Our Resources page includes a regularly updated selection of reports and publications related to destitution. Please click on the links to find out more
Coronavirus Resources
As we transition out of lockdown, we’ve pooled some resources based on feedback from our members, which should help projects and charities resume their service provision.
➡️ NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations)
- A complete library of links covering topics like; risk management, planning for returning to work safely, supporting staff and beneficiaries, safeguarding, cleaning and PPE, taking an inclusive approach, developing a contingency plan and more.
>>> LINK TO RESOURCES <<<
➡️ HSE (Heath and Safety Executive)
- All the latest links and advice on working safely and restarting work including; Risk Assessment, cleaning, hyena and PPE, managing work-related stress etc. Includes links to specific advice given in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
>>> LINK TO RESOURCES <<<
➡️ Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH)
- Has produced a range of guidance documents and videos on returning safely to work including; safe workplaces, safe people, safe systems, risk assessments, legal obligations, etc.
>>> LINK TO RESOURCES <<<
➡️ Government Website
- A comprehensive set of guidance to help run a charity during the Covid-19 outbreak.
>>> LINK TO RESOURCES <<<
Members can also view related post-Coronavirus template documents in the Members’ Library. If you are not a member but wish to access the template documents, please get in touch with Paul Catterall.
Guidance for those providing accommodation
➡️ Night shelters – Government guidance on the provision of night shelters (published October 2020); The Government has published guidance on the provision of night shelter accommodation during the Covid-19 crisis. You can access the guidance here. NACCOM has also summarised the key points here.
➡️ Hosting projects; NACCOM has collated the following guidance for members who provide hosting projects, on how to continue with service provision during the Covid-19 pandemic. >>>View it here<<<
➡️ Housing projects; NACCOM has collated the following guidance for members who provide shared housing projects, on how to continue with service provision during the Covid-19 pandemic. >>>View it here<<<
➡️ Advice note for those living in shared houses; NACCOM has also produced a separate advice note specifically for individuals being housed by NACCOM projects that are needing to self-isolate.
>>> Written advice note in English<<<
In addition, we have also produced the advice as a written file in Sorani, and as an audio file, and in some cases a video file, in; English, Sorani, French, Farsi, Tigrinya, Amharic, Arabic, Albanian, Vietnamese, Swahili, Urdu. These audio files are designed to be sent to guests via WhatsApp. To request these files, please email Paul Catterall.
➡️ NACCOM guidance on prepayment cards for destitution payments – Many NACCOM members are having to consider alternatives to cash payments to support people who are destitute. To help your organisation with this, NACCOM has arranged a bulk buy deal with prepayment provider Equals. This deal is an option you may want to consider; if you decide to go ahead the contract with Equals, this will be between your organisation and the prepayment card provider. We have arranged for funding so there will be no cost to members for signing up for the first 1000 cards.
>>> Please review the following information about the offer<<<
If you would like any further information on the prepayment card offer, please email Katie Fawcett.
➡️ List of telephone interpreter services – A list of interpreters that can offer a phone service, costs and contact details. >>>View it here<<<
Guidance in relation to campaigns and advocacy work
Member briefing – asylum evictions
We’ve produced a briefing for members and others in the sector on the current status of asylum evictions and support for people at risk of street homelessness who have either been granted or refused asylum during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Member briefing – NRPF and homelessness
We’ve produced a briefing for members on support for people with NRPF experiencing homelessness.
Policy briefing – Everyone Out?
Read our joint policy paper, Everyone Out? Preventing Evictions into Homelessness, for more information about what needs to be done to protect everyone from homelessness and COVID-19.
As part of our pandemic response, we’re offering the below events and opportunities for members to take part in:
➡️Free Human Resources guidance sessions for Full Members
In light of the changing HR situation many organisations are finding themselves in, we are currently able to offer Full Members of NACCOM access to free specialist HR advice over the phone with an HR consultant, plus access to relevant briefings if needed.
Each Full Member is entitled to a maximum of two hours HR advice. If you think you may need more than this, then please let us know.
How to access your advice session
To book your session please email Gill Taylor who is an HR consultant with specialist knowledge of the voluntary sector, to arrange a time. She is available Monday to Thursday between 9.30 – 13.00.
We’re currently only able to offer this opportunity to NACCOM Full Members, however if you’re a NACCOM Associate Member then please let us know that you are interested and we will try our best to support you.
