'We had too much space in our home - so opened it so strangers'
09.04.2023 - 08:39
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
When the last of Catherine's three children left the family home in Didsbury, she and her husband were at a loss what to do with the space.
They planned to downsize eventually, but felt guilty about their number of empty bedrooms. After a friend came to stay for a few months, the couple found they enjoyed the hustle and bustle of having a guest in their home.
So, they decided to open it up to strangers. Catherine has close connections to the asylum-seeking process through her job, and wanted to help refugees in desperate need of a home.
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And after reading that football presenter, Gary Lineker had too opened up his home to refugees, Catherine decided to get in touch with the charity, Homes for Refugees.
The organisation helps connect people with a spare room/s in their home to refugees and asylum seekers in need of somewhere temporary to stay.
Since signing up to the scheme, Catherine and her husband have housed three young male refugees and an older female who had travelled from Sudan, Kazakhstan, Iraq and Iran.
"They have been an absolute delight and it has been a wonderful process," Catherine said, speaking to the Manchester Evening News.
Many of the refugees the organisation helps have become homeless after being granted asylum in the UK, meaning they often have to leave hotels or accommodation provided by the local authority.
They are then connected with hosts who give them a stable place to stay until they can find a more permanent place to live. Many of them are already working or in full-time education at this stage in their journey.
"We've had three young men and one older woman come to stay and they mostly want to