Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Manchester Catholic chaplaincy launches night shelter for asylum seekers

Each asylum seeker will have somewhere warm to sleep (Credit: Manchester University chaplaincy)The chaplaincy team at Manchester University and the city’s Holy Name Church have combined forces to launch a night shelter for asylum seekers.

The Boaz Night Shelter is a Christian initiative which was launched in October, and the Jesuit local church has been able to open its doors to ten asylum seekers in support of the Boaz project.

With the support of local students, Holy Name Church has provided each refugee with a hot meal and shelter for the night for three months running.

After visiting the Manchester operation last weekend, the Boaz Trust’s Night Shelter Coordinator, Jonny Wilson, wrote: “It genuinely amazed and impressed me to see what a great system you have and how well you understand the Boaz Night Shelter after only two and a half months of being in operation. It’s such a relief for me to know that Saturday nights are taken care of and run so smoothly.”

The Manchester Chaplaincy’s Interfaith Coordinator, Hinna said: “Being an asylum seeker myself, I am overwhelmed by the way God is using my personal experience in helping others who are on a similar journey as myself.”

The night shelter ministry is shared with a number of other churches in central Manchester, so there is somewhere for destitute asylum seekers to stay every night throughout the winter.