SAS Partners &
COVID-19 

How SAS Partner Agencies operate
during the Pandemic

The current pandemic has raised real practical issues for those people who are seeking asylum or refuge and who are already destitute. Through the SAS partner agencies  (please scroll down for individual links to their reports) clients are normally guaranteed a place of welcome and safety. Many expect to have personal face-to-face meetings to discuss their cases. If they need humanitarian aid it is provided, including food, clothes and emergency accommodation. Charity addresses are used by clients as their postal addresses to send and receive mail.

Their well-being is also addressed to give them hope and dignity and brief respite from their many worries.

The current restrictions have exacerbated their situation. Social distancing means casework has to be progressed by phone or by video conference. Daily hot meals cannot be provided and food has to be delivered to emergency accommodation or hostels or wherever they are currently staying. Food storage is a problem so a combination of food and cash grants is being given. Lockdown of charity venues mean post is delayed and disrupted. Social gatherings and activities like  ESOL classes, days out, working on allotments cannot take place. In fact all the normal human acts of physical social interaction that help to build friendships and relationships are not possible.

SAS has asked our main partner agencies to provide a separate report of the practical problems they have faced and are still facing, and how they have worked around those problems as best they can in order to continue to deliver a service and maintain contact with their clients. Please see links to the reports below.

In the meantime SAS is continuing to provide the same level of financial support which is currently running at about £5,000 per month. This is not viable for more than a few months and fresh funding is urgently needed. Additionally, it is anticipated that once the restrictions are lifted there will be a sudden and large increase in demand from our clients. We will therefore need to try to build up reserves in anticipation of that sudden increased demand.

If you wish to donate to SAS please click here for information.

To access reports to SAS from partner agencies about how they try and address problems during the current crisis, please click below:
- Asylum Link Merseyside (ALM)
- Faiths4Change
- Refugee Women Connect (RWC)