Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Open Door is one of the few agencies providing such support for destitute asylum seekers in the area. We currently have five houses (rented and donated) that are home to 24 people from ten nationalities mostly on long term placements of six months or more. We have an urgent waiting list that we cannot yet house due to lack of resources.

Why is help needed?

Asylum seekers become destitute for a number of reasons, primarily as a result of the withdrawal of the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) - not available to those awaiting deportation. For whatever reason, there are many individuals sleeping rough or depending on the charity of already overstretched family or friends. There are no clear statistics because, by definition, these people do not 'exist' and are therefore 'unseen', although a recent report by John Rogers Associates estimated the number of Asylum Seekers who are destitute in the North East to be in excess of 500 people. In preparation for expanding into Tyneside we have also conducted a report (called Destitute and Desperate) into the number of destitute asylum seekers in Newcastle upon Tyne and the services available to them. You can download this report by clicking here.

Even those asylum seekers and refugees that get state support are often living below the government's own 'poverty line' and need extra help both financially, emotionally or legally.

What do we do?

Together with housing individuals Open Door:

• holds friendship events where local people can meet and befriend asylum seekers
• hosts twice weekly 'drop in' sessions where food, money and advise is available to the asylum seeker/refugee community. These attract over 50 individuals each week
• offers seminars on working within the British culture for those that have obtained UK residential status and now need help finding work
• supports refugee and asylum seekers as they go to court or meet with legal representatives
• hosts social events such as fun days and countryside walks
• Holds two drop in's for those that have achieved residential status and need help finding homes, work and financial help.

What would we like to do?

There are many health, social and emotional issues that arise from such a stressful situation as being homeless in a foreign land with little knowledge of the language and culture. Open Door is seeking funding to:

• expand the number of houses in our portfolio, so that we can house more people, both long and short term
• be able to host a 'drop in' every day so that we can feed and reach more people
• employ a full-time project manager to continue maintaining each house to proper standards
• be able to expand our vision to such towns as York, Darlington and Sunderland (all places where we have open invites to work already)
• provide training and support to those able to seek work
• be able to provide workshops particularly in the arts
• help resettle people with leave to remain in the UK in both practical and material ways

How can you help us?

Any monies we raise will help cover the following:

• Each house costs Open Door £125 per week to run
• Our current food bill runs to £120 per week - donated food would mean we could focus more money into housing people with severe needs (please call us for a list of food items we need)
• We give away £300 per week to individuals with whom we have regular contact
• Our ongoing office, administration and staff costs