December marks the season of Advent, a time of preparation for Christmas in Christian religions. During this time of reflection, many Christians also try to bring some light into the world by offering love and hope, comfort and peace to those in their families, their friends and communities. As we enter the Advent season, the Justice and Peace Refugee Project continues in its mission to provide a safe space for asylum seekers where those clients we support can receive a warm welcome and some of the basic things they need for their families to survive.
We are hugely grateful to those who continue to support our work with food and financial contributions. You are making a positive difference to the lives of hundreds of people as a result. The list of items we are currently collecting can be found here. We are delighted to receive donations of these items on Mondays between 10.30am and 1.30pm. Financial donations are also particularly welcome, as we need to purchase food and toiletries on a regular basis. We are also grateful to all those who are donating clothes and household items to the SVP; we are pleased to be able to work with the SVP to provide our clients with these items. With the weather getting colder, warm coats and shoes are particularly needed at this time.
Azad, our Project Co-ordinator, continues to make links and signpost clients to other services that will be of benefit to them. In recent weeks, several adults and children have been supported with bicycles through the Recyke charity. Many clients are also currently being advised by Reed in Partnership on accessing employment and training and several clients have been referred to the West End Refugee Service and the North of England Refugee Service who assist people with case working.
As you may be aware, most of our clients are people who have come to Britain and are making a claim to stay because of fear of conditions and persecution in their home country. We support individuals and families in their time of extreme financial hardship and vulnerability while they wait for a government decision on whether or not they can stay (get ‘leave to remain’). During this time, they are provided by the government with the most basic housing and a small weekly subsidy, but are refused permission to work or have access to any other public funds.
We also have a smaller number of clients who have received a negative decision from the Home Office and been refused asylum and are therefore destitute, as all government support is refused. For these clients we are able to provide a monthly supermarket voucher in addition to food. We were very happy recently to hear that a client who has been destitute for many years has finally been settled and given leave to remain under family arrangements. She has expressed her thanks to everyone at the Justice and Peace Project for the enduring support that she has received.
We continue to rely on the generosity of individuals and parishes for donations for which we are incredibly grateful. As we continue to support more than 500 clients and their families each month, financial support for our work is also essential. Details of our bank account (DHN Justice & Peace Refugee Project) can be found on our webpage. Please consider Gift-Aiding your donation, if possible, it makes a big difference. You can download and submit a Gift-Aid Declaration form for a single or multiple donation. Visit our Donate and Gift Aid page now.
For more details about our work and how you can assist, please contact our Project Co-ordinator by email: jp.refugeeproject@diocesehn.org.uk or visit our webpage.
Please be aware that the project will be closed over the Christmas break. It will close on Friday 20 December and open again in the new year on Monday 6 January.
Happy Advent and the blessings of the Christmas season to you all from the Justice and Peace Refugee Project.