Housing Justice Hosting; the story so far…

Housing Justice Hosting; the story so far… All that changed on September the 2nd last year, when this picture of Aylan Kurdi drowned off the coast of Turkey galvanised public opinion in an unprecedented way. All hosting schemes were inundated with phone calls and emails from people who had spare space and wanted to help. London Hosting communicated with NACCOM, the national network of hosting schemes, and agreed that we would deal with enquiries from within the M25 and refer anyone from outside the M25 to them (and vice versa). We began holding hosting information evenings in collaboration with Praxis in September 2015, and to date have had six, with attendance from 15 up to nearly 100

Process Initial call/e-mail with profile of guest 3-way meeting Hosting Agreement Destitution fund Sherrisa, Mariam & Lilian; Ephrem & Aidan; Hadijatou & Ann Froggatt, Julie & Jean; Rawa & Kathy

Current situation 53 matches to date (+7 declined, +2 unsuitable*) 56 registered hosts 35 people hosted (9 with more than one host) 30 current guests** 10 successful move-ons,1 left host*** 1 unsuccessful move-on**** 1 granted ILR 6711 nights hosted***** £14, 499 destitution funds paid out to date 6 people have been hosted twice (where the first host couldn’t accommodate them any longer) 3 people have been hosted 3 times (where the first and second host couldn’t accommodate them any longer) 3 are in NASS accommodation 4 have been housed in alternative accommodation (2 Catholic Worker – one of whom was hosted twice then moved on, 2 NSNO - one of whom was hosted twice then moved on), 1 went to live with fiancé; *1 declined two offers, 1 unsuitable due to mobility issues, 1 due to MH issues,+4 due to location ** including 1 child ***1 left host and has stopped contact with support worker, solicitor etc, probably for fear of being detained/deported; texted to say she’s staying with a friend ****1 guest has no options left apart from gathering evidence from Congo for a fresh claim, relationship ended and guest went to stay with a friend for a few nights *****as of 28/02/17 We have 18 men and 7 women on our waiting list

Move-ons Where Public Funds can be accessed Where all has failed Positive and negative move-ons Aristote, Jean, Hadijatou, Abdullah Moses, Monique, Hermann, Semira

The Future Hosting hubs Clergy Hosting Hardship Fund Immigration Act and its effects Other? Strengths – track record; backing of HJ supporters; respected because of robustness of processes; DBS checks much quicker now; fledgling relationship with Home Office Weaknesses – not scalable in current form; length of time guests are waiting for decisions/number of negative decisions and difficulties of appeals & JRs; destitution funding costs Opportunities – Home Office; Clergy Hosting & Capital Mass in general; high visibility of refugee issues for foreseeable future; toolkit & research possibilities Threats – Changes to Immigration legislation; Brexit (?); Risk of HJ reputation being damaged by host/guest of our scheme or another scheme; lack of “turnover” due to “hostile” Home Office environment approach