The Boaz Trust

At the end of August, Boaz support workers organised a women’s wellbeing session at Castlefield Viaduct. The women enjoyed being outside exploring the garden and the session was rounded off with conversation and coffee afterwards 😊🍵

“You only leave home when home won’t let you stay.”

Words from ‘Home,’ by Warsan Shire 🧡

The wonderful Booth Centre are one of our partners in the delivery of the Restricted Eligibility Support Service (RESS). If you or someone you know might be interested in this new Floating Support Officer role, you can find out more below! ⬇️

We need you! The Booth Centre is hiring a Floating Support Officer to help support European Nationals experiencing homelessness as part of our RESS project.

Learn more and apply here - https://www.boothcentre.org.uk/jobs.html

We look forward to hearing from you!

It was great to hold another Renting Ready training session in August for people we support with refugee status 😊 The training aims to equip participants with the knowledge and skills to access accommodation through the private rented sector.

This session focused specifically on the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords, understanding the difference between social housing and private rented accommodation, and navigating sharing a property with housemates 🏡

We want to say a huge thank you to Greenhill Primary School for raising an amazing £405.50 for Boaz through their non-school uniform day at the end of last term! ✨

Thank you to all the pupils, teachers and parents who were involved - through your fundraising you’ve helped people seeking sanctuary in Greater Manchester feel welcomed and safe in Boaz accommodation 🧡

Over the summer, someone we’ve been working with through RESS (Restricted Eligibility Support Service) since last year submitted a fresh asylum claim! 🎉 This was such a significant moment and we’re so grateful for the work of Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit in making it possible 🧡

Interpretation is essential for many of the people we work with. Without it, people are left misunderstood and unable to access the support or services they need 🗣️

£30 could help someone communicate their needs to medical or legal professionals. Give today at boaztrust.org.uk/give 🧡

Our annual Supporter Review magazine will be landing on doormats in the next couple of weeks! 🗞️✨ If you’d like to receive a physical copy of our 2023-24 annual report, you can order one for free by emailing [email protected] 🧡

Or, sign up to our monthly email newsletter to read it online 😊📩 https://www.boaztrust.org.uk/pages/19-stay-in-touch

In addition to everyday harms, destitution blocks long-term aspirations, placing constraints on people’s dreams of becoming active members of society. The nonsensical ‘paperwork barriers’ Alix refers to are part of the system that imposes these constraints on people’s lives.

You can read the full report (‘A Slow Violence: How immigration control forces people in Greater Manchester into destitution’) here 📄 https://www.boaztrust.org.uk/pages/new-report-on-destitution-in-greater-manchester

We’ve been so encouraged to see several new people move into our houses for people seeking asylum and people with refugee status recently 🏡 We hope that these houses can be places of sanctuary and stability for them as they rest and recover 🧡

If you’d like to give a warm welcome to the next person moving into a Boaz house, £30 could provide a new set of bedding and towels 🛏️ Give today at boaztrust.org.uk/give

Attending essential medical or legal appointments can often be difficult for people we support without the use of public transport 🚌 We reimburse travel costs for these appointments to ensure that people can access the medical care or legal support they need.

£5 could provide the bus fare that helps someone progress their case with a solicitor, or allows them to see their GP. Give today at boaztrust.org.uk/give 🧡

Today we join over 240 organisations to stand in solidarity with those affected by the recent acts of violence, many of whom have already fled unimaginable horrors to try to find safety.

This must be a turning point.

https://togetherwithrefugees.org.uk/more-than-200-refugee-charities-stand-together-in-joint-response-to-anti-migrant-violence/

📣 Read our statement in response to the far-right violence and destruction that has gripped towns and cities across the UK this past week ⬇️

"We will not be cowed by violent individuals and groups who seek to sow hatred and division in our society. We will continue to stand up for those in need of safety and sanctuary. We are buoyed by a belief that more people are motivated by love and compassion, than are fuelled by hatred or ignorance. We stand for and believe in a society in which love wins."

Read the full statement here 🔗 https://www.boaztrust.org.uk/articles/statement-in-response-to-far-right-violence-and-destruction

We've cosigned a letter to Keir Starmer alongside 80 anti-racist and migrant rights organisations, asking for Parliament to be recalled to address the scale of this crisis. The new government must change the dial, and foster zero tolerance for far-right, racist and anti-migrant narratives ⬇️

Big thank you to Runnymede Trust for coordinating this joint letter 🧡

Given the combined pressures of getting by, fears of being turned away or sent back, the complexity of the legal case, and the sense of wasted potential, it is unsurprising that people caught in the UK asylum and immigration systems experience moments of deep despair.

Below Harris’ observation shines a light on the impact these systems have on the mental health of people who have to navigate them ⬇️

You can read the full report (‘A Slow Violence: How immigration control forces people in Greater Manchester into destitution’) here 📄 https://www.boaztrust.org.uk/pages/new-report-on-destitution-in-greater-manchester

Booth Centre

A few weeks ago, our men’s wellbeing session was facilitated by a volunteer, and focused on being active as one of the five ways to wellbeing. This focus on movement was put into practice during the session - both inside and outside! ☀️

🌍🚨 Today is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. At Boaz, we stand in solidarity with all survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery.

Today we also call for the Illegal Migration Act to be repealed. Under the Act, victims of human trafficking arriving in small boats, or by any other ‘irregular’ means, are not allowed to enter the National Referral Mechanism, which is the government’s system to identify and protect victims of human trafficking and modern slavery.

Punishing anyone seeking safety for the method by which they arrive in the UK is bad enough - but to criminalise survivors of trafficking as though they are somehow responsible for the crimes committed against them is utterly absurd.