➡️Free one-to-one coaching and HR support for charity leaders/managers
Many in the charity sector have had to make tough decisions, rapidly. We want to continue to meet the needs of those we support in a different and uncertain environment. If you are a charity manager/leader and would like help in navigating these turbulent times, Nicola Parker can offer you time and space to think via free 1:1 coaching.
Coaching offers a non-judgemental, confidential space that enables you to explore your thoughts, behaviours and beliefs. It helps you identify your goals and find your own solutions through a process of self-discovery and learning facilitated by the coach. Coaching is not advice.
Coaching sessions will be delivered via zoom, last 1 hour and are totally confidential. They may be carried out as a one off or as part of a series (up to 3).
In addition, having led HR functions in the charity sector for 15 years, Nicola is happy to support leaders of small charities without HR functions with any covid-19 HR issues.
Nicola has 20 years of charity HR experience including 16 years of working in the migration sector at Refugee Action, where she has recently left. She is also a Trustee at ASAP (Asylum Support Appeals Project), a certified coach, CIPD qualified and a member of the ICF (International Coach Federation).
If you would like to have a chat about either coaching or HR support, please email [email protected]
➡️Fortnightly members’ Zoom call re’ Coronavirus
We host a fortnightly members’ Zoom call, a chance to chat with others across the network about how charities are responding to the pandemic. This is a great opportunity for members to share thoughts and experiences, and to support others as we all work through this difficult situation. If you would like to join the next call, please email Paul Catterall, our Network Development Worker.
The schedule for meetings in 2021 is as follows:
- Tuesday 23rd February
- Tuesday 9th March
- Tuesday 23rd March
Details of how to access the call will be circulated via the NACCOM Google group prior to the meeting. If you are not yet a member of the Google group, please email Hannah Gurnham to request access.
➡️ Thematic member hub meetingsFollowing feedback from members, we have launched a series of ‘thematic’ hub meetings to explore the specific issues facing different types of accommodation project and drop-in services in the network, as we transition out of the pandemic. The first meetings took place in June 2020, and focused on:
- Housing projects
- Hosting projects
- Night shelters
- Drop-in services
The intention of the thematic hub meetings is to have an open and honest discussion on the “what-ifs” and the key challenges facing members going forward, and for us to identify together areas where we might be able to help and support members in finding workable solutions.
Please check back soon for details of our next thematic hub meeting, or email our Network Development Worker Paul Catterall.
Naccom Reports
Hosting Toolkit (updated 2020)
To request a hardcopy of the Hosting Toolkit, please get in touch.
NACCOM Impact Report 2018-2019.
If you would like to receive a hard copy for yourself or your organisation, please contact us.
HOUSING TOOLKIT – October 2019.
If you would like to receive a hard copy for yourself or your organisation, please contact us.
MISSING THE SAFETY NET – FULL REPORT.
If you would like to receive a hard copy for yourself or your organisation, please contact us.
You can download the report here
If you would like to receive a hard copy for yourself or your organisation, please contact us.
If you would like to receive a hard copy for yourself or your organisation, please contact us.
If you would like to receive a hard copy for yourself or your organisation, please contact us.
Our annual accounts are also available here- NACCOM Annual Accounts 2017 – 18
If you would like to receive a hard copy for yourself or your organisation, please contact us.
This resource, launched in July 2017, has been produced by NACCOM and Homeless Link to support schemes accommodating destitute asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants through hosting. The resource is designed to support the establishment of new schemes and promote good practice in existing schemes. Our thanks to Joseph Rowntree Foundation for funding the Toolkit, and to all the NACCOM Members who contributed with examples from their projects.
If you would like to receive a hard copy for yourself or your organisation, please contact us.
You can download the PDF here.
Our latest Annual Report contains analysis from the 2016-17 accommodation survey, focusing on rising needs and outcomes achieved across the network. It also includes an overview of our capacity building and awareness-raising activities and features case studies from service users and member projects.
The report also includes an overview of our financial operations in 2016-17. If you would like to receive a hard copy of this report, please contact us.
Our 2015-16 Annual Report contains a summary of our Vision document and an overview of our work and financial operations over the last year, alongside analysis from the 2016 accommodation survey.
A Report on the Extent and Nature of Accommodation provided by NACCOM Member Organisations.
Naccom Submissions
Reports by, or featuring the work of, NACCOM Members
Lift the Ban, the coalition campaigning to give people seeking the asylum the right to work, released a report in October 2020 highlighting the economic arguments for lifting the ban. Download the Lift the Ban – Common Sense report.
