PWB: A Safe Space for LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers

Story:

"I know who I am and I feel happy and free when I am with the group" - Abeo

Bristol Refugee Rights (BRR) is the largest charity in the city to offer support to asylum seekers and refugees. We are the only organisation in Bristol to offer specialist advice regarding housing, financial help, healthcare and support to navigate the asylum system, as well as supporting those in more complex situations.

In addition, through our Pride Without Borders (PWB) project, we offer a support group that meets every two weeks for Bristol-based LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum and those with refugee status. We also meet online on Zoom and have a Whatsapp group. We support and listen to each other and enjoy celebrating our identities and cultures together. It is the only project of its kind in the South West - without PWB, there would be no other specialised local support system.

The Challenge:

In recent years, the demand on our services has increased dramatically - with the number of people accessing support from BRR tripling from a few hundred to well over 1200. Having fled persecution, war, violence, poverty or famine in their home country, many of those we support are traumatised, in poor health, do not speak English, socially isolated and missing their family and friends. People seeking asylum, as they cannot work and are only provided £9.10 (if in a hotel) or £45 (in community housing) per week, are often destitute.

These difficult circumstances are exacerbated for those who are seeking asylum based upon their sexual or gender identity. The isolation and exclusion experienced as a result of seeking asylum in the UK is made only more troubling by the isolation and exclusion experienced (both by UK statutory authorities, organisations and society, as well as other asylum/migrant communities).

LGBTQ+ people who are seeking asylum face a really difficult path to gaining refugee status in the UK. The Home Office forces them to ?prove? their identity, without considering the fact that this identity may be the very thing the individual has been hiding their whole life, their reason for claiming asylum here, and therefore they lack any form of ?proof? acceptable to the Home Office. Our role is to give crucial emotional support to these people during this tumultuous time, and to provide high-level asylum advice in order to give them the best chance of their claim being accepted.

Our solution:

In response to these challenges, we run our Pride Without Borders project, which is a support group and community for LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum. Through the project, we offer holistic wellbeing support alongside high-level asylum advice and advocacy.

PWB gives our LGBTQ+ members a safe space to be their true, authentic selves - something many of them have never been able to do. By giving them a protected LGBTQ+ community, engaging with Bristol's thriving and diverse LGBTQ+ community and culture, and empowering them to accept and appreciate themselves, we hope to give them the building blocks to start a new and fulfilling life in the UK. This holistic support of our LGBTQ+ members' wellbeing, identities, and asylum cases is unique to the South West - without us, these individuals would not be able to access anything close to the specialised services we offer.

Our team of highly-trained staff and volunteers provide crucial advice and support with PWB members' asylum cases, helping them to navigate the complex and hostile asylum system. We have attended court in support of our members' asylum claim 19 times as witnesses - every single one won the appeal and has refugee status now!

Every year, we support nearly 100 LGBTQ+ people through Pride Without Borders. For Akello, the opportunity to have a community that accepted them for who they are and to empower them to start a new and fulfilling life in Bristol was invaluable.

"I was very, very happy to find Pride Without Borders because the way I see it, they are my people and my family? Our family is very, very important to us because we know where we belong" - Akello

We need your support:

Pride Without Borders is a lifeline to those who access it. It is the only service of its kind in the South West, providing a safe, welcoming and supportive space for LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum to be themselves and build fulfilling lives in Bristol. This year we need to raise £11,000 to enable us to deliver these vital services. Thank you for considering making a donation.