The payments to Asylum Seekers being processed through our system, are barely enough to survive on, let alone construct any kind of life. The weekly payment of £49 has to cover food, travel, clothing and communication. This gives £7 a day to live on. A single zone bus day ticket is £5. Choices like do I travel or do I eat seem out of place in modern Britain, yet they are a part of the Asylum Process that is not widely recognised. We are addressing the issue of institutionalized poverty.

Of all the things we do at our centre, providing a free meal is one of the most popular. The food is cooked by volunteers, most from refugee backgrounds, bringing people a taste of home, in their new surroundings. The food is often a talking point; people share conversations with new arrivals or old friends, able to relax and enjoy a break. For some it is the only hot meal they will have that day. Sometimes there is less chatter, only the clatter of forks on plates and that too is a good thing.