Research published in February 2020 by the charity Women for Refugee Women highlights the experiences of asylum-seeking women in the UK, who are routinely forced into destitution and homelessness, subjected to abuse and put at risk of further abuse. Featuring evidence from organisations and guests within the NACCOM network.
In 2020, NACCOM member Commonweal Housing released some research looking into women-specific hosting.
Hosting Her, by researchers Lisa Young and Tessa Horvath, explores how host housing schemes – which enable members of the public to offer a room in their house to someone in need – can support some homeless women when delivered well. It identifies key considerations for existing schemes and those delivering women-specific host housing in the future.
Download the executive summary here.
Download the full report here.
This report was composed by a network of asylum seeker-led NGOs in the West Midlands, in collaboration with Refugee Rights Europe and TRP Solicitors. The report was originally written as a contribution to the United Nations CEDAW Committee, during its reporting and monitoring process of the United Kingdom’s fulfillment of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The key issues highlighted in the report are: Inadequate Asylum Processing System, Lack of Access to Employment, Mental Health Concerns, Destitution and Violence against Women.
NICRAS have published a new guide on ‘Best Practice in the Provision of Immigration Legal Advice Services’ drafted by the Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (NICRAS) Project Coordinator, Maria McCloskey. This is an important tool for both asylum seekers and solicitors alike.
Troubling patterns of street homelessness and vulnerability to abuse amongst destitute refugees have been uncovered by new research from the Jesuit Refugee Service UK (JRS UK). The study finds that most of the destitute refugees attending the JRS UK Day Centre had slept rough at some point in the previous year, and one in five had been forced to spend more than a month on the streets. More worrying still was that a third of those with accommodation reported not feeling physically safe there.
The research, undertaken just before Christmas, uncovered a widespread pattern of sporadic street homelessness affecting men and women of different ages and backgrounds who had fled to the UK for safety and sought asylum, but struggled to gain recognition of their status as a refugee. Unable to leave the UK, yet barred from working and with no government support they were left destitute, often for many years, as they found themselves subject to the web of policies described by policy-makers as the “hostile environment agenda”.
Key Statistics:
62% experienced street homeless in the last year
36% feel physically unsafe in their
accommodation
47% have no regular place to sleep
87% do not feel in control of their accommodation
42% feel uncomfortable with those they live with
JRS have put together a comprehensive list of recommendations and advocacy actions alongside the report, please take a look below.
Housing Justice oversee a UK wide Church and Community Night Shelter Network which includes several NACCOM Members. Their recent impact report demonstrates the increasing need for night shelter accommodation across the UK including amongst refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants. Statistics collated across the network show that of guests attending shelters, one in ten had no recourse to public funds.
For ten years the British Red Cross, Boaz Trust and other agencies have supported destitute refugees and asylum seekers in Greater Manchester through a unique partnership. This report was written after surveying 150 of those people about their day-to-day lives and the reasons for their destitution.
The report is the first attempt to map destitution among asylum seekers and refugees in Greater Manchester. It makes depressing reading, revealing that one in ten people using the service has been destitute for more than ten years, and almost half have been destitute for at least two years.
Reports produced in partnership with NACCOM
What’s wrong?
The 28-day move-on period in the UK is leaving refugees on the brink of extreme poverty. Evidence from people who use Red Cross services shows that newly recognised refugees are struggling after successfully applying for asylum. Many can’t move from asylum support to mainstream benefits and employment within the 28-day period afforded to them by the Home Office.
Our new report, Still an ordeal: The move-on period for new refugees, examines the experiences of people who use British Red Cross refugee services. Their stories help explain why many new refugees fall into poverty so soon after getting a positive decision on their asylum application.
In 2014, we published a report that showed the move-on period was an ordeal for new refugees. Four years on, despite some positive policy changes in the intervening years, it is still an ordeal. Further changes are now needed, including extending the move-on period to at least 56 days.
Key findings
- Twenty-eight days is not enough time for newly recognised refugees to move onto mainstream benefits or find somewhere new to live. All 26 refugees who took part in our research faced problems and were left without their most basic needs for up to 72 days.
- Universal Credit has made it almost inevitable that refugees will be left without support. An automatic 35-day wait to receive the first Universal Credit payment is completely incompatible with the 28 days afforded to newly recognised refugees to access Universal Credit.
- The safeguards within the Universal Credit system to ensure claimants are not left without support are often not accessed by refugees. They are often unaware that they are eligible or cannot receive them because they don’t have a bank account.
Who’s affected?
The British Red Cross supports around 15,000 refugees and asylum seekers each year who are extremely poor and facing destitution. One in five have refugee status.
