Boaz Trust - a Christian charity serving destitute asylum seekers in Greater Manchester
Dave Smith, director of the Boaz Trust, recognised the growing problem of destitution amongst asylum seekers during his work with the The Mustard Tree, a resource centre for the homeless in Manchester. Two out of every three asylum seekers, who flee persecution in their home countries due to civil war or for political or ethnic reasons, are refused sanctuary in the UK by the Home Office* . Unable to prove their stories, they are forced onto the streets with no means of support and no right to work.
They are told to go back to their home countries, yet some cannot get the necessary travel documents, or there is simply no safe route back to their country due to conflicts or political turmoil. Many more fear persecution, torture, or even death if they return to the countries they fled from, preferring to live a life of destitution in the UK. Several thousand refused asylum seekers are known to live in Manchester. Some will be able to stay with friends, often sofa-surfing between those who will take pity on them. Others have nowhere to go and have no choice but to sleep rough on the streets. These people become like “living ghosts”, hidden from society with no means of survival.
The need
By 2003, 60% of clients at the Mustard Tree were asylum seekers. The first Destitution Project was set up in 2003 with the British Red Cross, and at the same time some supporters offered spare rooms for those who were homeless.
We decided a new charity was needed specifically to serve destitute asylum seekers, and the Boaz Trust was born in April 2004, with no funding, no volunteers and no office, but a clear biblical mandate from God. 
Since then God has provided in amazing ways, and the charity keeps growing. We now have four staff members and we are also blessed with a rapidly increasing network of supporters and volunteers.
The Boaz Trust aims, primarily through the Church, to provide accommodation for homeless asylum seekers. We manage eight houses and a network of volunteer host families who generously provide emergency accommodation in spare rooms. In addition we run night shelters over the winter months, hosted by several local churches. We are currently providing accommodation for 60 destitute asylum seekers and refugees, though with several new referrals every day, there are many we are currently unable to help. We are constantly looking to expand our network of houses and hosts. Our houses are loaned to us by generous supporters, or bought for our use by Green Pastures housing, with whom we have a good relationship. The Boaz Trust then pays all bills and taxes and maintains the properties.
The destitution project which began in 2003 now provides basic food parcels, toiletries and second hand clothes to 70 destitute asylum seekers each week, based at a local church. We also provide individual advocacy and support, helping our clients to access healthcare, communicate with solicitors and collect new evidence to submit a fresh asylum claim. In addition, we run a programme of Meaningful Lives activities to empower our clients to integrate into the community, gain skills and socialise. These include ESOL and sewing classes, arts and crafts, gardening and volunteering opportunities. Furthermore, the Boaz Trust is actively involved in awareness-raising and campaigning for a just asylum system, both locally and nationally. We take our roadshow to churches and events, raising awareness of the problem of destitution. We aim to inspire and enable the Church to respond to this need.
Since the charity grew so rapidly we found that there was a lot of pressure on the two existing staff members, who had little time for administration and fundraising. We were able to recruit two new staff this year to manage the office and communications, which freed up the director and housing manager to focus on their roles. The new staff have also been fundamental in getting more volunteers on board and further expanding the capacity of the charity.
The challenges
Most of our challenges centre around the fact that nothing in UK society is designed for those from abroad, much less those seeking sanctuary here. Government, local authorities, those administering the benefits system – all treat asylum seekers as if they speak perfect English, and understand western culture and UK systems and procedures. We have had major problems with systems designed for the middle-class UK citizen, which simply do not apply to asylum seekers. Consequently we have to pay council tax for our residents, though they are destitute: to access medical help we have to fill in lengthy forms about goods, money and savings they do not have, and benefits they cannot access: and we are hit by legislation designed to regulate rogue landlords who charge rents for shoddy accommodation, not those offering free social housing.
The biggest challenges for us are: - Coping with demand. We are currently receiving several referrals each day from asylum seekers who are sleeping on the streets or being evicted from their accommodation. We are constantly looking for more houses and host families but unfortunately we are unable to help everyone.
- Picking up the pieces of failed asylum cases. Many of our residents have been badly let down by a system that allows far too little Legal Aid, and places the burden of proof on the appellant – which means they are routinely refused if they have no hard evidence for their asylum claim. With no access to a solicitor, no money and their evidence several thousand miles away, they are reliant on us to help them, which is an enormous burden, stretching our resources to the limit.
Answers to prayer
We had 2 very large donations in March 2007 and March 2008 – right at the end of our financial year, that enabled us to employ key staff. One of the donations was the proceeds of the sale of a house. Along with the largest cheque we had ever received was another for £50, which really touched me. The lady concerned had taken part in the ‘Endurance Challenge’ to live on a destitution food parcel for a week, and had raised that amount in sponsorship. I just know that if I had donated so much, I would not have bothered to subject myself to a week of food deprivation!
We have also had many occasions when things we needed have just ‘arrived’ out of the blue – sometimes before we had even asked God for them.
A key moment
In June 2004 I went to a Christian Leaders’ Lunch. I was on my own, so I just prayed as I went in, “Who should I sit next to?” I felt drawn to sit next to the pastor of a Chinese church, whom I knew vaguely. I was allowed 5 minutes to tell everyone about my vision for Boaz, which was just starting up at the time. At the end I threw in the quip “And if anyone’s got a house to give us, see me afterwards.” As I sat down the Chinese pastor turned to me and said, “I’ve got a house.” It turned out that he rented it to Chinese students, but it had been empty for 6 months awaiting refurbishment. He loaned it to us free of charge for an initial year – and 4 years later, we still manage the house, which has been home to 5 Eritrean ladies.
That incident encouraged me greatly, as I just knew that our work was on God’s heart. Since then I have come to see that the Lord will always fund what he likes, as long as we are being obedient.
A key network
We set up a network of similar organisations across the country called NACCOM (standing for No Accommodation). This provides opportunity to share ideas and expertise and we have seen many new projects springing up across the country in the last couple of years. It is great to see new projects starting up and flourishing, and to know that we are not alone in the work.
Key Support Organisations
- Faithworks, which is a never-ending source of excellent advice and good practice, and also runs superb biennial conferences that inspire us.
- Tearfund, which partners with us and funds part of our work. They too are a rich source of advice and strategic planning. They also run a fantastic partner conference each year, at which we can re-charge our batteries.
- Seedbed Trust, which supports innovative inner-city projects in Manchester. Their support has enabled us to get several projects off the ground, such as our Night Shelter project.
My advice to others
- If your project deals with people that need help now, don’t wait for everything to be in place before you get started. People will support things that can be seen to be meeting a need rather than ideas that are waiting to be funded.
- Don’t re-invent the wheel. You are NOT on your own, and the chances are that there are others out there doing the same stuff as you. Networking takes time, but it will save you far more time in the long run – you can’t afford not to do it.
- If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing whatever the consequences. It may cost you financially: it may cost you time and commitment: it may even be deemed illegal if it challenges corrupt legislation – but if it’s on God’s heart, He will support it, fund it, and eventually bring the vision to reality.
March 2009
Written by Dave Smith of Boaz Trust.
For more information and to read some of the stories of those they help, visit www.boaztrust.org.uk
*Home Office Statistical Bulletin, Asylum Statistics UK 2007