The Boaz Trust is a Christian charity (Reg. No. 1110344) working to relieve the suffering of destitute asylum seekers in Greater Manchester. The Boaz Trust was founded in 2004 by Dave Smith, in response to the growing problem of destitution amongst asylum seekers which he witnessed during his work with a local homelessness charity. Since then we have seen much growth and now have a dedicated team of volunteers and four paid staff.

We seek to provide:

Accommodation – Boaz has 8 houses and a network of local host families accommodating 50 asylum seekers and 5 refugees in Greater Manchester.  We also run a winter night shelter which rotates around local churches.

Food – We provide weekly food parcels to our residents along with toiletries and other essentials. 

Advocacy – We help our residents to access healthcare and to keep in touch with solicitors.  Boaz volunteers also help to find fresh evidence so they can move on with their asylum claim.

Meaningful Lives – We provide a programme of Meaningful Activities to prevent days from becoming empty and meaningless, and to help our clients to integrate into the community.  These include English and sewing classes, arts and crafts, gardening, volunteering and training opportunities, and occasional day trips and holidays.

Campaigning - The Boaz Trust is also actively involved in awareness-raising and campaigning for changes in the asylum system.  Without this, nothing will ever change.  We partner with others in national campaigns, and take our roadshow to churches and other groups.  We  also seek to get true representations of asylum seekers in the press.