Comfort and Joy: Small gesture of £5 voucher will mean 'more than you can imagine' for city asylum seekers at Christmas

Friends Without Borders is a charity supporting asylum seekers, immigrants and refugees in Portsmouth who are facing hardship and are unable to work, drive or rent a property until an asylum claim is approved.

Some of them cannot leave the UK because they either have no papers or their own countries won’t take them.

People making a fresh asylum application are cut off from government support, so Friends Without Borders gives £20 a week to them, which has increased to £25 during the pandemic.

Bryony Whitmarsh, who has taken over as co-chairman with Veronica Dunne, said: ‘We have just over 20 such people on our books costing us over £500 a week. Other asylum seekers sometimes need help too so altogether we usually give around £800 or £900 a week.’

Other services provided by the charity include befriending volunteers reaching out to people in need, a school uniform grant scheme and a drop-in at All Saints Church in Commercial Road on a Monday and Thursday which provides refreshments and essential support services.

The popular drop-in service, run in collaboration with the British Red Cross, unfortunately has had to close during the pandemic.

A young asylum seeker from Syria, who is being made anonymous, has been going to the drop-in for six years.

He has been in the UK for more than six years. His claim for asylum failed, he cannot return to Syria and he gets no benefits or accommodation.

The young man, who meets with charity befriender Lia Deyal, said: ‘When the drop-in closed in March I had nothing. Michael Woolley [former Friends chairman] organised for my destitution money to be paid into a Friends account and for Lia to befriend me.

SEE ALSO: Vouchers from community will be the 'rainbow' for homeless people this Christmas

‘Lockdown has been very bad for me, I just stay home. The only contact I have is Lia from Friends without Borders.

‘She phones me every Monday and asks “how are you,how is life, how is everything.” We have met a few times and been for a walk and a coffee. She will talk about her family and I can talk about how I am feeling.

‘I miss the drop-in, I used to go there every week and sometimes twice a week. When I have vouchers I can buy food.’

The charity is one of the beneficiaries of this year’s Comfort and Joy campaign, backed by The News, which will see supermarket gift vouchers given out to 10 good causes in the city.

Bryony said: ‘The campaign is particularly special this year, focusing on the things that unite us. We won't have the opportunity to bring our clients and volunteers together to celebrate Christmas in person, and as a charity we can't afford to give out presents to people, so being able to pass on a voucher to each person to give them that choice at Christmas means more than you might imagine.

READ NEXT: Christmas generosity will boost spirits of people living in charity hostels after becoming homeless

‘Gifting a £5 voucher might seem like a small gesture, but if you are seeking refuge in our city after having to flee your own country and times are hard, then simply knowing that someone is thinking of you at Christmas time can really bring both comfort and joy.’

HOW TO HELP

To get involved with the voucher scheme, simply buy a Christmas card and write a message, without including your name and address, and purchase a gift voucher of £5 to put inside the card.

Do not seal the envelope, and place the Christmas card into one of the festive postboxes in the area which can be found at Tesco stores in Havant, Fratton, Gosport and Portsmouth’s Crasswell Street.

Alternatively, send a gift card, cash or cheque payable to St Mary’s Church in the post to St Mary’s Vicarage, Fratton Road, Portsmouth, PO1 5PA or hand in at St Mary’s Church any morning between 9am and midday.

The deadline for receiving donations on December 18, after which time the donations will be distributed to the good causes.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news online - as well as fewer adverts, access to our digital edition and mobile app.

Our trial offer starts at just £2 a month for the first two months.