The Guardian and Observer charity appeal last Christmas, to which readers donated a remarkable £1.6m, focused on three organisations tackling destitution: Naccom, Centrepoint and Depaul UK. Centrepoint and Depaul work to alleviate youth homelessness, while Naccom supports destitute asylum seekers and refugees. A year on, what difference did readers’ generosity make?
Theresa May’s own term – the “hostile environment” – for people classed as “illegal” immigrants, was not applied to asylum seekers as explicitly then as it has since been to the Windrush victims of the same regime, the theme of this year’s charity appeal. Naccom’s beneficiaries were, though, clearly suffering from that policy environment. They had arrived in the UK to claim asylum, been disbelieved and refused by the Home Office. While preparing to appeal or mount a fresh claim, the system leaves them penniless, with no right to work, claim benefit or to any other form of support.
The £1.6m from the 2017 appeal was shared equally between the three charities. In summer, Naccom distributed £395,000 of its share to its member organisations following a grants process aimed, according to the charity’s national director, Hazel Williams, at “breaking the cycle of homelessness among those seeking sanctuary.”
Abigail Housing, in Bradford, was one of the 42 beneficiaries. The charity caters for the basic needs of these destitute asylum seekers: accommodation, a food parcel, and £15 per week to survive on. In the warmth of their meeting room, over weekly tea and biscuits, Baba (not his real name), 34, a married man with one daughter, explained that he fled from his home in Guinea after his business was burned by soldiers following a military coup in 2012. He was left destitute and had suffered racism, homelessness and physical attacks after the Home Office disbelieved his story, telling him that they thought he had come to the UK on holiday.
“My heart is broken from that word,” he told us. “The pain will never go away.” A year on, Baba remains in limbo, still reliant on Abigail Housing.
Abigail Housing’s grant of £10,000 enabled it to provide basic support for 31 destitute asylum seekers like Baba. “We spent the money on the core costs of the five properties we run,” says Amanda Church-Michael, the charity’s destitution project coordinator. “It was a massive help, taking the pressure off raising funds for that basic part of what we do. It enabled us to concentrate on working with the people who are suffering so much because of this hostile environment policy.
“We are seeing demand increase. People are still disbelieved, they are left destitute and unsafe; we are seeing more people suffering mental health issues because their dignity is taken away – and fewer lawyers are available to work with them due to legal aid cuts.”
Williams says other Naccom- affiliated organisations spent the grants on specialist legal advice for those seeking asylum or coordinators for hosting schemes, through which people offer their spare rooms, as well as on basic costs.
The other beneficiaries of last year’s appeal also say their share of the £1.6m made a huge difference to people’s lives. Centrepoint spent its appeal funds on mental health and psychotherapy programmes, improving staffing for its volunteering service in London, Yorkshire and the north-east, and on the engagement team, which provides sports activities to help motivate and engage young people.
Depaul UK said the support of Guardian and Observer readers helped provide safe places to sleep for more than 1,000 young people throughout the country, with funds invested in its emergency accommodation network, Nightstop UK. Money was also provided for travel costs, clothing and food, and for the training of volunteers to host at the Nightstop sites.
Williams says: “Being a recipient of the Guardian and Observer appeal restored our faith in humanity and sent a powerful message to those facing destitution: ‘You are a human too; you’re not forgotten, and we stand in solidarity with you.’”
The Guardian and Observer charity appeal 2018 is supporting five organisations that helped expose the Windrush scandal and get justice for those affected by it
