OUR GUESTS
Sanctuary Hosting supports people who are homeless and cannot return to their home countries.
For our guests who are seeking asylum, getting Home Office accommodation can take time. Hosting can be the ideal stop-gap.
While those people granted refugee status can access services welfare benefits and local authority support, there are difficulties finding private housing because of high rents and big deposits. Hosting gives time to find work and save up, so people can find their own place.
Vulnerable migrants may have applied to the Home Office for leave to remain but are not able to get public funds. Homeless migrants in the UK are often left with little or no support … so hosting can be a lifeline while their applications go through.
GUEST ELIGIBILITY
Our guests:
- Either homeless or about to be homeless in our region (Oxfordshire/Berkshire/Buckinghamshire)
- From another country and with a strong reason for not wanting to go back to your country. This should not be an economic reason
- 18 or over (we don’t host children)
- Without an alcohol or drug problem
- Without a history of being violent
- Without any criminal convictions (this does not include immigration offences)
- Without a serious mental health condition (if that makes it hard for others to live with you)
- Willing to accept any hosting placement that is offered to you within our region, and willing to accept Home Office accommodation, if you secure this in future
- For survivors of Domestic Abuse: willing to provide a completed safety plan with the help of your caseworkers
- Honest about any health symptoms you, and those you have lived with, have so we can house you safely, especially with reference to COVID 19
