The Cotton Tree Trust charity

IT all started on Christmas Day, when the now co-founders of a charity which supports asylum seekers invited a refugee in need to their table.

Ten years later, The Cotton Tree Trust, a charity based in Islington supporting destitute asylum seekers and refugees rebuilding their lives in the UK is holding a musical fundraiser in a church in Gospel Oak to raise vital funds.

On December 25 in 2015, Ruth Cigman and Michael Mark were asked to host an asylum seeker called Michael Ngyezi.

From that moment, the pair went on to help Mr Ngyezi with his legal case, supporting him through the complexities of the asylum system until eventually, he gained a leave to remain status.

Ms Cigman said: “We wanted to use that case as a model for how we were going to build The Cotton Tree Trust. We didn’t want to do it in the style of a dental surgery where people come and go every half an hour so we coined the expression ‘relaxed time’ because we spent hours with these people, eating, laughing, we’d talk about their cases, their politics and their lives.

“What we did in the outset was not simply help people with their papers but create a community and that’s been very valuable. It feels like a family.”

Mr Mark added: “Even when people do get leave to remain, you’re suddenly in a situation that you’ve never been in before.

“You’re in a different civilization. You’re homeless, you’re evicted from where you have been living in Home Office accommodation. You have to be helped to find new accommodation, be helped with benefits and get a job and bank account.

“We wanted to offer support in that way, as well as the legal side of things.”

The charity, based in Manor Gardens off Holloway Road helps more than 200 refugees and asylum seekers a year.

Ms Cigman added: “It’s really difficult with funding and being a hair’s breadth away from investment and then finding out you get nothing so we have to be judicious and careful about how we spend our time and money. But the main issue is public attitudes, which are so polarised.

“We want to share some of our experience. It’s not just about the stories, where these people came from or how they got here, but what is it actually like to be a refugee and how is it to be in their shoes?

“I think if people were to sit in a room with a refugee and hear this, lots of the polarised attitude would go, as I believe most people are decent.”

The fundraiser will take place at All Hallows Church in Savernake Road on February 23 at 7:30pm.

The concert will feature David Waterman the internationally renowned cellist who was a founding member of the Endellion String Quartet.

Tickets can be purchased here, all proceeds go to the Cotton Tree Trust: https://tinyurl.com/4ruceay7