Essentials for Asylum Seeker Mother and Baby

Gofundme draft:

Hey everyone. A friend of mine who is an asylum seeker is in real need of funds as the derisory state support they’re entitled to (Section 4 support which is around £35 for themselves and £35 for her son) is simply no way near enough to sustain themselves and their child. Without a bus pass, travel alone already costs £29 every week, leaving only £40 between them to go towards everything else for the rest of the week (food, necessities, internet bills). This amount is next to impossible to live on at the best of times - but my friend has to contend with this amount during a cost of living crisis.

The UK immigration and asylum system is intentionally built in a way to make asylum seekers’ lives difficult - they have no right to work, very little access to financial support and are made to sign at the Home Office at random times. If they are late for these signings, they are sanctioned too. On top of this, my friend is a single parent, bringing up a 5 year old autistic child and they also have early onset arthritis in her knee. The arthritis makes travelling by foot extremely difficult sometimes.

My friend has to have a bus pass to help her with travelling around the city and unfortunately these are very expensive. Part of this fundraiser will be going towards renewing their bus pass to help with day to day living and travel. The more that can be raised, the longer they can renew their bus pass. Furthermore, any extra funds are always needed to help with food, their expensive internet bill and other necessities.

My friend has been waiting to hear news on their asylum claim for 3-4 years now - unfortunately, their solicitor has been very slow and ineffective in chasing this up and therefore a group of us in Sheffield will be looking to build a campaign around their case to try and change the situation. If this fundraiser is successful, some of the money might even go towards trying to change their solicitor. We’ve tried to find access to legal aid solicitors - but they are very few in number and are often full to the brim already.

It's important to remember that the derisory support for migrants and asylum seekers is all intentionally part of the UK’s racist immigration system and the current ‘hostile environment’ policies that come with it. The aim is to actively marginalise and isolate people like my friend.

I understand these times are particularly difficult, but if anyone can spare some money towards this fundraiser it’ll be hugely appreciated and make a massive difference to my friend. I would ask if there’s anyone out there who is fortunate to still be fairly comfortable in the current climate to try to spare a little more and really give what you can. Many of us will be struggling this winter and beyond - but asylum seekers in particular and other marginalised groups will be hit the hardest by all that is going on. It is more important than ever at times like these to build up community support both socially and financially for those who suffer structurally at the hands of our current system.

Even if you can’t spare much, anything that you can give can really make a difference - it all adds up!

Thank you so much x