A small proportion of the clients who attend Manna do not have regularized stay in the country. People who have overstayed or otherwise do not have a legitimate status in this country, will usually not be able to access benefits or social housing. Most councils have an NRPF team (No Recourse To Public Funds) but to qualify for assistance here, the clients must have additional needs, for example – mental or physical health difficulties, a history of having been in the Care system here and looked after by Social Services, or having young, dependent children as part of their household.
If they have no means of supporting themselves, the options for assistance are few. I’ve observed a cluster of “regulars” to the Manna who are in this difficult position. Their continued visits testify to the support which they receive and the impact which Manna has upon their lives making their stay in the country less precarious.
Arty (not his real name) wants to apply for settled status in the UK. As he isn’t settled, his access to benefits is restricted and to housing even more so, unless he is working (then he would be able to rent privately) but he hasn’t been able to, owing to poor health. Additionally, all the paperwork necessary to demonstrate his stay in the UK had been stolen so I referred him to a specialist advice centre. He was given an immigration appointment subsequently but had no funds for public transport to take him there, so my colleague gave him an Oyster card.
A week later, I interviewed another chap whom, I’ll call Nigel – who had overstayed his visa. In the time he had overstayed, his Mother had died in his home country which precipitated depression. He had been homeless in England for over ten years, various charities had helped him in that time, when he came to see me his Severe Emergency Weather Protocol (SWEP) placement was ending. The trigger for a SWEP is usually a forecast of three or more consecutive nights with a minimum temperature of zero degrees Celsius or lower. The government’s directive is that street homeless people should be placed in accommodation temporarily until the temperature rises above zero). He seemed shocked when I told him that I could only apply for a night shelter for him because of his status. I did so, the application was accepted and thankfully he was placed a few days later.
He also had a charity helping him to regularize his immigration status, he was worried that he had not heard from them. I sent them a chaser email and learned there was a drop-in session which he could attend. After speaking with the immigration specialists, he learned that there was nothing that they could do for him at present- his circumstances did not constitute a strong case.
Theoretically this meant that he would have a place to sleep until March. In practice a few shelters will keep people like Nigel far longer than the period usually allowed for occupants without this issue and it helps immensely. Afterwards, if requested, Manna can then help plug other gaps with food shopping vouchers, clothing from the clothing store, Oyster cards or top ups, other practical items available here plus services which our clients can access.
Neither Arty nor Nigel qualified for assistance from NRPF teams; they are not “regulars” at Manna either but charities like ours continue to offer services to these service users enabling them to live here with dignity.