MDF’s beginnings
Five years ago today, a ray of light emerged in dark times. The UK had been in the surreal new reality of Coronavirus lockdown for several weeks. For all the talk of ‘we’re in it together’, as we all know, the virus and impacts of lockdown had devastatingly unequal impacts on our society. People already facing the multiple hardships and exclusions of destitution were disproportionately affected.
The fund had initially been piloted in 2018-19 by volunteers from the Migration and Destitution Action Group – which had formed under the Manchester Homelessness Partnership in 2017, and drew together people experiencing destitution and frontline workers. As one member of the action group experiencing destitution put it, “The system is designed to make you a beggar”. The fund was designed to combat that.
Plans were already afoot to open the fund later in 2020, with Macc hosting it. But with the onset of lockdown, there was never a better argument for putting money in people’s pockets, and the fund launched on 14th April 2020, at first giving £50 grants. Rapidly, the benefits of the project became clear: not only were people more able to meet basic needs; they reported that receiving cash, with no strings attached, increased confidence and independence.
“I don’t have to ask other people for money, I have no stress because I don’t have to be a beggar anymore”
Partner organisations referring people into the fund found that they were more able to focus on more holistic wellbeing support, knowing that some essential needs were met. Once lockdown was lifted and people were able to travel and socialise again, the amount was raised to £80.
Five years of MDF
Five years on, with those disorienting months of Covid lockdown a distant memory, the fund is needed more than ever. Shockingly, a few of those who first accessed the fund in 2020 still need to access it today. The slow violence of destitution which has been baked into decades of immigration legislation grinds on, for the past few years also extending to EU citizens who haven’t been able to regularise their status after Brexit. The tirade of cruel legislation passed by the last government ultimately achieved very little beyond extensive fear and suffering. But one of the hidden scandals of the last few years has been the breathtaking carelessness which has seen people on care worker visas – recruited to plug the gaps in Britain’s post-Brexit labour market – exploited and/or abandoned by their visa sponsors and forced into destitution as a result.
Nine months into the new government, the Hostile Environment shows no sign of abating.
While we decry the ongoing racialized injustice that necessitates the fund’s continued existence, there is also much to celebrate in our work over the last five years. Many of those who first applied back in 2020 have gone on to escape destitution and regularise their status. There is greater awareness among publics and policymakers about migrant destitution – thanks to the courage of those who have shared their experiences, including our dedicated storyteller team who have represented MDF at public events.
Destitution is a slow killer pill, politicians it's high time stop politics and focus on human beings who are in need, what makes a nation is people not benches in parliament, raise up, lower your reading glasses, demonstrate for the injustices, sort home office, for the betterment of the unprivileged, destituted, bruised. - Respondent to our feedback survey
Meanwhile, the fund itself has grown and developed. Having started as an entirely volunteer-run project, we now have two paid staff. We have consolidated a ‘fund-plus’ model, with applicants signposted wherever possible for additional advice and support.
The women are truly happy knowing that there is place to turn to when they needed support. - Feedback from Women Asylum Seekers Together
Our grants programme forms the foundation for a thriving network of referral partners, and it provides a strong evidence-base about the scale and nature of destitution in our communities, which we use to speak out and advocate for change.
We are in a stronger position than ever to drive forward these other strands of our work, with our new project worker, RuthRose, appointed last month. You can read more about RuthRose’s new role here.
MDF in 2030?
As we never tire of repeating, this is a fund that shouldn’t have to exist. The necessity of MDF existing in 2025 is – as it was in 2020 – a damning indictment of the racialised injustice of our society, that sees people forced into destitution based on where they are from. Our dream is a future where MDF becomes obsolete, with everyone, no matter where they are from, given the opportunity to thrive as members of our society.
Given the current state of the world, this dream may not be achievable in the next five years – but we are committed to raising up our voice, and, together with our partners, building our power to fight for a just society. And, as long as destitution persists, we will do whatever we can to carve out within Greater Manchester a space where, amidst the multiple dehumanising cruelties of the Hostile Environment, people can find hope, solidarity, and opportunities to reclaim dignity.
Thank you
We are enormously grateful to the many people and organisations that have made all this work possible, including:
- Our partner organisations – who stand alongside those facing destitution, providing welcome, advice, support and solidarity. MDF couldn't operate without the trusting relationships frontline staff are able to build with people accessing the fund.
- Our funders, including trusts and foundations, and private donors – whose generosity allows us to keep the fund open. Many funders are unwilling to fund cash grants, so we are immensely appreciative of the flexibility and understanding of all those who appreciate the dignity and choice that cash can bring.
- Our committed team of volunteers past and present in the Migration and Destitution Action Group – who have created this project and continue to devote their time to seeing it grow. From fundraising, to sitting on the panel, to social media, to organising and speaking at events – MDF’s work depends on volunteers.
- Macc, which has welcomed the project since the start and given us the space to grow and develop. Special thanks to our grants administrator, who has processed more than 4000 applications to the fund in the past five years.