The main way is by sponsoring our team! We have 16 runners taking to the streets on Sunday to raise cash for Boaz, and we think they’re all amazing. Show your support by donating- you can either go to one of their individual pages or to the general Boaz sponsorship page. Please give what you can today!

You can also come along on Sunday and cheer them on- the ‘Boaz supporters area’ will be under the bridge near Deansgate and Bridgewater St. Please come and support our runners there- there will be Boaz people there from 10:00am-12:30pm (or whenever the race finishes).

If you want to find out more about either of these options, get in touch. Otherwise, see you Sunday!

What are the Charity Awards?

The Civil Society run their prestigious charity awards every year, and they are an opportunity to showcase and celebrate some fantastic causes from across the country.

As their founder, Daniel Phelan, puts it; “Now in its 13th year, the Charity Awards programme continues to celebrate the dramatic effects that charities have on a wide spectrum of social needs. In doing so the awards not only bestow on charities one of the highest accolades of the sector, but also promotes the importance of always providing clear evidence of achievements. This latter point is now more important than ever. The ongoing economic uncertainty has made funders more demanding and the government’s value for money and transparency agendas are driving a more interrogative culture. With an audience of thousands, an entry gives you the chance to showcase your hard work alongside the very best. It’s not an awards programme to take lightly; a winning entry will be one that can demonstrate real impact. It will take time to put your entry together and the rigorous judging process ensures that only the very best walk away with the prizes. But your efforts could be well worth it.”

So… we’ll let you know how we get on! The awards ceremony takes place on Thursday 14th June, when we’ll be dusting off our best outfits and getting down to London to sing the praises of our clients, supporters, volunteers, staff and trustees, with the hope of some prize money!

Here’s a link to the written interview: http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/life/Rescued_From_Destitution/48332/p1/

The interview is also going live today! Check it out by listening in at http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/radio/console/, it’ll be live at 4:15pm today and twice on Thursday 3rd May, at 8.10am and 10.10am.

We are delighted with this opportunity to talk about our work and share stories of how lives have been transformed. Hanes says this about his experience of Boaz: “There is a hope here. Boaz Trust can help many people and can change your life around. My life is completely changed. I’m grateful for this organisation, so anybody, don’t give up, that is my message.”

Thanks to Hanes for taking the time to conduct this interview- we’re really grateful!

For more details visit our Events page. All welcome!

To everyone who has taken part, well done! We’d love your feedback on how you found the experience- what did you miss the most? What did you think of the parcel? How did you use 250g of salt?! Stories from participants to follow in the next few weeks.

“Women come to the UK to seek protection from a range of human rights abuses abroad. Whilst some of their experiences, such as being detained for their political activities, are the same as men’s, some of their experiences are gender specific. Many have suffered, or are at risk of, gender persecution, including rape or sexual violence, honour crimes, forced marriage, domestic violence or female genital mutilation in countries where the state fails to protect them.

In leaving behind everything that is familiar these women show remarkable courage.

They deserve to be treated in a way that recognises their particular needs as women and how their asylum claims are affected by their gender.

All asylum seekers have the right to be treated consistently, with fairness, dignity and respect in accordance with the UK’s obligations under the international refugee and human rights conventions.

For women, this means:
1- women seeking asylum have the right to have their protection claims determined by an asylum system in the UK that is informed, in all aspects of its policy and operations, by a thorough understanding of the particular forms of persecution and human rights abuses that women experience because of their gender and of their particular needs as women;
2- women seeking asylum have the right to an asylum determination process that recognises and takes into account their experiences of persecution and human rights abuses;
3- women seeking asylum have the right to accommodation, support and healthcare appropriate to their particular needs as women;
4- women seeking asylum have the right to be treated with dignity in a way that is appropriate to their needs as women and that ensures their safety if in detention or during removal.”

We are delighted to be endorsing this Charter and will be encouraging other organisations to do the same. So far 280+ have signed!

The night shelter has accommodated 40 individuals since it opened on November 1st, and has been fully booked every night since Christmas. Suzannah, our night shelter coordinator, has done a fantastic job of working with our male clients, supporting them to access legal help and accommodation support as far as possible.

We are really grateful to the volunteers at each of the seven churches that have hosted week in, week out, for the last 5 months and to the British Red Cross who made it all possible financially!

We are still hoping to start a permanent night shelter sometime in the future, and ask for your prayers as we seek funding and progress with this.

Finally, for any agencies looking to refer in, please note we are no longer taking referrals for the night shelter- this ended as of 31st March. We are taking referrals for our standard accommodation services but please note we have a long waiting list.

If you’d like to join our hosting scheme, we would love to hear from you! Please contact the office on 0161 2021056 or email hosting@boaztrust.org.uk. Thank you!

We’re reaching the end now, as the blog is going to run up until Easter Sunday, and so we’d like to invite you- Boaz supporters from across the world- to contribute to the final few blogs!

If you are interested, please email Lucy. Blogs need to be 300-500 words long, include a jpeg photo of yourself so we can make you famous, and include some kind of inspiration or reference to asylum issues! Other than that, it’s up to you. Thanks to everyone who has blogged so far, it’s been a really inspiring journey over the last few weeks!