Decade of help for the city's refugees
Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support Council (DCRSC) has been providing practical support to refugees and asylum-seekers in the community since 1999.
Volunteer Christine Reid said: "The centre isn't celebrating its 10th anniversary because the plight of refugees and asylum seekers isn't a reason for celebration."
Instead, the special occasion was marked with a civic visit.
Lord Mayor Brian Vincent and Lady Mayoress Pauline Murphy spent an hour at the centre's base in Whimple Street and were given a tour of the building, which includes an office and a clothes store.
The mayor made a brief speech and was given a key-ring memento.
The DCRSC is a charity founded by Sam Kallon and his wife Sarah.
Sam was born in Sierra Leone and travelled and worked in many countries before arriving in England, where he ended up in Plymouth.
As a refugee, Sam was instrumental in assessing the needs and issues affecting refugees and asylum-seekers from across the world.
He decided there was a need for a centre to provide support, advice, guidance and information to asylum-seekers and refugees.
Sam died, aged 39, in 2002, but the charity he founded has continued its work, albeit quietly.
Perhaps because of negative perceptions of asylum-seekers and refugees, the work of the DCRSC has remained relatively unsung in the city where it is based.
In fact, say DCRSC volunteers, negative stereotyping of these groups has been so prevalent that they have devised a slide show presentation to tackle some of the misconceptions – myth-busting, as they call it.
They point out that everyone has a right to claim asylum in another country under the United Nations Charter of 1951.
They must report to the authorities and declare themselves as asylum-seekers – and in the UK they will usually be directed to one of the holding centres, at Croydon or Liverpool.
Under the dispersal system introduced 10 years ago, local authorities have to accept a quota of refugees, and Plymouth is the main centre for Devon and Cornwall.
Asylum-seekers can apply for social housing, but one of the myths the DCRSC is keen to shoot down is that they can jump the queue.
Most refugees are offered dilapidated, run- down housing.
Mrs Reed, who helps deliver the myth-busting talks, said: "People often want to get into a debate with us, but we refuse to be drawn into politics.
"We just say that refugees and asylum-seekers are people and deserve to live and be treated decently. We try and explain that they're not all bad people."
Asylum-seekers are not allowed to work. They get government support for housing and living expenses, but at a benefit level lower than that which British citizens can claim.
One of the reasons that the DCRSC says its services are needed is that this support is sometimes withdrawn at short notice, often through administrative error.
The charity has two paid caseworkers to help asylum-seekers through the legal process, and about 50 volunteers who give up their time to staff the centre.
Basic items of food are issued to some clients on the advice of the caseworkers, and the clothes store helps kit out recent arrivals for the unfamiliar British winter.
The centre also has an internet suite to help clients keep in touch with their families and carry out research into their cases.
To successfully claim asylum, applicants have to prove that they face persecution if they were to return home.
Hard evidence can be difficult to come by, but those who succeed in their claim will be granted leave to stay in the UK, initially for five years.
They will then be classed as a refugee and allowed to look for work.
The centre also runs women's and men's development groups, where clients are offered help to learn English and to become integrated into British culture.
Mrs Reid said the DCRSC had now helped thousands of asylum-seekers and refugees who had passed through Plymouth.
She became involved with the centre after meeting a refugee and becoming friends with him. "He's a lovely guy and he calls me Plymouth Mum," she said.
"He was one of the fortunate ones who was processed quickly, but he speaks good English and has a degree."
Mrs Reid became a supporter of the group and later answered a call for volunteers issued in its newsletter.
She said: "I enjoy it. You meet some lovely people. You don't ask questions; you just give them a smile."
Comment on this story