Tomorrow, this year’s annual celebration of our city and all things Mancunian will be taking place 🎉😊 Ahead of the festivities of Manchester Day, here’s a throwback to the same celebration in 2012, when we found ourselves leading the parade through the city! ⬇️

We want to say a big thank you to a new supporter who raised £215 for Boaz recently through a charity run! 👟 After a friend recommended Boaz, she decided to include us as one of her chosen charities and raised enough for someone to stay warm and dry in our accommodation for a week. We are so grateful! 🧡🏡

If you know someone who is looking for a good cause to fundraise for, why not spread the word about Boaz? Or, if you’re thinking about doing a fundraising challenge yourself, head to boaztrust.org.uk/fundraise for inspiration and support 😊

Our most recent women’s wellbeing session was about understanding the menopause ⬇️ Dr Zoe, a GP with a specialist interest in menopause care and the founder of Manchester Menopause Hive, led the information session. She covered what the menopause is, its symptoms, managing it, treatment options and resources.

Big thank you to Zoe for coming to speak with the women we support! 🧡

Hussain* was supported by Boaz during 2023-24. His quote below demonstrates the impact that the person-centred support and safe accommodation provided by Boaz had on his life 🏡🧡

*Name changed

We are delighted to share that we have received funding from The National Lottery Community Fund that will be critical to the development and growth of our support work with people seeking safety in Greater Manchester. Thank you so much! 🧡

We’re grateful to have been involved in the Step Change Consortium’s leadership coaching and training programmes in 2023 and 2024 😊

Members of staff at Boaz both inputted into and attended the programmes for experienced and emerging leaders. The programmes aimed to equip leaders supporting people seeking asylum or people with refugee status in various ways, including: representation of cases with the Home Office, welcoming them to their new surroundings, finding housing and general support to enable settling down.

https://www.ragp.org.uk/blog/coaching-and-training-leadership-programme

Join us in Manchester on 18 July for a special post-election Solidarity Session! Info and registration: https://righttoremain.org.uk/manchester-18-july-post-election-solidarity-sessions/

The team at Boaz were delighted to receive a generous grant from the B&Q Foundation this year, which has been used to complete essential weather-proofing works on four of our houses for people with refugee status and people seeking asylum 🏡

Our Chief Executive, Ros Holland, explained the impact of the grant:

"Having a safe and warm place to stay is so important because it enables people to rest and recover from past trauma and find the headspace to tackle the situation that caused them to be experiencing homelessness. The benefits of this grant will be felt for years to come by current and future residents who would be facing destitution if these homes were not maintained as part of our vital housing provision. A big thank you to B&Q Foundation for their generous support and for understanding how important a home is as a foundation for life and health." 🧡

Neighbourly

📝 A new report from the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit and The Boaz Trust shows how people in Greater Manchester are spending years, even decades, living in destitution solely because of their immigration status.

In a new article, Will Wheeler, Policy Officer at the GMIAU, explains how immigration control pushes people into destitution and shares recommendations for local and national government.

👉 Take a read: resolvepoverty.org/a-slow-violence-how-immigration-control-forces-people-in-greater-manchester-into-destitution/

So good to read the news today that Nelson Shardey has won his legal battle against the Home Office and been granted indefinite leave to remain!

Nelson and his family have generously decided to donate the funds raised to support his legal case to charity - we are so grateful and humbled that they chose Boaz as one of their charities 🧡

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98q08npq28o

Read more of Nelson's story and the legal challenge raised by Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, who provided legal support to Nelson throughout this difficult process 🔗 https://gmiau.org/news-nelson-beats-the-10-year-route/

Home Office says man living in UK since 1977 can stay after all Nelson Shardey, who came to the UK as a student and worked until he retired, has won his fight to stay.

• Sirous •

Sirous came to the UK from Iran with his mother in 1975 to study. In 1981, he was granted indefinite leave to remain, based on his marriage to a British woman and their British daughter.

Completing his studies, he had a flourishing career as a building surveyor, working first for local authorities and then for a Church of England diocese. He separated from his wife after a couple of years, but his indefinite leave to remain was unaffected.

He never thought to apply for British citizenship. Nor did he worry when he lost his passport in the late 1980s. In 2015 he received a letter from the Home Office saying that he was in the UK illegally.

Later, Sirous narrowly avoided street homelessness because of the support and advocacy of the Booth Centre. Today, Sirous is a long-term and valued volunteer at the Booth Centre. Serving food and translating for Farsi-speaking clients, he adopts the ethos, ‘Behind every face, there’s a story’.

He is also part of the Booth Centre’s advisory group, where he is bringing his expertise as a buildings surveyor to advise on their environmental policy. When he gets his status back, he says he would like to work in the homelessness sector.

Read more of Sirous’ story and the full report (‘A Slow Violence: How immigration control forces people in Greater Manchester into destitution’) here 📄 https://www.boaztrust.org.uk/pages/new-report-on-destitution-in-greater-manchester



Booth Centre Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit

Today we congratulate and welcome a new Labour government. For too long, the conversation around asylum has been dominated by divisive, hostile and harmful discourse, damaging the lives of people who have sought safety in the UK.

We hope that today marks the start of real change - the Labour Party now has the opportunity to right the wrongs of others (and its own) by repealing harmful legislation and working to create a system that is fair and compassionate 🧡

Read our statement in full here 🔗 https://www.boaztrust.org.uk/articles/welcoming-a-new-labour-government-the-fight-for-asylum-rights-continues

🗳️ Only people who are British or Irish citizens (or citizens of a Commonwealth country who have the right to remain in the UK) currently have the right to vote in General Elections. This means that very few of the people we support will have the right to vote on the 4th July.

We believe people who have made their home in the UK should have the right to vote, so that they get a say in decisions and policies that impact their lives.

Our encouragement to you is to use your vote on Thursday - especially when there are so many who can’t.