City Life Church in Southampton is celebrating a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund for £489,372 to support its work with refugees and asylum seekers in Southampton.
CLEAR (City Life Education and Action for Refugees) has been operating for 20 years helping hundreds of people each year finding sanctuary in the city.
Church Leader, Paul Woodman, said: “I am delighted that our passion to empower and support refugees and asylum seekers has been recognised and that the National Lottery Community Fund are continuing their invaluable partnership with us.
“We need only put ourselves in the shoes of the people we are helping to see why this work has been prioritised. People come to us for a wide range of reasons, whether it is fleeing war torn countries, escaping persecution and punishment because of their sexual orientation, race, or religious beliefs, or they are young girls avoiding the practice of FGM or they have been beaten and tortured in their home country.