Main Reception - Jenny (Volunteer)
A busy day as usual yesterday, with 92 Service Users registered, including 9 new ones. There were three young children. The day went quickly, with Narjess mainly on the laptop, and we passed on people with queries to Casework as usual. The early morning queue was dealt with reasonably quickly and Aysha and Mags encouraged service users to form an orderly queue inside the building. After we had cleared up, we had a meeting with Mags and Abdul to look at ways to cope better with congestion at the reception desk and how we might take turns sharing the various aspects of our work.

And we also found time during the days to taste some of the Christmas goodies!

Casework - Shaheda (Senior Caseworker)

The day began at 8.30 am with a festive atmosphere in the casework department, everyone embraced the sprit with Christmas hats and I ended up with a reindeer headband!

After setting up casework département and once our 9.30am meeting finished, we began with casework. I saw 16 service users, including 4 of which had appointments booked in to see me. Some cases were complex, and we experienced a few delays due to late arrivals. In addition to the usual casework, I also assisted with home office interview advice, work permit application, asylum cases being refused and eviction notices served. Despite being busy, the festive atmosphere helped keep everyone calmer and more positive.

We closed our department earlier than usual at lunchtime as we joined the Christmas party!
We noticed that food room was still open due to high demand and Fiona ended up helping in the food room! Thank you, Fiona!

After lunch we resumed our work in the casework department, continuing to see walk in service users and additional appointment.

Christmas 2025

DP celebrates Christmas 2025!

Food Room - Pam (Volunteer)

70 food parcels were given out today in the Food Room. The queue was non-stop throughout the day. Everyone one was given a chocolate bar and a packet of tissues as an extra treat.
Thank you to all the volunteers for providing a wonderful abundance of treats to be served with the mid-day meal. Each person received a cake, tangerine and packet of crisps, plus the usual mid-day meal provided by Alan and his staff.

It was uplifting to see so many happy smiling faces throughout the course of the day.

English Language Classes

Janet (Volunteer) - This morning, I had four service users in the class and Mary took one of them to teach in the photocopier room. With the three SUs I covered different kinds of leisure activities, using a story and a worksheet to reinforce the vocabulary. Lots of conversation took place.
Ian P (Volunteer) - Hello Everyone. This was necessarily a brief lesson of about 20 minutes. We played find the animal by a process of asking a series of questions. With varying degrees of assistance with reading and pronunciation, each SU asked a question to reduce the pack of animals down to the last one left standing: the rabbit! Then we dispersed to enjoy the feast and festivities in the Main Hall!

Operations - Abdul (Manager)
The preparations of the games were top-notch - plenty of the Christmas Hats - thank you Sarah! David and Ahmed as Santa were in the spotlight! Snack tables were full of varieties and taste - thank you Pam for organising the tables and those who contributed! I dealt with three ICT matters after the lunch and was grateful at our meeting for the inputs by our reception team to further manage the build-up of SUs by the entrance.

Main Hall - Ian T (Volunteer) - I think this must have been the greatest number of people to have turned up for the Christmas party for a few years. Alan prepared a very nice hot meal as usual and there was only just enough to feed everyone. We all had a great time and enjoyed the games provided by Sarah and Elsie, and the appearance of Santa, thanks to Ahmed and David. Irina brought in some festive pictures for children to colour-in.

WISHING ALL OUR SUPPORTERS, FUNDERS, SERVICE USERS AND WELL WISHERS ALL THE BEST FOR 2026!

WOULD YOU LIKE TO VOLUNTEER WITH THE DESTITUTION PROJECT (DP)?

To run its weekly Drop-In for asylum seekers and refugees and provide casework support, the Destitution Project relies heavily on the help and dedication of its volunteers.

Because we are a thriving organisation with much work to be done, we are looking for volunteers who are able to give us at least one day per week for a minimum of 6 months. If you are recently retired, part-time employed or otherwise able to give us this level of commitment, we would love to hear from you!

You can email us at: info@boltondp.org and send us a CV or details on your relevant experience and availability. We will then arrange for you to visit the Drop-In on a Wednesday so that you can have a guided tour and we can explain a bit more about what volunteering with us will involve.

Particular skills we are currently looking for are:

General admin skills and experience: You will need to be able to come in on different days (e.g. on Wednesdays and Fridays) when needed. We will work with you to find times that suit both you and the team.

IT and computer skills: we often need help on a Wednesdays (9.00am - 3.00pm) and sometimes on other occasions when needed.

DP Reception Team: you will need to be able to come in from 9.00am to 3.30 pm each Wednesday and help with the sign-in system, welcoming service users and visitors and managing access to the Drop-In.

Drop in Team: you will need to be able to come in from 9am- 3.00pm on Wednesdays. It may involve General Hall Duties including the setting up and putting away of furniture and games equipment or supporting in the Food or Clothes Room with managing stock and assisting our Service Users. You will need to be able to work well as part of a team.

English Teaching: to teach English at a basic or intermediate level in small groups on a Wednesday each week. No formal qualifications required but some background in English teaching/education may be helpful.

Thank you for considering volunteering with us!

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