Roundabout supports Refugees at Home accommodation campaign
South Yorkshire youth homelessness charity Roundabout is encouraging volunteer hosts to welcome young asylum seekers into their homes.
The Roundabout team is working with national organisation Refugees at Home in a bid to avert an accommodation crisis for the region’s young asylum seekers.
Refugees at Home is a charity which connects householders with a spare room in their home to refugees and asylum seekers in need of somewhere to stay free of charge.
But Roundabout says that as the number of asylum seekers under the age of 25 seeking the charity’s support increases, there is more need than ever for people to open their doors and offer their support.
“We’re seeing many more refugees through the doors at our Prevention Service and we often refer them to Refugees at Home,” said Roundabout Homeless Prevention Service Manager Jonny Edwards.
“If you are 25 or under and you are facing homelessness, it doesn’t matter what your background is because Roundabout is here simply to support all vulnerable young people and, over the years, we have supported many young people who have had either refugee or asylum seeker status.
“The increasing number of young refugees does put a lot of pressure on us as an organisation because we do have more people through the door and we are doing all we can to refer them in the right direction.
“A charity like Refugees at Home can offer a solution but they do need more people to take part and offer the possibility of a some security at this most difficult time of the year for anybody facing homelessness.”
Other charities offering support include Nomad, the organisation that aims to improve access to decent, affordable housing while helping people to transition out of homelessness.
Nomad currently has a project that is supporting people at risk of homelessness to move in to shared houses - and 75 per cent of its clients are newly granted refugees.
City of Sanctuary, the independent charity working in solidarity with people seeking sanctuary in Sheffield, is also making referrals.
For more information of Refugees at Home visit refugeesathome.org/get-involved/get-involved-id-like-to-host/
For more on Roundabout and its full range of services visit roundabouthomeless.org