Short Stop Accomodation
Many refugees and asylum seekers will experience homelessness at some point during their asylum claim, and the Short Stop scheme aims to support people in this situation. Short Stop volunteers provide a hot meal and a bed for the night to people who have nowhere else to turn. More volunteers are always needed so if you have a spare bedroom and some free time in the evening, and could occasionally offer someone a place to stay, please contact us.
The past year has also been very busy for short stop with significant increases in referrals. Between June 07 and May 08 we managed to accommodate nearly 90% of the 580 referrals, which still leaves 1 in 10 people without a bed for the night.
We have completed a review of the service and from this are piloting a new driving scheme where guests are escorted from referring agency to volunteer hosts houses. We continue to recruit and train more volunteers to meet the increasing demand for accommodation for destitute asylum seekers and refugees.
For further information about Short Stop download our June 2008 review
In January, Senco a Ugandan man was destitute with nowhere to stay and no money he had slept on the streets and had managed to secure a couple of night's accommodation at the Crypt homeless shelter. He saw a worker from the Health Access Team who referred him to Short Stop.
Senco first stayed with a family where he was made to feel so welcome it made him cry he had not had this experience of kindness before, it was also relief of been out from the cold and having something to eat. He stayed with short stop for around two weeks with various hosts eventually staying with a shared house who agreed to keep him for a month as part of their community till he had found a place with a local social housing provider.
Senco says that he is now very settled in the housing project and feels that he can see an end to his desperate situation. Now that he is safe and secure he is able to see how depressed he was and says that without Short Stop he would of contemplated suicide.
Become a volunteer
"We had our first referral last week - he was the most lovely man! We're really pleased we did it now and I know every case is different but he was such a joy. He ended up staying for a few days and we were both gutted when he left!", Rachael, March 2008
If you want to become a volunteer short stop host please contact Katrina Burton or download an application form.