Blog

One of the asylum seekers we work with in the destitution project had been struggling with a foot injury for a while. The injury to one of his feet had meant that his foot had swollen to twice its size.The gentleman didn't have the money in order to get shoes that fit properly so had been relying on a pair of sandals that were too small for his feet. This lead to more injury to his injured foot, which meant he had to get antibiotic treatment.A lovely student we are connected to, heard of this man's desperate situation. He donated the money to get proper fitting shoes, so the gentleman could get around easier and his foot could recover.With this money, our Destitute Project Coordinator, Jennifer was able to take him to get his feet measured properly, and buy some shoes that would fit properly.He has asked only for the photo to feature his feet in the brand new shoes,...

As a part of the Check in and Chat buddy scheme, our volunteers speak to their buddies over the phone to offer support, whether it be through teaching them English or just having someone to talk to.Recently, one of our volunteers was talking to their buddy who was updating him on his current situation. This volunteer was told that his buddy had been separated from his sons who were at risk of being sent to Spain. This story was shared by The Guardian and you can read more below:https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/aug/30/sons-must-leave-uk-after-boat-crossing-but-father-stays-after-flight-arrivalOur volunteer saw the seriousness of this issue, so decided to guide his buddy by explaining to him how he can appeal to the court and found him connections to lawyers through a staff member at MRSN. Now, the three sons have been told that they can stay in the UK and are in the process of being able to move back to be with their father.At the end of September, one...

Our food parcels at the destitute project don't just support people in extreme financial destitution. They also mean people can live a healthier lifestyle.We have a young man in his early 20’s who has been attending the RIS drop in’s and was seen by one of our RIS case workers, Sophie. Sophie realised there was a need for the destitution project to step in and referred the young man on to Jennifer, the Destitute Project Coordinator. This man was in desperate need of support not only with housing as he is in a hostel at present but he is also diabetic. Due to his Nass Support being only £37 per week he is finding it difficult to eat healthily as the money is not enough to provide nutritional foods which contains low carbs and reduced amounts of sugar.This financial support cannot meet the price demand for food types for a diabetic so he is forced to purchase cheaper brands and foods...

Our Shared Routes project train people from migrant backgrounds including refugees and asylum seekers in skills they need for volunteering. They then work hard to connect them to volunteering opportunities. COVID-19 hit our Shared Routes Project team hard, as they were no longer able to meet face to face with volunteers. However, they have adapted amazingly, and continue to run this much needed training.This project engages people offering them much needed chances to gain valuable experiences and to connect locally. Equally as important, it helps to diversify the workforce of local organisations so that knowledge and perspectives of refugees and asylum seekers are included in their services.Here are some voices of people who participated in our training.“You guys were very friendly and the training was very informative. The workshops were very fruitful for me. And at this situation with Coronavirus, you know, we are sitting in the house hopeless because of limitation but you guys gave us the inspiration to do...

At MRSN we were recently contacted by a single parent of 3 children who was in a desperate situation. The family (and one of the children in particular with special educational needs) have been facing severe racial harassment and assaults in the neighbourhood they have been placed to live in, pending the outcome of their asylum claim. At MRSN we take our duty to protect and safeguard children and vulnerable adults seriously, taking a stand against all forms of abuse, oppression, discriminative practice and behaviours. In the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UCRC) Article 3 states, the best interest of the child must prioritise in all actions and decisions that affect children.After speaking with the father and the young person in particular that the perpetrators singled out, the family have been experiencing ongoing racial abuse for a few years involving attendance at A&E for treatment following injuries sustained. Although school, the police and other professionals had been aware of this,...

L is more than 70 years old and was born in Sudan. He had recently received a letter from a debt recovery firm stating that he owed them more than £50, but not telling him why.L does not speak perfect English, and was extremely distressed at this unknown debt that the firm were making it clear they would go to great lengths to recover.MRSN acted on his behalf and first rang the debt recovery firm, who told us that the debt was passed to them from a phone company. We then rang that phone company, who claimed that L had purchased a sleek new smart speaker on a contract back in 2018, a speaker that L had of course never heard of before!We asked for more details of the contract signed, but the phone company said that they didn’t keep such information and L would have to ask the store he purchased it from. So, we rang that store and...

A family of 4 fled to the UK over a month ago and are now living in Manchester. We received a text from one of the family members in August regarding help with food, clothing, hygiene products and improving their English communication skills. We spoke to one of the eldest children (B) and gathered the necessary details for the destitute project support in order to decide on what we can provide.B told me that they only have only the clothing that they came to the UK with and nothing to change into. B stated that the shoes he is wearing was given to him by the immigration centre as he needed footwear but it is slightly tight and although the shoes are for female he was still grateful to have them.I asked one of my volunteers who speaks B's native language to get the answers to some questions I needed to ask in order to best decide on how to...

We are supporting this lady and her new born baby through the destitution project and even before the birth of her daughter we had already began to help her with her many and varied needs as we came across them from the reports received weekly from our delivery driver Kashif. He kept us updated on her progress and we donated her food parcels according to her special health requirements as an expectant mother and new mother. We also supplied a good amount of milk fresh fruits and vegetables and other nutritional products to help with good balanced health, reducing any health scares which could have meant hospitalisation, which was detrimental during the covid19 health crisis.This lovely lady remains grateful for all the support she has received and still receiving from MRSN destitution project. She sends us a praise report through the drivers and as and when we are able we send donations of clothing and aids for her and the...

Please view our July 2020 Update Newsletter by clicking here. As we adapt to this new way of working during the Coronavirus outbreak, MRSN would like to share with you our Partners and Funders the steps we have taken to ensure we continue to provide a high quality service to and for our beneficiaries. We have produced this newsletter to share our developments and some good practice ideas that initially presented as a barrier, but now is much less of a barrier. Following COVID-19 guidelines as set out by the government, a joint team effort by staff and volunteers at MRSN has allowed us to rise above the challenge and are proud to share with you our fourth monthly COVID-19 Newsletter. We look forward to sharing further updates with you in our August Edition Newsletter. In the meantime as you have a glance through our July Newsletter, stay safe, keep well and remain positive. In Peace....