We give them help such as food vouchers, as they’re unable to meet their basic living needs.
What needs to change?
Since 2014, the government has made a number of changes to help refugees after they get their asylum decision. But our research shows that more needs to be done.
All parties involved need to work better together to make sure that fewer people are left without support following the ‘move-on’ period. This includes the Home Office, Department for Work and Pensions, JobCentre Plus, refugees and the charities working with refugees during this period.
We’ll be working with the government to make this happen – and continue to help those who have the right to a life here.
Our calls to decision makers:
- Extend the move-on period to at least 56 days, to avoid a break in support.
- Provide more support to newly recognised refugees to help them navigate the move-on period and apply for Universal Credit.
- Ensure that newly recognised refugees are able to open bank accounts more quickly and easily.
It is essential that people seeking asylum are able to access good quality legal assistance. Applying for refugee status is very complex and most people arrive in the UK with little or no experience of going through the legal system of their own country, let alone one they are new to and in a language they might not understand.
However, our research shows that changes to the legal aid system have left many people seeking asylum completely unable to access the legal support they need to make their case for protection from violence or persecution. This is denying justice to some of the most vulnerable people in our country.
The Strategic Alliance on Migrant Destitution has produced a report outlining the scale and nature of destitution, types of support available, testimonies of service users and recommendations for future actions. A blog on the report’s findings can be found at the Homeless Link website.
This report asks the question, ‘What is the scale of the refugee third sector response to gaps in the support regime for asylum seekers, refused asylum seekers and refugees?’ and explores the financial cost to the refugee third sector of poverty and destitution among these groups, including the scale of the sector and the number and needs of people that are being supported. It also looks at how third sector groups are funded and makes key recommendations for changes to the sector. NACCOM, British Red Cross, ASSIST Sheffield and Asylum Welcome all featured as case studies in the report.
A resource for practitioners and groups who want to get involved in accommodating destitute migrants.
There are a range of projects across the UK which have highlighted the presence of destitute migrants and the need to develop responses to their humanitarian needs. These projects have also developed innovative practices that have the potential to inspire others. This resource identifies some of the elements of best practice in relation to these models.
This report explains the nature and urgency of the problems affecting destitute migrants, what solutions might work and how obstacles to helping them can be tackled. It also gives advice on overcoming legal obstacles to giving help to destitute migrants.
This study focuses on the legal needs of destitute refused asylum seekers. It builds on a 2013 report published by Asylum Aid: Rethinking Asylum Legal Representation. It sits within the 2015 movement of the homelessness and advice sectors whose aim is to collaborate and end destitution among migrants, and is addressed to funders, strategists and also to destitution support organisations. It shows that organisations that provide accommodation and destitution support are well placed to increase access to, and thereby the effectiveness of, asylum legal advice.
Publications by other agencies
This report written by Ruth Jacobs at Crisis builds on the prevention agenda established through the Homelessness Reduction Act (2017) and calls on every government department to play their part to prevent and end homelessness.
Project 17 reports on the experiences of the families who have benefited from Project 17’s ‘Hotel Fund’, which has provided accommodation to families left street homeless following a local authority’s refusal of support.
The report investigates the material and psychological impact on children and families left street homeless by refusals of local authority support, and the difficulties faced by families seeking to challenge local authority refusals. We also detail our work engaging with five different local authorities (Southwark, Greenwich, Lewisham, Bexley and Lambeth) to raise concerns about the impact on families being left unsupported.
The provision of the Hotel Fund and the associated lobbying and research was funded by the Network for Social Change.
This report published in June 2018 examines the scale, nature and drivers of destitution in the UK in 2017 and updates a similar study undertaken in 2015.
View report
A technical report accompanies the research report.
View report
Related content
The 28-day move-on period in the UK is leaving refugees on the brink of extreme poverty. Evidence from people who use Red Cross services shows that newly recognised refugees who receive leave-to-remain are struggling. Many can’t move on from asylum support to mainstream benefits and employment within the 28-day period given to them by the Home Office.
This report, written by Pauline Carnet, Catherine Blanchard and Fabio Apollonio, uses qualitative and quantitative data to understand why many new refugees are at particular risk of destitution in this 28-day time frame.
Key findings
- Moving to mainstream benefits usually takes much longer than 28 days. One person in our study had to wait almost three months to receive such support.
- This delay is usually because of red tape and inefficiency from government staff. In total, we identified 23 factors that can affect the process.
- For some people, between five and ten different issues were causing a hold-up. As a result, all the new refugees in our study were living in extreme poverty.