A project giving shelter to refused asylum seekers in Bradford desperately needs more roofs to put over them.

The Beacon Hosting Project has only six hosts with a spare room but a waiting list of people needing its help.

In the past year it has given 11 people a place to stay, seven of whom, with support, have managed to make fresh asylum claims and are now getting housing and some financial help from the Government.

Will Sutcliffe, who started the initiative almost 12 months ago, said: “It’s a big ask, I know, but the people who are our hosts have all said how much they have gained from the experience and come back and do it again.

“We are looking for hosts from diverse groups – the broader the better – and we are here to give them support all the way. Being a host is not done in isolation.”

There are an estimated 285,500 refused asylum seekers nationally who would rather face destitution in the UK than return to their own countries – countries such as Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Iran.

Mr Sutcliffe said: “It’s very difficult to count invisible people but if you take figures from various groups in Bradford who come into contact there could be anything between 80 to 100.”

And the trend is that the people needing help are mainly men. Mr Sutcliffe said: “Those coming to us are by referral, then we do our own interviews before introducing them to a host. They all tend to be professionals – engineers and doctors.

“When people first think about becoming hosts they want to know if it’s legal and of course it is because the people we are helping are in limbo, they’ve been allowed to stay to claim asylum again.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about Beacon’s hosting project can call Mr Sutcliffe on (01274) 727525, e-mail host.beacon@yahoo.com or visit beaconbradford.org.