Margins met with Emily Thornberry to discuss rise in homelessness

10 May 2024

Read about the meeting highlighting refugee homelessness and hear from E sharing his own lived experience.

THE MARGINS PROJECT, based at Union Chapel, works with and for those facing homelessness, critical living crisis, and pertinent social justice issues aiming to improve lives through immediate, interim, and long-term services of food, upskilling, empowerment, and more.

Last week, Head of Margins, Amanuel, joined with HOPE worldwide and Homeless Link to meet with the Shadow Attorney General to discuss the rise in homelessness with particular focus on refugee homelessness highlighting that The Margins Project is now seeing 10 refugees a week in need of their services. We hope these policy discussions are a stepping stone to providing a home for everyone.

They were accompanied by E who shared his lived experience:

E is a young adult refugee from Sudan currently homeless and sleeping rough. E has had traumatic experience from the awful genocide in Darfur, Sudan, challenges from the complex asylum system in the UK, and the shuttling around from contingency hotel to contingency hotel ever since he arrived in the UK in June 2021. Despite all these, E has been doing amazing things to help himself. His last Home Office provided accommodation, sharing a house with 5 other asylum seekers, was in Islington. He was evicted from this accommodation as soon as he gained refugee status at the end of 2023, ending up homeless and sleeping rough soon after.

E was a professional footballer representing his country in the under 18s before he was shot on his foot by the rebels in the Sudan. Nevertheless, and despite all the challenges, E continues to be resilient and work hard to improve his situation. He attends English classes 4 days a week and is training to become a football coach with a premier league club Football Club - no mean feat of achievement to get such an offer and in such competitive field.

Find out more about The Margin's Projects services and how you can help