www.500together.co.uk - if you want to find out more about our Sheffield based group.

We wish the boy the very best of luck with his mission to reunite with his nephews and are pleased to be able to support the group helping him through the process.

The cost of the social worker’s report is £660 and we have sent £500 towards that so they can get this organised and move the whole process forward and hopefully have their application accepted first time.

They have been advised by the lawyer that they should get an independent social workers report as it is much more likely that the application is accepted with that as evidence. Also, if the application fails, then an appeal is likely to be successful with this report.

He is very proud and does not want to ask for money but he cannot do this alone. There are a number of costs that need to be met - DNA testing; Visas to neighbouring countries for biometrics; TB testing; applications to Home Office; immigration health surcharge; travel.

The young boy himself is saving as much money as he can but he is still sending funds for his nephew’s daily needs, so it is a huge challenge for him. He is committed to bringing these boys here as they have all lost everyone else who was dear to them.

The process is very complex and they are being supported by a specialist charity which is covering the legal costs.  Each part of the process comes with various different costs and they are working through all the hoops required.

The rules around bringing child relatives who are not your own children are a little more difficult and the cost is higher, but the group is determined to get these 3 boys together, as they are now each other’s only family.

Money was sent back to a neighbour who eventually took the boys in and cared for them, providing money could be sent for all their needs. Friends supporting this young boy in Sheffield have now started an application to bring the boys to the UK, which will be a challenge but is not impossible.

His parents had stayed in Afghanistan to look after his young nephews, but in 2023 they both died, leaving the nephews homeless and without support, and dependent on food from the local mosque.

He spent the next six months travelling to Europe and arrived in the UK in March 2022, after a difficult and dangerous journey, and he was dispersed to Sheffield and placed in foster care. After 10 months he was given refugee status in the UK.

After Afghanistan fell to Taliban rule in 2021, the boy was forced to flee the country when his older brothers were killed, serving in the national army. He spent weeks hiding as Taliban members entered his village and called at his home.

Any member paying £1 a week to our pot can make a nomination for an individual, a family or a local organisation based within the Sheffield area to receive a donation of up to £500 and we are grateful to our member who made this nomination.

We understand how difficult these applications are and we’re happy to help with these appeal costs and hope she is successful in this initial stage of the process, allowing her to pursue the next steps. We very much hope she can eventually be reunited with her son.

The organisers of the project send huge thanks to 500 Together for enabling them to continue their partnership with Food and Community Trust and offer more people the chance to be debt free and to have a chance for a fresh start.
Thanks to our members for paying a weekly £1 to allow us to help 💙

They managed to secure £750 from a Ward Pot grant but needed an additional £250 to pay the full amount. We were pleased to help bridge that gap to allow them to continue offering this much needed service.

However, in order to continue to have access to this expert support from the debt team at the Food & Community Trust and meet the growing demand, they needed to pay to officially be linked to an FCA accredited organisation.

They have noticed the need for face to face debt work is growing and so in June they teamed up with Christians Against Poverty at the Food and Community Trust to offer comprehensive debt support. So far they have seen one person become debt free and are working with several more.

The Edge centre in Jordanthorpe was started 3.5 yrs ago to offer face to face support with people's benefit, housing, debt & form filling needs. Since then it has grown both in the numbers coming (25 clients in 2hr session), the number of support workers (4 to 8) & the range of assistance on offer.