen Bamber and Amnesty International volunteers, and describes itself as the only UK-wide charity that exists specifically for people who have survived torture. It offers therapy, practical help and medical evidence to men, women and children from more than forty countries, campaigns on asylum policy, and supports a survivor-led network, Survivors Speak OUT. It takes no funding from the Home Office; about three-quarters of its money comes from individuals.
A charity that changed its own name#
For many years it was the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. It began calling itself Freedom from Torture in 2011, but its registered name stayed the same until February 2020, when it formally changed; the Scottish register records the change on 12 March 2020. Its medico-legal report service still carries the old name. It is a neat illustration of something this handbook explains for people: you can use a new name long before the paperwork catches up, but each record changes only when you ask it to.
Centres and referrals#
Its therapy and practical help page lists three centres, in London (Transport for London zones 1 to 6), Manchester (Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside) and Glasgow (the whole of Scotland). The Birmingham and Newcastle centres closed at the end of January 2025. Interpreters can attend therapy and other appointments, and the Glasgow centre sees people by appointment only.
When we read the referral page on 26 October 2026, new therapy referrals were paused at all three centres, with capacity reviewed monthly. Medico-legal reports, which set out the medical evidence of torture for an asylum claim, were open across the UK, but only on referral from the person's legal representative, not from survivors directly. It is not a crisis service, and its page points to other charities for urgent help.
People in therapy can also see its legal and welfare team, regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, for help finding a lawyer, with the asylum process, housing, asylum support and health care.
Names on Home Office records#
There is no guidance from Freedom from Torture on changing a person's name, eVisas or identity documents. For someone it supports, the Home Office record is what matters most. While a claim is being decided, the name on your asylum papers should stay the same. Once protection is granted, the position changes: because a refugee is not expected to contact the state they fled, the Home Office can update the eVisa name on the strength of a deed poll and evidence of use, with no national passport needed. The old refugee travel document is cancelled at that point, so plan any travel around it.
Names transliterated from other alphabets are also often spelled differently from one document to the next. If yours is spelled differently on different papers, raise it with your legal representative before you change anything. More here:
- Changing your name if you are not a British citizen: the order to do things in.
- Changing a name from another language: spellings and keeping papers alike.
- Different names on your documents: when your papers disagree.
This page describes what Freedom from Torture publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. Freedom from Torture has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
