Appeal to find a temporary home for Sudan refugee facing life on the streets in Preston

A homeless refugee from Sudan is facing a life on the streets in Preston unless someone can offer him temporary accommodation.
Refugees from war-torn South SudanRefugees from war-torn South Sudan
Refugees from war-torn South Sudan

A charity is looking to find a “host” for the man, in his mid-twenties, until his asylum application is decided.

But staff at Refugees at Home have had to make an urgent appeal over social media because he is likely to find himself without a roof over his head within days.

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“M has been sofa-surfing with friends over the winter months, but he is now facing imminent street homelessness,” said Lauren Scott from the charity.

“He is an asylum seeker from Sudan and has been referred to us by one of our trusted referral agencies who know him well.

“M is in his mid-twenties, he speaks Arabis and basic English and he is described as polite and friendly by his referrer, who holds him in high esteem.”

The young man, who fled the growing humanitarian crisis in South Sudan last year, has already spent some time on the streets since arriving in Lancashire.

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He was taken in by a friend, but now the friend can no longer offer him a sofa to sleep on.

Refugees at Home say his case is close to being determined and he should be offered Home Office accommodation “pretty soon.”

“But in the meantime he couldn’t half do with somewhere safe, warm and dry (out of the wind) to stay for a bit,” explained a spokesperson. “Both of our existing Preston hosts have guests with them.

“We are in need of hosts in Preston generally. The beauty of hosting is that our hosts tell us what they are comfortable to offer.

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“Generally speaking, the process of becoming a host is relatively straightforward. Once we receive an application, we assign one of our qualified home visitors.

“That person will live locally and visit the prospective host to talk them through what hosting involves and answer any questions and do a home Visit to check the suitability of their home for hosting.

“Once that has taken place our dedicated placement team would be in touch to make hosting suggestions. Of course if a host responds particularly to host M from this appeal, we would set that up.”

More information on hosting and how to register can be found on the charity’s website www.refugeesathome.org

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