Ensuring asylum seekers get warm welcome to city
Drop-in services at All Saints Church
FOR asylum seekers who arrive in Portsmouth with nothing to their name, existence can be bleak.
But one Portsmouth-based charity – which will be benefiting from The News Comfort and Joy Campaign this year – is working to make a difference to their lives.
Friends Without Borders, which was founded in 1994, supports the 200 asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants dispersed by the Home Office with their drop-in services at All Saints Church in Commercial Road, Portsmouth.
Chairman, Michael Woolley, said: ‘We are Christians who are mostly helping young Muslims.
‘We open our doors every Monday and Thursday to create a social space for asylum seekers to enjoy and also offer them drinks and food, as well as other services.’
When asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants arrive in the UK, they have to go through a long interview process with an immigration officer. Only one in three are granted the right to live in the UK and most go on to appeal that decision if they have been denied.
Michael, 75, said: ‘It can take up to six months for an appeal to go to court – we help them during that period. A lot of asylum seekers are twiddling their thumbs.
‘They arrive in Portsmouth, live in a bedsit, are given £37 per week and are granted legal aid by a lawyer.
‘Forty per cent get granted asylum from appeal.’
Michael explains that on £37 per week, many of them can’t afford very much so the social space at All Saints Church provides them with something to do and meet others who are in similar situations.
He added: ‘We try and give bags of food when we can and also domestic advice, such as how to pay bills. For people who don’t know the area or can’t speak English, it can be very confusing.’
The charity also has close links with the Red Cross, which provides advice and free bicycles.
Friends Without Borders has benefited from the £5 supermarket vouchers donated by the public as part of The News Comfort and Joy Campaign for a number of years, but Michael says they are as important as ever.
He explained: ‘For people who don’t have very much, the vouchers help them a lot. Christmas can be a very bleak time of year.
‘They come from very distressing situations and have made very difficult journeys.
‘You can’t leave people to rot in utter poverty. It’s very important to help others.’