Bristol Hospitality Network sources accommodation for asylum seekers in Bristol. We manage a host network of family households who offer a spare room and we run a 10 bed men's house.

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We have hosted over 200 asylum seekers since 2009, providing safety and security for people to rebuild their lives in the UK.

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Why do we provide accommodation? Many Asylum seekers find that their first asylum claim is refused by the Home Office, this could be due to difficulty establishing their ID or difficulty securing evidence. Most have arrived after a long and dangerous journey and did not bring the paperwork needed for a successful asylum claim. Once refused people lose their statutory accommodation and subsistence support. At this stage people become homeless with no recourse to public funds.  They are often referred to in the public press/social media as ‘illegal immigrants’.

 

“You, who are so-called illegal aliens, must know that no human being is illegal. That is a contradiction in terms. Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal?”
(Elie Wiesel) Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor.

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BHN was established in response to this injustice, we were seeing people become homeless in Bristol. It was clear to us that by providing accommodation, we could not only meet asylum seeker’s immediate need for shelter and safety, but we could also buy them time to make a fresh asylum claim after supporting them to gather the evidence required. Insert Advice Team link?
 

We couldn't do this without the hospitality of our hosts - individuals offering a room in their home as either short, medium or long-term accommodation for people in need.  You can read about our host's experience of hosting click here  to read Sarah +Peter’s experiences of hosting with BHN

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Hosting at home

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What is involved in becoming a host?

It really is as simple as providing a spare room, and the length of stay is up to you. BHN will provide the guest with subsistence money, access to healthcare, access to legal advice. Hosting duration is often a minimum of three months and is extended if everyone is happy to continue. We work hard to get to know the guests and the hosts before hosting placements are proposed.

 ​Once a host placement has been agreed, BHN provides specialist support to the person hosted and regular check-ins plus training opportunities to the host including the asylum system, access to healthcare, trauma and PTSD.

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What do I need to do to become a host?

If you have a spare room and are interested in hosting, please email laura@bhn.org.uk 

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For more information click here for Host Guidelines.

 

BHN Men’s House

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As part of our accommodation provision, we have a 10-bed house for male asylum seekers in East Bristol. The house is a welcoming space, and we work very hard to make sure our members feel comfortable and engaged as part of our community. 

​The day-to-day running of the house is managed by our live-in hosts, who look after the house and the guests ensuring everything runs smoothly.   

We have a small dedicated team of volunteers who come on Tuesday evenings from 6 - 9pm to join in with cooking, cleaning, gardening, sharing a meal together, room checks, licence agreements, pastoral care, mediation. We usually end our evening with a noisy game of UNO! We are always in need of more volunteers so If this seems like your cup of tea then we'd love to meet you. Please contact us on volunteers@bhn.org.uk for further information and details.