About Us
The Boaz Trust is a Christian charity 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 nine staff.
Our friends at Finite Productions recently made this promotional video featuring three Boaz clients. It gives a great overview of what we’re about- check it out below:
What we do
Accommodation – Boaz has 12 houses, three for refugees and nine for asylum seekers. Around a quarter of our accommodation is provided by host families in Manchester who give up a spare room for an asylum seeker. The Boaz Trust currently accommodates 60 – 70 asylum seekers and refugees. We also run a winter night shelter from November to April which rotates around local churches. Check out the Accommodation page for more details.
Basic Needs – We provide weekly food parcels to our residents along with toiletries and other essentials. If you are able to contribute to this, please email us or pop into the office.
Legal Services and Support – We help our residents to access healthcare and other specialist services. Our in-house legal expert also assists clients with fresch claims so they can move on with their asylum case. See the Advocacy and Support page for more details.
Meaningful Lives – We provide a programme of ’Meaningful Lives’ activities and classes 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. See the Meaningful Lives page for more on this.
Campaigning - The Boaz Trust is 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. See the Get Involved section for more on how you can do your bit!
