We offer help to refugees and asylum seekers in four key ways
The All Saints Drop-in
We run a “Drop-In” for asylum seekers in Portsmouth. This operates twice a week and people can come and go at will and have access to various professional services without charge or appointment.
Tea, coffee, fruit and sandwiches are available free of charge so people can have a drink and meet their friends while they wait to see someone. Some people come very single-mindedly to see one of the professionals but others drop-in simply to have a coffee and meet their friends. That’s fine by us.
Click here to read more about the All Saints drop-in.
COVID-19 UPDATE: Please note that the All Saints Drop In is open on Thursdays only until further notice as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tea, coffee, fruit and sandwiches are available free of charge so people can have a drink and meet their friends while they wait to see someone. Some people come very single-mindedly to see one of the professionals but others drop-in simply to have a coffee and meet their friends. That’s fine by us.
Click here to read more about the All Saints drop-in.
COVID-19 UPDATE: Please note that the All Saints Drop In is open on Thursdays only until further notice as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Access to Justice
Getting good legal advice has always been important to asylum seekers and immigrants but recently it has become much more difficult because of cut backs in the legal aid system. There is now only one solicitor in Portsmouth taking such cases, there is one in Southampton and one in Brighton.
In response to this Friends Without Borders has started a the project – Access to Justice - and opened a new office at All Saints. All the personnel are currently volunteers who, between them, have 20 years of experience in the field. We take on, and give advice about, a range of immigration cases, not just bail.
Click here to read more about the Access to Justice Project.
COVID-19 UPDATE: Access to Justice is currently closed for new cases but existing cases are being dealt with.
In response to this Friends Without Borders has started a the project – Access to Justice - and opened a new office at All Saints. All the personnel are currently volunteers who, between them, have 20 years of experience in the field. We take on, and give advice about, a range of immigration cases, not just bail.
Click here to read more about the Access to Justice Project.
COVID-19 UPDATE: Access to Justice is currently closed for new cases but existing cases are being dealt with.
Destitution fund
We run a destitution fund to help destitute asylum-seekers that we meet in the community. Asylum seekers receive at best 70% of the official British benefits and some don’t receive anything at all. They are not allowed to work. In some cases asylum seekers are homeless and without any financial means to support themselves. The destitution fund ensures that those most vulnerable asylum seekers can access support and meet their basic needs.
COVID-19 UPDATE: We have identified 27 people who are dependent on our support and we're confident that we can go on paying allowances during the crisis.
COVID-19 UPDATE: We have identified 27 people who are dependent on our support and we're confident that we can go on paying allowances during the crisis.
Awareness raising
Consciousness-raising in the wider community is part of our remit:
- Meetings are held in a large number of local churches.
- Lectures are given at local colleges.
- Articles are published in the local press and a number MPs are lobbied about specific cases.
- FWB are also a member group of the Association of visitors to immigration detainees (AVID) who seek to inform policy impacting upon immigration detainees.
Befriending
Until April 2015, our core work was visiting men in Haslar Immigration Removal Centre. A visitor visited one man, usually once a week, to give him moral support and in some cases to help with any practical problems. Visitors are befrienders.
Visits can be simply to chat and offer a little warmth and friendship, and this is considered perfectly valid by the group. However, with detainees naturally very anxious about their legal situation, and not very familiar with either the English language or UK immigration procedures, some visitors do sometimes become involved in providing practical assistance. Visitors often have an idea of any health needs which are not being met and may make contact with the centre or other organisations to bring these to their attention.
Visits can be simply to chat and offer a little warmth and friendship, and this is considered perfectly valid by the group. However, with detainees naturally very anxious about their legal situation, and not very familiar with either the English language or UK immigration procedures, some visitors do sometimes become involved in providing practical assistance. Visitors often have an idea of any health needs which are not being met and may make contact with the centre or other organisations to bring these to their attention.
Our history
The Visitors Group was founded in 1994 and became a registered a charity in January 2000. Although many members were originally from churches, the organisation itself is secular and there are now visitors from all backgrounds.
We changed our name to Friends Without Borders in 2014 to reflect the variety of the work we do and opened a new project Access to Justice to offer high quality legal advice to our clients. In April 2015, Haslar Immigration and Removal Centre closed and we re-focused our efforts on our two remaining projects.
We changed our name to Friends Without Borders in 2014 to reflect the variety of the work we do and opened a new project Access to Justice to offer high quality legal advice to our clients. In April 2015, Haslar Immigration and Removal Centre closed and we re-focused our efforts on our two remaining projects.
Friends Without Borders, All Saints Centre, Commercial Road, Portsmouth, PO1 4BT, Phone: 023 9283 9222
Our registered charity number is: 1080187
Our registered charity number is: 1080187
