Preston City of Sanctuary

Preston City of SanctuarySaturday, November 21st, 2020 at 11:29am

https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3gvjk/these-asylum-seekers-started-their-own-union

These Asylum Seekers Started Their Own Union

Stuck in a former military barracks in a small Welsh village, Penally Training Camp residents have decided to take their wellbeing into their own hands.

vice.com

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Preston City of SanctuaryFriday, November 20th, 2020 at 10:37pm

Event on Tuesday 24th November 1:30PM-3:30PM by Preston City Council:
No room for hate in Preston:Islamophobia and hate crime.

Register on Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/no-room-for-hate-in-preston-islamaphobia-and-hate-crime-tickets-129021790649

No room for hate in Preston: Islamaphobia and hate crime

Join Preston City Council and the University of Central Lancashire for our virtual event: No Room for Hate: Islamophobia and Hate Crime

eventbrite.co.uk

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Preston City of SanctuaryWednesday, November 18th, 2020 at 2:16pm

Giving people seeking asylum the right to work is common sense, particularly in a pandemic. We don't think there's any question about that.

But as they're still being denied it, there will be a debate in Parliament today in which the case to #LiftTheBan will be made

https://twitter.com/RefugeeAction/status/1328984526454919170

Refugee Action on Twitter

“Giving people seeking asylum the right to work is common sense, particularly in a pandemic. We don't think there's any question about that. But as they're still being denied it, there will be a debate in Parliament today in which the case to #LiftTheBan will be made. https://t.co/BDySuFj0ev”

twitter.com

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Preston City of SanctuaryMonday, November 16th, 2020 at 8:55pm

Are you planning to study in Higher Education? Are you not sure how it works in the UK or how to access it?

Don’t miss this free webinar on 22 November!

This webinar is aimed bridge the gap to help people access education who have either different qualifications or those who do not know how to get into education, due to education differences in their home country and the UK.

We would appreciate if you could spread the word and support this event.

Event link is:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/hear-and-unigee-31606397837

H.E.A.R and Unigee

eventbrite.co.uk

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Preston City of SanctuarySaturday, November 14th, 2020 at 7:03pm

The Refugee Council has created a banking guide to help make this process easier for refugees. The guide explains how bank accounts work in the UK, the documents that banks require applicants to provide, how to make an application for a new account and tips for avoiding financial scams.
The guide is available in English, Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, Pashto and Tigrinya.
Check out the information on the Kirklees Welcomes blog
https://welcometokirklees.blog/.../new-guide-to-help.../

new guide to help refugees open a bank account

The Refugee Council has created a banking guide to help make this process easier for refugees. The guide explains how bank accounts work in the UK, the documents that banks require applic…

welcometokirklees.blog

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Preston City of SanctuaryFriday, November 13th, 2020 at 11:46am

Asylum Support Rates

As you will have heard, ministers have completed the latest review of asylum support rates and are increasing payments by just 3p a week, to £39.63 a week.

This week Preston City of Sanctuary wrote to all our local MPS and members of the Lords to raise this issue. Perhaps you would like to contact your own MP on this.

Asylum Matters have published a new report - ‘Locked into Poverty – life on asylum support’ - which reveals a picture of poverty, exclusion and hardship for people seeking asylum wholly reliant on Government support payments. You can find the report on the Asylum Matters website and read coverage of the review’s outcome, and our and several partners’ views on it, in The Guardian, i News, Independent and Morning Star.

This follows work undertaken in July and August with people in the asylum system, and with over 30 local and national partners who support them, on a survey of people's experience of living on asylum support; and which was submitted as evidence to the Home Office for its review.

The report sets out the findings of our survey among 184 people seeking asylum, and reveals that:

92% of respondents did not have enough money to buy all they need;

84% said they don’t always have enough money to buy food;

Just 2% of families can afford to buy the shoes and clothes they need for themselves and their children;

63% of people stated they could not always afford the medicines they needed;

Only 1 in 4 people stated they could afford essential cleaning products;

95% of people stated they could not afford to travel by public transport;

Only 1 in 10 people could afford data and phone credit they needed.

Meanwhile, recent polling commissioned by Asylum Matters and Refugee Action found that 64% of people in the 35 most marginal Conservative-held constituencies thought the amount people currently receive on asylum support was too little.

We're very grateful for your support so far with highlighting how 3p is an #InsultNotAnIncrease. Please do keep sharing on social media, you can access the infographics here, together with some suggested text. These were designed for partners who were involved in the survey, so do amend and adapt as you see fit, and/or retweet the Asylum Matters thread.

If you are able to engage with your local media and/or your local MP on these findings, do get in touch with us at info@asylummatters.org

And our thanks go to the many partners who disseminated the survey, and people seeking asylum themselves, for sharing their experiences of life on asylum support with us.

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