About us
Who we are
Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers (SDCAS) seeks to help relieve poverty and distress, and to promote health and further education for asylum seekers and refugees.
We aim to provide a wide range of holistic services which support, promote and secure the rights of asylum seekers and refugees in the London Borough of Southwark.
We strive to provide support services and a safe and welcoming environment through day centre provision, to help meet the needs of local asylum seekers. Through general advice and help we hope to facilitate access to a range of mainstream services, with particular emphasis on health, housing, employment, training, education and asylum issues. The sociable atmosphere of the day centres provides our clients with the opportunity to build their own social networks, which reduces the level of isolation so often felt in this disenfranchised group.
SDCAS was founded in early 1996 as a practical response from local church leaders and community activists to changes in government policy that resulted in an increase of poverty, distress and homelessness amongst asylum seekers and refugees. The following year SDCAS became an independent charity and our client base grew hugely.