Volunteers step up as more than 70 asylum seekers move into Stratford hotel
MORE than 30 volunteers have stepped up to help families and children whose home is now the Grosvenor Hotel in Stratford.
Of the 74 asylum seekers who have moved in, 18 are children aged between six months and 16 years.
The rest are mainly women, couples and families, it is understood.
Stratford-based charity Welcome Here, which works with refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine, put out an appeal and is calling for helpers to run a weekly conversation café at the hotel.
This will be similar to the one already run by the charity for Afghan refugees, where sessions are a mix of social activities and a chance to practice speaking English. The charity is also seeking volunteers to help run activities for the children and youngsters who are living at the hotel.
Welcome Here’s Roger Matthews told the Herald: “There have been quite a few responses on Facebook and the request has also gone out across our mailing list. We already have between 30-40 people saying they’d like to help. Organising all of this is going to be the next stage.”
The Home Office took over the running of the hotel, which is owned by Brightstar Hospitality Management, two weeks ago.
Private contractor Serco, which works for the Home Office, assessed the accommodation and is overseeing the day-to-day running. Eventually, 150 asylum seekers will be housed in 76 bedrooms at the hotel in Warwick Street.
Escape Arts will take the lead in running activities for the youngsters. Unlike the refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine already welcomed by the town, asylum seekers are in a different situation while their right to remain in England is assessed.
More than three-quarters of those applying for asylum in the UK are ultimately granted refugee status, but there is a backlog in the processing of asylum claims by the Home Office.
This means children, families and other asylum seekers staying in the Grosvenor Hotel could be there for some time, before their assessment is complete.
In the meantime, they have limited rights and are not allowed to work or claim benefits. As well as a bed in the hotel and three meals a day, they are given £8.24 a week to cover all other living expenses.
Nothing in the way of social or learning activities has been set up for the asylum seekers, so far, Roger said. He met with representatives from Warwickshire County Council and other Stratford-based organisations on Monday.
“We agreed different organisations will do different things,” said Roger.
“We have been asked to organise a conversation café, which is something we do already with Afghan refugees at Walton Hall. We also have a store of clothing that we will distribute but we are not asking people to send us more, as we have enough.
“Organising all this is still in process but in the meantime we want to hear from anyone who thinks they are able to help with activities.”
