Earlier this week we welcomed Hannah Spencer, the Green MP for Gorton and Denton, to our office to hear more about our work at Boaz and to meet some of the people we support. 

As well as sharing about how we support people who have been made homeless after claiming asylum, and the importance of our housing and support work, we were also able to talk about the impact that the Immigration and Asylum Bill, and earned settlement proposals, will have on people’s lives, as well as the mental and physical toll that the asylum system has on individuals.

For us, meeting with MPs across Greater Manchester is an important and valuable part of our advocacy work. It allows parliamentarians to learn more about the impact that asylum and immigration policies have on people’s lives by hearing directly from those affected by such policies and proposals. This kind of engagement is crucial as we seek to use the learnings from our support work, and from what people directly impacted tell us, to change the systems and policies that cause so much harm. 

This week’s meeting with Hannah was also a good opportunity to hear more about her work as an MP engaging with constituents on the issues of asylum and immigration. Together, we were able to start to think about ways that we can build connection between communities locally.

Our meetings with parliamentarians have re-emphasised the importance for us in establishing and developing dialogue with people in positions of power to effect change both locally and nationally. 

It’s a crucial time for people seeking safety in the UK. As the rhetoric around asylum becomes more inflamed, and as the threats from the far right grow, our work has never felt so demanding or so vital. With a major rollback of asylum and refugee rights forthcoming in the Immigration and Asylum Bill currently making its way through parliament, and the anticipated proposals around earned settlement making it much harder for people to build a life here in the UK, now more than ever we need to build dialogue and connection between us.

Image context: Photo above taken at the mass lobby opposing earned settlement in March 2026