An annual a
ppeal to give a warm bed to the homeless during winter will be extended this year to support asylum seekers in need.
The Bed for the Night scheme in Berkshire has previously focussed on the general homeless population. This year it will also offer support for asylum seekers who are in need of housing once their claim for asylum is approved.
The Revd Liz Jackson, Associate Archdeacon for Berkshire, described how churches in Reading, Wokingham and Maidenhead are working together to provide a solution.
She said: “We have a situation where people who have had their asylum seekers claim validated, people who have been adopted as genuine asylum seekers, are given very little notice to be able to move on from their accommodation. They are not given enough time to find safe accommodation to go to, to start their new life.
“We are looking to find a particular way of supporting these people with particular vulnerabilities because they have fled war or torture and other horrible situations and may be suffering from poor mental health and particular stresses because if that. We want to be able to help them find emergency temporary accommodation just to bridge the gap between having to leave the hotels where they are at the moment, and find their feet.”
Reading Citizens is helping to organise the support and is looking in particular for churches in Wokingham or Maidenhead who would be able to open their church hall up for use accommodating the refugees. There is also a need for volunteers to join the team of supervisors supporting those using the accommodation.
Contact the Revd Liz Jackson if you would like to get involved.