Join our sponsored night bus ride team to raise money towards our work supporting destitute refugees and asylum seekers and those stuck in hotel accommodation.

Whats involved?

We are asking volunteers to ride Birminghams buses throughout the night from 10pm, in solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers who face destitution and can end up street homeless and those who are suck in inadequate asylum accommodation. You will ride a variety of buses across Birmingham and ask friends/family/supporters to sponsor you to do so. All funds will go towards our hosting project and will help more asylum seekers move out of destitution.

Join our friendly team of volunteers and share conversation and refreshments as we ride!

Why?

The Home Office policy of destitution is one of the worst affecting policies. Every year many refugees and migrants face street homelessness, no access to public funds and are unable to work to support themselves. Many are not eligible to apply for statutory accommodation and are reliant on hosting projects, night shelters, sofa surfing with friends/family or have to engage in risky relationships just to have somewhere to stay.

What is destitution?

Destitution is something that can affect individuals at every stage of the asylum process.

Sometimes a refused asylum seeker cannot return to their home country and have no papers to travel anywhere else. However, they are not allowed to work nor do they have access to public funds. Such people can be left destitute for years but they would rather face this and feel safe than return to the place from which they fled. Others are left destitute between refusal and appeal.

People seeking sanctuary also face extreme poverty (support rates are around 50% below the UK poverty line) throughout the asylum process.

Ironically, many are left destitute at the point they get leave to remain while they wait for residents permits, NI number etc. so that they can apply for work / benefits or even access a homeless hostel.

Many other migrants become destitute for a number of different reasons, for example, we have hosted many women who were in the UK on a spouse visa but went on to experience domestic violence and had to flee the family home, we have also had to support trafficking victims who are awaiting decisions on their referral into the national referral system for support.

Birch Network was founded in response to local community volunteers witnessing the terrible impact of destitution on refugees and migrants and wanting to offer safe accommodation through a spare room network. The hosting project was started and has now been running for over 11 years. 100s of individuals have benefitted from the hospitality of local volunteer hosts and we will continue to offer this support.

When?

Friday 8th July 2022 10pm

How else can I support the night bus ride?

Sponsor our nightrider team on this page.

Join our night rider team!

You can join our team of night bus riders by clicking on the links above or email Helen - birhcnetwork@gmail.com for more information.

What will your donation help to do?

Since we were established in April 2011 BIRCH hosts have now provided 15,000 nights of accommodation to people who would have been otherwise been made homeless and destitute. Your donation will enable us to continue to recruit and train community hosts and continue to offer sanctuary and a safe space for migrants facing street homelessness.

We have also started supporting asylum seekers who are housed in hotels across Birmingham. Huge delays and backlogs in decision making within the asylum system has meant that many families and single people are stuck in this type of accommodation for many months with very limited financial support. The negative impact on their mental health is well documented and we have started a new outreach project, offering access to football coaching, signing people up to Park runs and helping them to train and linking with colleges and local ESOL classes.