| January 2021 Newsletter from Positive Action in Housing | | | | News in brief:
We Donated to Lesvos
To commemorate International Migrants Day, Positive Action in Housing donated £22,500 from its Refugee Crisis Fund to four high-impact, grassroots groups in Lesvos, Greece These are: Eric and Philippa Kempson's Hope Project; Team Humanity Hope and Peace Centre; Stand By Me Lesvos (Moria White Helmets) and Aegean Boat Report. The Moria White Helmets are a group of refugees working inside the the new camp at Kara Tepe, where there have been tent fires due to faulty electrics. To give a donation to these groups. visit this page.
Refugee/Asylum/Migrant Rights & Diversity Training Here's our Spring timetable for live, online, open course training to March 2021. We are offering all our courses online using Zoom. For in-house training please drop a line to Iain Chisholm at training@positiveactionh.org.
Call to Action
To see our latest Call To Action, go here . You will find essential resources including how to support our work, sign up or volunteer. Here also is a timeline of the deadly accommodation crisis going on in Glasgow since March 2020, at the height of the Lockdown.
Resources for Asylum Seekers and NRPF
We have put together Essential Resources for Asylum-seekers and those with No Recourse To Public Funds here
Employers: Encourage your employees to check if they need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.
Your employees risk not being able to continue living or working in the UK if they do not apply to the scheme. Apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (settled and pre-settled status)
Shrinking the space for human rights: A look back on 2020
A raft of new laws, Home Office measures and government proposals attempt to restrict the legal accountability of state actors, including ministers, while removing legal protections from those who need them most. In this IRR News long read, Frances Webber examines the various threats to human rights over the last year. Read this.
Home Office fails to respect High Court ruling
The Home Office is facing a legal challenge over asylum seeker payments during Covid. Asylum seekers in emergency accommodation - particularly hotels - are struggling to meet their basic needs as the U.K. government fails to pay an agreed increase in support. Read our comment.
Landmark Court Ruling
The Home Office is WRONG to stop asylum seekers working - Woman asylum seeker wins the right to work. Both asylum seekers and victims of trafficking have expressed frustration at being barred from working when they are fit and able to do so.
Read more | | | Financial Donations Appeal
A Happy New Year and heartfelt thanks from all of us at Positive Action in Housing for supporting our humanitarian work this past year, and your kind messages, in the most difficult of circumstances.
Since the Lockdown began in March 2020, we have adapted our services so that our staff and volunteers can continue to provide advice, information and practical support safely.
Our Homelessness and Emergency Relief Teams are offering appointments for outside "surgeries" to provide support to those in greatest need, and impacted directly by Covid 19.
We have increased our capacity to distribute emergency support packages to the most vulnerable amongst our client groups. This includes provision of crisis grants, winter care packs, baby packs and a halal food bank.
We very much rely on regular donations to continue this direct work. To support this Financial Donations Appeal, see below. | | | Give a donation via CAF, JustGiving or PayPal Giving, or post a cheque to: Emergency Appeal, Positive Action in Housing, 98 West George St Glasgow G2 1PJ. For other ways to give, visit our donate page. | | | Donate your birthday via Facebook and encourage family or friends to fundraise. Go to the home page of your Facebook account (on mobile app or desktop). On the left hand side column, you should see the 'fundraiser' option under "Create" at the bottom. Click on "fundraiser" and Facebook will walk you through. For more info, visit here. | | | Shop using AmazonSmile, and Amazon will have to donate to Positive Action in Housing, at no cost to you. | | | Click here to send an e-card for any occasion - save paper and help a worthy cause. | | Companies can request an invoice for tax/auditing purposes, email accounts@positiveactionh.org. (To add 25% gift aid
to your donation/s, just
complete this form)
Set up a monthly donation
from as little as £10 here
Donate via internet banking:
Account name: Positive Action in Housing
Sort Code: 82 20 00
Account: 00447398 | | | Throughout Winter, Positive Action in Housing provides essential crisis support to homeless or destitute refugee and asylum seeking families and unaccompanied child refugees who have fled war and persecution, leaving behind loved ones and everything they know. The charity supports people from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and many other refugee-producing countries. You can read stories about some of the people we have helped in our annual impact report here. We focus resources on those at risk of exploitation: unaccompanied children, families, pregnant woman, the elderly and sick, and lone individuals living in poverty and people with health problems/disabilities. As well as arranging shelter, the Charity helps vulnerable refugees with travel to medical and legal appointments, food vouchers and hygiene packs. We also provide crisis grants to ensure people do not go hungry, cold, or destitute. | | | The LifeLine Service provides a breathing space so that people can decide their options and create a forward plan with their lawyer and caseworker. This approach has produced life transforming outcomes, putting autonomy back into peoples' lives.
In 2019/20, Positive Action in Housing assisted 1,440 refugees & asylum seekers from Syria, Eritrea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Palestine and Yemen with advice, legal representation, shelter, and crisis funds at crucial stages in their settlement. We provided 43K nights of shelter (www.roomforrefugees.com) and distributed almost £60K from our Emergency Relief Fund – providing a genuine lifeline.
We work to resolve a crisis and rebuild lives. See our latest impact report | | | | Positive Action in Housing
Working together to rebuild lives
Scottish Registered Charity SC027577
www.positiveactionh.org
www.roomforrefugees.com | | | | |
