In the three years since our Big Walk, Marilyn has taken on running the SHARE Tawe hosting scheme, one of the two projects supporting destitute asylum seekers in Wales for which we are raising funds. We now have up to 9 people at one time put up by local people in their spare rooms.  But helping more people means we need more money for support costs - even though the average is only £3 per night.

In this three years, destitution has actually been getting worse. Media attention has been on Syria and the government's resettlement scheme, as well as on whether any of the child refugees stranded in parts of Europe can be relocated here. But the numbers arriving under their own steam and claiming asylum, from other countries as well as Syria, are also increasing.

Some of these become the people we want to help. They fled from their homes in fear and hoped to find safety and protection in UK. But some people's story is not believed and their application for asylum is turned down. While waiting for a decision an asylum seeker is not allowed to work but gets basic accommodation and a meagre allowance. 

However, once refused they have to leave that accommodation, get no money at all, and are still not allowed to work. A few return 'home' voluntarily and some are forcibly 'removed' but many cannot go 'home' or are so afraid that anything is better than that, and stay here destitute.

In this context, SHARE Tawe has actually been going from strength to strength.  More people need help, but also more people are volunteering to share their homes and help in other ways.  We pay up to £40 per week in small contributions to hosts' expenses and/or for a bus pass or bicycle so that people can be hosted outside the city centre.  We are now applying for a grant for a part-time organiser, but we still need more and more donations for these support costs.

So Marilyn and I thought it was time to do the 'next steps' of the Wales Coast Path. Like before, we are not taking the car, just carrying what we need from place to place, but this time just for one week.  In that time we hope to carry on from where we left off in Cardigan, and get as far as Littlehaven, a total of 85 miles of which we aim to
walk at least 60 (taking buses for the rest).

Apart from SHARE Tawe we are supporting the Welsh Refugee Council (WRC) again, which also helps destitute refused asylum seekers here in Wales. They give small amounts (£5 or £10 per week) through their Hardship Fund. They reach many more people than SHARE Tawe, enabling them to keep going at the most basic level while sofa-surfing or sometimes even living on the street.

We would love it if you sponsored us per mile up to our target of 60 miles. We'd love it even more if you committed to a regular contribution to SHARE Tawe -
visit their page on the Swansea City of Sanctuary website for more information and for how to do it. Or make a one-off donation here through JustGiving – the money you give will go to WRC, who will use half of it for their Hardship Fund and transfer the
other half to the SHARE Tawe project.

Please help us reach our target of £2,000 ([plus £100 per month for SHARE Tawe).