Executive Summary

Barbara Roche, Chair of Praxis

I am proud of how Praxis stepped up in 2020, adapting at pace to deliver vital services throughout the pandemic. Staff, volunteers and service users made Herculean efforts and by working together Praxis has maintained community and fostered solidarity, despite the challenges to human connection. We worked to ensure those at the sharp end were not forgotten. We called over one thousand people identified as at risk, to ensure they had support. Our advice team helped 2,442 people and we doubled our group sessions – working online to keep everyone safe. All this required creativity, flexibility and rapid digital transformation, for the organisation and our service users. We are very grateful for the generous support of our donors who funded technology and data to combat digital exclusion.

Responding to the demands of the pandemic has not blown us off-course, though we know its impact will reverberate over time. During the year trustees undertook a strategic review and have developed a new plan to guide us for the next 5 years. We will use our expertise, energy and passion to have national impact. We will expand our training and influencing work and we will campaign for change. People with lived experience of the immigration system will be the driving force and at the heart of this work; we know that policy change is the only long-term solution. We will continue to deliver expert legal advice and welfare support and we will collaborate with law firms, universities and allies in the sector to maximise capacity and impact. Despite our successes we know there is much more to be done to challenge an unjust system and we will face those challenges together.

Sally Daghlian OBE, Praxis’ CEO

In January 2020 Covid-19 was not on Praxis’ risk register. As the world was turned upside down, some felt the pain more than most, and continue to do so. The impact has been disproportionate with black communities experiencing some of the worst effects, both in health terms and economic hardship. People with insecure immigration status and those excluded from the welfare safety net were left behind. Covid-19 made stark the injustices created by an immigration system that condemns thousands of people to live in the twilight zone, struggling to exist, unable find a route to safety.

Those already on the margins had nowhere to turn, becoming more isolated as community networks and services disappeared. We provided welfare and support packages, ensured people had access to accurate information and healthcare. Praxis and partner agencies lobbied to ensure that the Everybody In initiative opening hotels to homeless people really did include everybody, regardless of immigration status. We were then able to provide critical immigration advice and interventions to provide lasting routes out of destitution.

The injustice of the iniquitous ‘No recourse to public funds’ condition has been exposed widely to all who care to see. Despite working and paying taxes many on the front-line had no access to welfare support if they fell ill or lost their jobs. During the year Praxis began a new campaign, in partnership with service users, against the widespread use of this condition that blights lives. This year has shown the power of community support and solidarity and how the public can come together to create change. However dark the world seems, we can make a difference by coming together and I would like to thank all our partners, funders and supporters for making our work possible. Together we can do more!

Aminat, Service User Representative

In 2020 everything became harder. Migrants are already in a precarious position, and lockdown made it worst – and there is no escape. The needs are stronger than before, for example for people who need to renew their leave to remain it has become even harder to come up with thousands of pounds to pay the Home Office fees when they lost their job. To get support – including for mental health – has become extra hard if not impossible.

Praxis has been incredible. They made sure that the connection is still there – for example, for groupwork they’ve doubled the number of sessions, it’s something to look forward to every week for people who have become even more restless. And for people who received advice, they were able to keep in touch with their caseworker via email, phone or text. Praxis has gone the extra mile to make people feel comfortable and connected.

We have all gone through lockdown. Now everyone knows what it feels not to be free - lockdown might feel like prison, and this is what a lot of migrants have gone through, even before the pandemic. With Covid19, people are constantly worried about catching the virus. For migrants, it’s constantly being worried about police, destitution, homelessness, visa.

Now that all people have been through similar situations, we hope that they will show more empathy towards migrants, because now they know what it means not to be free.

We want to change the system that keeps us trapped. Empathy leads to change, so if we want to change the law we need to create more empathy, so that then people on the street will support our campaigning calls and put pressure to change the laws.