Many of you will know of Sanctuary Hosting, the local charity that matches homeless asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants who have no recourse to public funds with hosts who will lend a spare room for them to live in while they try and resolve their long term situation. We work with many of the same clients. Both Sanctuary Hosting and Asylum Welcome boards have considered how best to collaborate in the future and have now agreed to move forward as described below:
“Asylum Welcome and Sanctuary Hosting are pleased to announce that they have decided to merge. We have worked together successfully for many years to meet the needs of sanctuary seekers and both organisations are in a strong position, running well regarded and effective services. However, we believe that in a changing and challenging environment we can offer a better and more seamless service to our clients by bringing Sanctuary Hosting under the umbrella of Asylum Welcome’s wider range of services. We will continue to use the Sanctuary Hosting brand and there will be no change to the relationship with current hosts and guests.
In reaching our decision, we have heard the views of guests, many of whom are clients of both organisations. We will now be seeking the views of hosts, staff, volunteers and supporters to make sure we learn from their insights as we begin to plan the merger in more detail.
We have not yet finalised issues of governance, structure or staffing, but as a first step we intend jointly to recruit a dedicated hosting manager to work within the Asylum Welcome team. We will communicate details of further plans and timings as soon as these become clear.”