Voucher Exchange
|
VOUCHER EXCHANGE APPEAL Section 4 support is a government scheme for the support of some refused asylum seekers. They are not paid money, but receive Morrisons gift vouchers, Asda and Tesco gift cards or luncheon vouchers, which are intended to allow them to get food. The vouchers are worth £35 per week per adult, with an extra £35 worth for each child. The luncheon vouchers can be exchanged at many major supermarkets and a number of food outlets such as MacDonald’s. They are just the same as those given out by some companies to their employees. Under this scheme, refused asylum seekers have no money. They cannot buy bus passes for themselves or their families to get to hospital, doctor or college, for example, or even to the supermarket where they can use the vouchers. When asylum seekers use luncheon vouchers, supermarkets insist that they are only exchanged for food. They cannot even buy nappies for their babies. They cannot buy a pint of milk at their corner shop, or shop in the market, which may sell many items cheaper than the named supermarkets. They often cannot buy the kind of food that they are used to. Other users can top up vouchers with money or cards to the exact amount of their purchases, but no ‘change’ is given when luncheon vouchers are used alone, so that is another hidden cost for the asylum seekers. The Voucher exchange means that we buy vouchers from asylum seekers and then sell them on to other people who can use them to do their normal supermarket shopping (or even buy lunch!). Buying vouchers each week from asylum seekers allows them to live a more normal life, enabling them to travel and shop where they choose. It also stops them being ripped off by unscrupulous people who charge them a hefty commission for exchanging vouchers for money. The scheme is helping people like these: A single asylum seeker, previously supported by Assist, gets Section 4 because she has a serious medical problem affecting her legs and is unable to walk very far. She gets no cash for bus fares. Assist can get special discounts on bus passes for asylum seekers. She is unable to take advantage of this unless we buy her vouchers so that she can have cash. "A young mother with 2 small children is relocated from London to an area in Sheffield far from the City Centre. She knows no one in Sheffield and walks 5 miles into the City Centre as she has no cash for a bus. She is distraught when she discovers she still cannot buy her babies nappies as the vouchers are only for food and drink" But we need help! Currently the voucher exchange scheme is buying vouchers worth up to £3000 per week from desperate asylum seekers, yet there are still others who come and are turned away. We have to sell the vouchers on to be able to keep the scheme going. We can only do this if we can find more people who will buy vouchers from us. Is it legal to buy vouchers from asylum seekers? Our advice from an expert in immigration law is that it is entirely legal to buy vouchers in this way. Will you join us? There are a number of people who already buy vouchers from us. Another Assist volunteer says: “I started with just one book of luncheon vouchers, and realised how easy it was to use the vouchers for my weekly supermarket shop. It’s a very small effort and no cost to me for the help it gives. Now I buy two or three books a month. I have never been challenged, nor had the vouchers turned down. Will you give it a try? Luncheon vouchers can be exchanged for any food /drink shopping at all the outlets listed on the back of the book, and at others listed inside, including Somerfields. Morrisons and Tesco vouchers can be used at any of their shops even for petrol. We now have over 150 asylum seekers for whom we are exchanging vouchers for cash, and more mothers and babies are coming to us all the time. The scheme can only maintain this level of support if we have more people willing to buy the vouchers from us. We desperately need more help. Please help us if you can and talk to others about our scheme. Call us on 0114 275 4960 (Assist office) For more detailed arguments for doing the voucher exchange scheme, go to Google and type in “Refugee Council Section 4 Report on Vouchers”. You will be able to download “More Token Gestures”, a national report which is a scathing indictment of the Government’s voucher system. Margaret Spooner "I have used luncheon vouchers for normal supermarket shopping at Waitrose (allowed for food products only - raw, tinned, frozen, whatever) but haven't tried them in their cafe; I've also used Morrison & Tesco gift vouchers in those stores. I've never had any problems, and Waitrose staff were particularly courteous.
|
 Printable Version |