Asylum seeker shelter given extension to find new home

A NIGHT shelter for destitute asylum seekers in Glasgow has been given another week to move out of a church.

Anderston Kelvingrove Parish Church has hosted the shelter for several years in the east of the city.

However, it told the organisers it had to leave after concerns over too many people turning up at the shelter.

It was reported there was tension and disorder with people of many different nationalities staying overnight at the shelter and police having to be called out on several occasions.

The shelter has space for 15 people in the hall but sometimes more than double that number were given shelter.

The shelter operated between 8pm and 8am for asylum seekers who have been refused, have no recourse to public funds and have no accommodation.

The church was reportedly concerned about fire safety with the shelter exceeding the capacity dictated by its insurance cover.

The church aslo said it was agreed the contract was to provide shelter for those in greatest need which was homeless male asylum seekers who were destitute, but on several occasions there could be EU nationals from eastern Europe creating a clash of cultures.

A spokesman for the night shelter said: “We have been given an extension of one week.

“We are going to have a new property for the shelter in a few weeks.

“There may be a slight pause. We will not be ending the service and may have to move between a few places until the new place is ready in a couple of weeks.”

An announcement on the new premises is due soon.

The church said it has been helping the charity since it gave it notice it had to find new premises.

Tom Moffat, session clerk of Anderston Kelvingrove Parish Church, said: “Everyone here recognises the plight of asylum seekers and of a wider number of people without housing in our city and it grieves us deeply.

“We have been working closely with the night shelter over the last months and we are very pleased that they have secured a suitable new home.

“We wish them every blessing for their future endeavours.”