Refugee Week - Mos' story

Connected Voice Advocacy supports refugees and asylum seekers through our specialist service, funded by the FOGO Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland. This #RefugeeWeek we want to highlight how this service has made a real difference to people's lives.

This is the story of Mos (not his real name) who was recently supported through our Advocacy service.

Mos is a failed asylum seeker from Iran who has lived in the UK more than 15 years without being granted status. He had been homeless and destitute for more than 5 years. Because of this, Mos was extremely vulnerable and at risk of abuse and exploitation whilst living on the streets and frequently disengaged with other services. Mos could not keep up with doctors' appointments and his treatment due to developing serious mental and physical health problems.

Mos could not access secondary care, such as mental health care, because he did not have an open asylum case. He was also struggling with drug addiction problems and, as a result, the mental health team discharged him from their services. He was also not entitled to secondary mental health support from, for example, Community Psychiatric Nurse.

Mos reached out to Connected Voice Advocacy for support to engage with addiction services and access health and social care.

How Connected Voice Advocacy helped

At Connected Voice we have bilingual advocates who can support those who do not speak English as their first language. Mos' advocate is fully qualified; she speaks Farsi and could communicate with Mos in his first language. She referred him to the Drug and Alcohol Service and helped him navigate his way through this referral, supporting him at appointments and assessments. The Advocate also helped Mos access treatment for his physical and mental health problems. She liaised with homeless organisations such as Crisis Skylight Newcastle and West End Refugee Service in order to help support Mos to maximise his wellbeing.

Mos is now in a recovery program and has a homelessness support worker from Crisis Skylight. He has gained access to a £100 monthly hardship fund from local refugee services. The advocate helped Mos to set up an address for his health letters so he could attend his appointments on time. She also helped him to set up repeat prescriptions and he now automatically gets reminder texts messages to collect medication from the pharmacy. This was an important part of promoting independence and allowing Mos to manage his own medication.

As a result of our involvement, Mos' physical and mental health are improving, he has greater independence and control and better quality of life.

Refer to Connected Voice Advocacy

Our service is free, independent, confidential and on your side. We also have access to interpretation services for those who do not speak English as their first language.

We can provide the following advocacy support to help people:

• Understand their options
• Make decisions
• Have their voices heard
• Have their rights upheld
• Access services they need around health, social care, housing
• Access community groups and networks to help promote social inclusion.

Go to Refer to Connected Voice Advocacy if you would like to make a referral for yourself or someone else to this service, which is part of our Community Advocacy service.