community consultations

Part of the violence of destitution is the way it invisibilises the harms that it causes, and silences the voices of those living through it. As people are forced to live in the shadows, it is all too easy for services, and the wider public, to turn a blind eye. Through our experience administering our grants programme, we have a unique snapshot of what destitution looks like in Greater Manchester: numbers of people applying to the fund with children; numbers experiencing street homelessness; numbers lacking adequate legal representation; and so on.

But while these numbers are important, they are just that - numbers. So, in 2025, we started running community consultations - deep dive events with people experiencing destitution to look beyond the numbers, and dig deeper into specific issues. For example, for the many families approaching the fund with children, what are the barriers they face to accessing statutory support? For those let down by their lawyer or unable to find a lawyer, what might have helped in that situation?

Drawing on the trusted relationships our referral partners have built with people, our events create safe spaces where people's voices can be heard and raised up; where people can find strength and solidarity; and where they can co-create solutions together. We amplify people's voices by sharing findings with policymakers and other organisations, and we follow up through practical responses to address the systemic issues participants have identified.

Click below to read more about the consultations we've done so far.

"Social services say they will consult with the Home Office. That makes people afraid. When you read the letter and see Home Office, you cancel that letter."

Consultation with families experiencing destitution

"Who is going to hear you?" Community consultation with manchester-based families experiencing destitution

In July 2025, in partnership with Equal Education Chances, we held a community consultation with families experiencing destitution because of their immigration status, to understand barriers to accessing statutory support.

Key findings were:

Barriers to accessing social services support include unawareness, fear, and gatekeeping
People face barriers regularising status, including difficulty accessing legal advice, delays in decisions, high visa fees, and fear of the asylum system in particular.
People also face barriers accessing healthcare because of their status

Participants wanted to see:

Engagement from social services to raise awareness and dispel fears
Being given the right to work by the Home Office while waiting for a decision on an application for leave to remain
Continuation of MDF’s grants programme
Information about the immigration system

You can read the full write up here.

Follow up

In response to participants' calls for transparent information, we convened an information session with presentations from Right to Remain on how to use their Toolkit on the immigration system, GMIAU on access to social services support, and Patients Not Passports on healthcare entitlements.

Together with GMIAU, we have released an information sheet on rights to section 17 support.

“No one is helping you – you’re alone”: Community consultation on the legal aid crisis and destitution

Cuts to legal aid provision over the last 14 years have created a severe shortage of immigration advice, and the quality of the advice that is available has declined. Amidst the Hostile Environment, the legal aid crisis is a key driver of destitution. We therefore carried out a community consultation with people experiencing destitution and frontline organisations supporting them, to understand the lived experiences of the legal aid crisis.

Key findings were:

Because many are left to navigate the immigration and asylum system without any legal representation, they are more likely to become destitute, and will find it harder to escape destitution;
People may feel forced to raise money for private solicitors, which, with all legal sources of income closed off, exposes people to risk of exploitation;
Some in the asylum system fear that legal aid lawyers are not impartial, because they are government-funded;
Those who can access lawyers, whether legal aid or private, often see failures of communication and failures of trust which damage their case;
People can feel exploited by solicitors.

The legal aid crisis is therefore a central dimension of the ‘slow violence’ of destitution. Participants called for an increase in provision: not just more legal aid lawyers, but more lawyers with the relevant expertise, and who could show empathy.

Even within the legal aid crisis, our consultation identified missed opportunities where an early intervention could have made a significant difference. Short of system-wide change, participants therefore wanted to see:

Guidance on how to work with lawyers and how to hold them to account;
More information and support for navigating the immigration system;
Mechanisms for providing feedback on lawyers.

Read the full write-up here.

Follow up

We will be running a session with GMIAU, Right to Remain and Migrants Organise about how to organisations can best support people through the legal aid crisis - and how we can raise people's voices to campaign for access to justice.

community consultations

Migrant Destitution Fund is paused