Winter Refugee Appeal - Please donate today

Refugees and asylum seekers are being fast-tracked into poverty instead of being helped to contribute to society. Help us challenge it.

View this email in your browser You can update your preferences or unsubscribe Winter Refugee Appeal Raising funds to provide urgent essential humanitarian relief to refugee families, children, lone women and men — including torture survivors and those fleeing wars and persecution. Donate securely via CAF, JustGiving or PayPal Giving Please donate to our 2022 Winter Refugee Crisis Appeal, supporting refugees and asylum seekers who are forbidden to work and forced to live on as little as £1.17 a day. Our Winter Appeal is underway until next Friday 23 December. Despite the freezing weather and postal and rail strikes, our staff and volunteers are right now distributing emergency support to 328 adults and 202 dependent children from refugee and asylum-seeking families and individuals, who have fled war and persecution, including those from Iran, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. We will provide vouchers to buy essential food items and warm clothes, small crisis payments for phone top-ups, and bus travel. We will also provide essential digital tech to help people stay connected. As well as Glasgow, we are providing emergency relief to asylum seekers in Paisley, Greenock, Aberdeen, and Perth. We are also providing support to a small number of destitute refugees in London and Brighton, including those transferred from Manston. We are under increased pressure as we support Ukrainian war refugees to find safe hosted accommodation (so far, we have provided shelter for 405 Ukrainian families and children). We know too well that times are tough for everyone, and we appreciate any donation you can give. The ongoing cost of living crisis has seen a reduction in charity donations. Regular donations help us to plan life-saving interventions. Read more about our Winter Appeal here. See our Latest annual review and check us out in the Guardian. How to Donate Donate securely via CAF, JustGiving or PayPal Giving We can invoice you for your chosen amount. Just email home@positiveactionh.org Send cheque payable to Positive Action in Housing (Winter Appeal) and post to: Positive Action in Housing Ltd ‪98 West George Street, Glasgow G2 1PJ Bank transfers – email home@positiveactionh.org (Remember to fill in the gift aid form to add 25% to your donation at no extra cost). For other ways to give, go to www.positiveactionh.org/donate About the Lifeline Service In 2021/22, Positive Action's Lifeline Service supported 1,737 destitute refugees and asylum seekers needing advice, shelter, and crisis support at crucial stages in the asylum process. Our Room for refugees Programme provided shelter through volunteer hosts for over 4,000 refugees from Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen. Our Ukraine Programme has so far sheltered over 400 Ukrainian refugees. We distributed almost £100K from our Emergency Relief Fund – a genuine lifeline. These life-saving payments are primarily used for food, essential clothing, hygiene products, baby items, or travel required to access doctors, solicitors, or Home Office appointments. This year's winter appeal in 2022 will benefit 530 beneficiaries (328 adults and 202 children) from 48 countries, including Iran, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Eritrea, Yemen, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Palestine, and Somalia, over the Christmas and winter period to help refugees and asylum-seeking families get a little reprieve during this freezing weather when many services will shut down. Why your help is needed The asylum system is causing misery. Many would-be refugees are instead being "fast-tracked into poverty - forbidden to work and forced to live on as little as £1.17 a day. Asylum seekers receive less than £6 a day for all their basic needs. Those in hotels receive only £1.17 a day. Rising food and energy prices have made life more difficult. Our Room for Refugees Programme is under increased pressure to assist elderly Ukrainian war refugees to leave their homes and find safe, registered hosts. So far we have found shelter for 405 refugees. The controversial "Rwanda policy" has made people more fearful of the Home Office and its accommodation contractors, for fear it affects their asylum claim. The bureaucratic indifference, delays and unsuitable accommodation have left many with deteriorating mental and physical health. Thousands of able, skilled refugees are banned from contributing to the workforce. People must depend on the Home Office and its contractors for housing and support. The backlog of people waiting for a decision in the UK has reached over 122K, with hundreds waiting over five years. Even those who have "papers" are often left without support. They depend on humanitarian relief while our caseworkers work to help people rebuild their lives throughout the year. Copyright (C) 2022 Positive Action in Housing. All rights reserved. Connected to our work Our mailing address is: Positive Action in Housing 98 W George Street Glasgow, G2 1PJ United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe