Unity Appeal On Behave of Destitute Asylum Seekers.

 

 Night Shelter Winter Appeal

       Glasgow Night Shelter for Destitute Asylum Seekers has been providing a vital front-line service for destitute asylum seekers and other migrants in Glasgow for the last two years. From 8pm to 8am, every night, our volunteers provide somewhere warm and safe for migrants, who, because they’re prohibited from working or claiming any benefits, have been refused access to normal homeless services in the city.
       With the winter holiday season upon us the night shelter needs extra help to cover our volunteer rota as well as during the day on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day when we’ll be running a special, holiday, drop in so the men staying at the shelter have somewhere to come to during the daytime when everything else is shut.
       We’re also appealing for warm clothes, especially thermal vests and long-johns, boxer shorts, shoes, coats, hats, scarves and gloves. Please support the Glasgow Night Shelter for Destitute Asylum Seekers!

1.Donate your time:

     We need volunteers to cover gaps in the rota over the holiday period while other volunteers are away and we especially need help during the day on the 25^th and 26^th December and on 1st January from 10am – 7pm at the special holiday drop in. If you wish to volunteer ring
07929852264 or email glasgownightshelter@gmail.com mailto:glasgownightshelter@gmail.com

2.Donate some clothing or food:

       Many of the men staying at the shelter need warm clothing. If you can, please buy some new thermal underwear or boxer shorts or warm socks next time you go shopping. And we are also asking for warm, waterproof coats, hats and gloves and good shoes if you have any that you can donate. Or donate some food – our weekly shopping bill is huge! Tins of tomatoes, kidney beans, tuna, sweetcorn or chickpeas, or bags of lentils or rice or fresh vegetables such as onions, peppers or potatoes or fresh fruit are always welcome! But perhaps you may also wish to donate something special for the winter holiday period?
Clothing and food can be donated via The Unity Centre, 30 Ibrox Street, Glasgow G51 1AQ which is open Mondays to Fridays from 10.30 to 6pm or at one of the Unity in the Community charity shops located at either 371 Paisley Road West G51 1LX or 70 Shaw Street, G51 3BL which are open Mondays to Saturdays from 11am – 5.30pm.

3.Donate financially:

      Every month we need to pay utility bills and for food. Your financial support will help go towards the running costs of the shelter as well as enable us to give out small amounts of cash to help the men staying at the shelter with bus passes, etc. To donate financially you can send a cheque made out to the “Glasgow Destitute Asylum Seeker Night Drop In” to the Glasgow Night Shelter c/o The Unity Centre, 30 Ibrox Street, Glasgow G51 1AQ or directly at any Lloyds TSB branch, by paying your donation into Account Number:
75140563, Sort Code: 87-37-51.

More information about the night shelter:

     With their insecure immigration status many destitute asylum seekers shy away from charities and agencies in case they get into trouble with the authorities. Support for this group of people is very restricted as they are not allowed any recourse to public funds and many charities offer only limited support. Two years ago, some members of the Glasgow Destitution Network set up a temporary winter shelter for destitute asylum seekers. During this project, the charity, Unity in the Community, set up by the Unity Centre, took on responsibility for running the shelter for three nights a week. The night shelter had such a positive impact on the lives of the people staying at it that it was decided to make it a permanent project based in a church hall in the west end of the city.
      Since then the night shelter has provided a safe, warm, welcoming, space for destitute asylums seekers to stay overnight where they can get a hot meal, and can feel secure. During that time over 100 people have volunteered at the shelter either spending a few hours in the evening talking with the men staying there helping them with any problems they may have or staying overnight in the shelter helping prepare the evening meal or getting everything cleared up and packed away in the morning.
        The night shelter now hosts up to 15 men a night and we aim to open a separate women’s shelter in the New Year. The accommodation is pretty basic. Each man is issued with a sleeping bag, pillow, duvet and camping mattress. They sleep on the floor of a gym in the church hall. During the evening while they wait for the meal to be prepared, the men staying at the shelter sit, talk, play games and watch DVDs in the shelter’s TV room.
        The Glasgow Night Shelter for Destitute Asylum Seekers was set up by some members of the Glasgow Destitution Network and is now a completely independent organisation in its own right, separate from the Glasgow Destitution Network and we aim to secure charitable status in the very
near future.
     To contact the Glasgow Night Shelter for Destitute Asylum Seekers please contact the co-ordinator on 07929852264 or email
glasgownightshelter@gmail.com mailto:glasgownightshelter@gmail.com

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

END ASYLUM DESTITUTION.

       

     I suppose the measure of a civilised society is the way it treats strangers and how it helps those in need.  By these measures it would seem that we fall very short of the measure. Below is a page taken from a very infomative booklet called "TAKE ACTION, TO END ASYLUM DESTITUTION." produced by  Training Campaigns Advice and Positive Action in Housing, January 2008. It is certainly worth a read to see just how we treat strangers and those in need.

Could you survive on £6 per day?

This is how much a single adult asylum seeker has to live on. It is £6 more than someone who is destitute has.

How many destitute asylum seekers are there?

Nobody knows the precise number. Scottish charities are seeing ever increasing numbers, including many who are pregnant, disabled or in poor mental health. Refugee Survival Trust give out around 100 destitution grants per month to people in crisis in Scotland. The National Audit Office estimates that there are 283,500 refused asylum seekers living in the UK, who have not been removed – so the scale of the problem is huge.

Why are refused asylum seekers not removed?

In many cases it is simply not possible to remove people back to their home countries – for example there may be no safe route, no functioning airport or it is impossible to get travel documents from their country of origin. This raises the question, if it is not safe or possible to remove someone, why was their claim for protection refused?

Mary from Uganda was destitute for three months with twins aged 3, after fleeing a dawn raid. Eventually she won leave to remain – just one of the many refugees who faced injustice.

Why can’t destitute asylum seekers just go back to their home country?

Many refused asylum seekers are too afraid to go home voluntarily, not least as they are from countries - such as Iraq, Zimbabwe or Somalia - torn apart by conflict or where human rights abuses are rife. They consider starving and sleeping on the streets in Britain to be a safer option.

How long are people destitute for?

Refugee Action recently interviewed 125 destitute asylum seekers in England. They found that just under half had been destitute for up to a year, and of the rest, most had been destitute for between one and two years. On average people had spent 21 months being destitute.

Where do most destitute asylum seekers sleep?

We’ve met asylum seekers who have slept in parks, phone boxes, behind bins, in doorways or just travel on night buses. Others are taken in by friends who are mainly fellow asylum seekers; moving from floor to floor so that they don’t become too big a burden. What makes things even more difficult is that asylum seekers aren’t allowed to have people staying over in their NASS flats so by helping they are running the risk of having all their own support stopped as well.

ann arky's home.