Advocacy Service

The family we supported are refugees originally from Peshawar in Pakistan. The mother supports her blind husband and their three children – two daughters aged 16 and 14, and a 7-year-old son. They were recently relocated to Prestatyn in North Wales from Cardiff, which was arranged by the Home Office.

Prestatyn was chosen for its more affordable housing compared to Cardiff, but living in Prestatyn has a number of challenges for asylum and refugee families. The lack of amenities such as a Mosque or halal meat shops forces families to travel long distances, with the closest Mosque located in Rhyl. Financial struggles also exacerbated the family’s situation, with the wife bearing the burden of managing everything due to her husband's disability.

To support the family with financial aid, access to essential services and practical support for their basic living needs, I contacted various organisations in North Wales for assistance. I put them in touch with the North East Wales Carers Service and Vision Support. And we referred the family to two of our projects and supported them in the form of Asda vouchers, care support vouchers and SIM cards.

The swift response from all of the organisations along with the support they received from our two projects meant they were not struggling with basic living needs such as food, clothes and visual aids for the husband. The family was extremely grateful and told me that for the first time since they had arrived in the UK they felt hope, they had some stability and were happier in their new environment which had felt alien and unwelcoming to them. 

This case is an example of the struggles that refugees and asylum seekers face during their resettlement journey when they arrive in the UK and, sadly, we frequently have to support them with very basic living needs which we all take for granted.