In 2001 the leaders of City Life Church www.citylife.org.uk began discussing how to respond to the needs of asylum seekers being sent to Southampton by the Home Office.
In May 2001 using some money from the Lloyds TSB Foundation, they employed Stella Haig to research and assess these needs. After discussing Stella's assessment of the situation with Southampton City Council and other agencies, the church started CLEAR (City Life Education and Action for Refugees) to provide English lessons, and one-to-one advice.
From that point on, we have been delighted to see the vision of helping people to build new lives become a reality, as hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers have received support from CLEAR. As the project has grown we have been able offer employment advice and business start-up training, social activities, and most recently mentoring as part of the Time Together programme.
CLEAR is a registered working name of the charity City Life Church, Southampton.