Khalil’s Story: "I recognise my life again now." | How Host Derby Changes the Lives of Refugees Through Emergency Accommodation | Part 1

We spoke to Khalil about how Host Derby, Upbeat’s emergency accommodation project giving homeless refugees and destitute asylum seekers a safe place to stay, has impacted his life. Khalil’s name has been changed to protect his identity.

Khalil fled from war in his home country in the Middle East. He was recently granted leave to remain by the UK government, but he wasn’t able to find a place to live in the narrow 7-day move on period given by the Home Office.

He came to Upbeat one day, and a volunteer noticed he looked down. A conversation revealed that he had been sleeping rough for the last 3 nights, having been evicted from his accommodation due to the Home Office’s decision to reduce the ‘move on’ period to just 7 days.

This meant Khalil had received the life-changing, wonderful news that his wait to rebuild his life in the UK was over — but then was hit with the impossible task of finding accommodation and an income within a week. Due to the current rental crisis in the UK, this is virtually impossible for anyone, let alone someone with the language barriers and lack of connections that a refugee has.

But this is where Upbeat Communities comes in.

Khalil was able to be hosted by Host Derby volunteers, who had a spare room in their house and, after a quick Zoom call with our hosting team to check details, they happily invited Khalil to stay with them the same day.

“I felt a very warm welcome when I arrived.” Khalil said. “I have a good relationship with my hosts, and with my host’s father, who speaks my language.

My hosts are very hospitable and I feel the same with them as I do with my own family – they are a lovely family. Most of the time, we share lunch or dinner together; sometimes I cook, sometimes my hosts cook.

Before I came to this family I was homeless, the weather was -6 and I was on the street. I felt hopeless. I didn’t know what to do. There were a lot of problems overnight. But when I moved to this family, I recognised my life again. I feel settled now. I have started to come to Upbeat English so my life is changed now. The family are very welcoming.

Thank you for all the staff in Upbeat for helping me.”

Einir Cooper oversees Host Derby as a project. Here’s what she said about the impact of Host Derby on individuals like Khalil:

“The impact of Host Derby is different for every Guest I think. But the one common thread, I would say, is a sense of belonging and being part of a family. Having dinner with others around the table, going through that process of congregating together, preparing food together, and eating together. And the washing up afterwards.

Most of our Guests do not experience that prior to being hosted because many of them are single guys, who’ve gone ahead of their families back home in North Africa or the Middle East, in search of safety.

Often, these guys have been on the road for months or even years. Then, they’ve reached the UK and they’ve been living in temporary accommodation with other single guys. They haven’t experienced a sense of home or family for a really long time.

It’s great when you know a Host is available and you can say to someone, like in Khalil’s case, “Yes! You’ve come on the right day. Let’s make this happen”. That’s brilliant. But increasingly, individuals come to us and there is no solution because there just aren’t enough hosts available.

It’s those moments when I think, this is somebody’s son in front of me. It could be my son.

It’s very challenging.”

Upbeat Communities are currently looking for more hosts to give refugees like Khalil a safe place to stay while they figure out their next steps. If you have a spare room and would like to find out more about how you could create a lasting impact for refugees and asylum seekers without a home, come along to our Hosting Information Evening on Monday 12th February at 7pm, via Zoom. Email us to let us know you’re coming, and we’ll send you the Zoom link: hosting@upbeatcommunities.org.

This blog post is the first of a 3-part series highlighting the long-lasting impact of Host Derby as we look for more amazing hosts to join our team. Stay tuned for Part 2…