Action Housing provides supported accommodation for people who have been refused asylum and have No Recourse to Public Funds.
In 2022/23 we provided supported accommodation to 24 destitute asylum seekers from 10 different countries, and helped them to engage with legal representation in order to regularise their status. Our support workers also clocked up an amazing 1,196 hours, helping people engage with legal advice, register with GPs and much more.
We are part of the Justice Together initiative, which seeks to provide consistent free legal support for people like our Action Housing clients. We have also been supported by a generous donation from the Lesley Aldridge Trust to buy a second four-bed home, bringing our total to three properties and greatly enhancing our ability to provide this essential service.
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Many of our residents’ home countries have profound human rights abuses, restrictions on basic freedoms, unjust detentions without trial and regimes that use violence as a form of control.
Once our government refuses to protect these people, they are not allowed to work or claim benefits and have no access to homeless accommodation. Many individuals are forced to sleep rough or depend on already overstretched friends. Many women are forced into prostitution. Research by Julian Prior (Action Foundation founder and former CEO) in 2005/6 estimated the number of destitute asylum seekers to be 300+ people in Newcastle alone.
Many other organisations (including Amnesty International, British Red Cross, Oxfam and the Salvation Army) have raised grave concerns about the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK.
In 2008/9 Julian Prior chaired a working group on this issue on behalf of the political think tank called The Centre for Social Justice, started by Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP. You can read this report 'Asylum Matters – Restoring trust in the UK Asylum System’ here.
Our hope is that through raising awareness and campaigning we will see an end to destitution amongst asylum seekers. However, until that happens we will continue to accommodate as many people as we can.
Action Housing is grateful for the support of
"Your service is very good. I feel comfortable because I know that if something happens, I have somewhere to go. For the past few years I have been running around from place to place. Now, I feel safe and comfortable in your house. Many of the other places I have lived before have been very dirty and badly looked after but this house is very clean and nice."
"We value highly the co-operative working arrangement with Action Housing in supporting destitute asylum seekers. When a client is given accommodation with Action Housing, WERS sees an immediate and significant improvement."