Help destitute refugees and asylum seekers in London
Leviticus 19:18: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself; I am the Lord."
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Join Monthly Prayers for Refugees
Church of Sanctuary​
Churches engaging with refugees
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Revd Dr Inderjit Bhogal’s powerful talk at the 2024 LCRF Annual Speaker Meeting.
Click here to watch
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Click here to read the text of his talk
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Watch the LCRF showreel
Our Chair, Revd Chris Brice, talking about the work of the trust at St James' Hampton Hill on 17th October 2021.
Keynote speech by Fr Timothy Radcliffe at our online event, 'All Sisters and Brothers', on March 25th 2021. Watch all videos from the event here.
Dramatic reading and appeal by actor Alfred Enoch, a patron of LCRF.
About LCRF
What we do
LCRF makes grants of up to £1,000 every Spring and Autumn to multiple front-line refugee projects in London. Our grants are used by the projects to purchase phone credit, travel cards, hygiene items, nappies, food, and emergency payments, to give to the thousands of destitute asylum-seekers in London who come to them for help. All the work of the charity is undertaken voluntarily (we have no staff and no office) so nearly every penny we raise goes directly towards our grant-making. To date, we have raised and distributed over £425,000.
Why we do it
We were set up in 2007 at the request of a network of refugee charities in London. We are an ecumenical Christian-based organisation and inspired by the gospel, but support the relief of destitution among refugees regardless of creed or colour. You can read more about their situation further down this page, under "About the need".
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Who we are
LCRF is run by voluntary trustees and an hon. Treasurer who between us do all the work. Our admin costs are almost nil.
Our patrons are Mr Alfred Enoch, Shermara Fletcher, Rt Revd Patrick Lynch,
Revd Dr Andrew Prasad and Revd Phil Barnard.
Click below to read more about our aims, objectives, governance and trustees.
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About the need
Figures from the UN show that over 70 million people around the world have been forcibly displaced by persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. Most seek refuge in countries adjacent to their own, some make it to Europe, a tiny percentage come to the UK.
In the year to March 2020, there were 35,099 asylum applications here. Just over 20,000 people were offered asylum or other forms of protection on first application, almost 4,000 more on appeal, and there were 7,500 family reunification visas issued.
In total, nearly 700,000 people migrated to the UK so those seeking asylum represent just 5% of total migration to this country. And many bring valuable skills, for example as doctors or other health workers.
Once in this country, vulnerable people face a bewildering system of bureaucracy often referred to as the "hostile environment".
The 'lucky' ones may receive benefits known as asylum support while their claim is processed, including a roof over their head and just £37.75 a week to live on. Many can wait years for their case to be decided, meanwhile they are forbidden to work and often live in fear of detention and deportation.
Others fall through the cracks completely and end up utterly destitute. Simply put, this is the need we address: by making small grants to front line charities, we seek to relieve destitution among refugees and asylum seekers living in London.
'destitute, adjective:
without money, food, a home, or possessions'
Cambridge English Dictionary
Donate
Ways to donate
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We'd really love you to make a small donation each month, which needn't be a major commitment. Just £10 per month will mean we recognise you as a Foundation Donor. Of course, if you can give more than that, even better!
You can make either regular donations online through Paypal, or by standing order. It really helps us to know that we have money coming in regularly.
Don't forget to Gift Aid your donation if you are able! Your £10 a month will become £150 a year to us with Gift Aid. Click the button to download the GA Form.
One-off or regular donations online
Click the red button to donate with a card or Paypal account. Also supports Gift Aid.
Set up a standing order
Download and complete the form and return it to the address shown on it.
One-off donations by post
Make cheques payable to "London Churches Refugee Fund". Be sure to enclose your contact details, including an email address if possible, so we may acknowledge your gift. To use Gift Aid, download the form and send it with your donation.
One-off donations by BACS
For our bank account details please see the Standing Order form or email davebond144@hotmail.co.uk for info. To Gift Aid a BACS donation you still need to download the form and send it separately.
Asylum-seeker C is not allowed to work and has to survive on just £36.95 a week. One very rainy day she came to her therapy appointment at Freedom from Torture's London treatment centre wearing flip flops on her feet. She explained to her therapist that these were the only shoes she had. Her therapist applied to FfT’s relief fund, supported by LCRF, for a small grant so that she could buy herself some more suitable shoes.
From a case study in our 2019 Annual Report
'Your support enables the Fund to make grants that support front-line services. I cannot exaggerate the benefit your donations make for someone, man, women, a parent and child who is reduced to total dependence on other fellow human beings.’
Revd. Chris Brice, Chair of LCRF
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We'd love to add you to our email supporter list which we use for sending out occasional updates and appeals.
To be added to the list, and for all other enquiries, please complete this webform and click Send.
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