POD: lets offer most

vulnerable Romanians a
chance

1. Introduction
That Romanians have recently been vilified in the British press is all
too known. From the people of mysterious Transylvania, Romanians
have become associated with crime, begging, benefits and with
taking other peoples jobs. But, apart from the image created in the
press, this negative coverage was most of the times right to point
out that we have problems. We are definitely not the only ones, and
not with the most problems, as one reading the news might be
tempted to think. But we cannot ignore the fact that some
Romanians in London (more than anywhere in the UK) are homeless,
work on the black market and commit subsistence crime (nonviolent).

Project PODs objective is to expand Ashford Places support services

to include a (growing) Romanian population who wants to work and

integrate. It primarily aims to support the inclusion of Romanians

into the official labour market and into accommodation (as opposed
to working on the black market and sleeping on the streets).
Services include support for work documents, CV and job search
support, English language classes, accommodation search support,
registering with a GP, showers, clothing, daily canteen, etc.

2. The Context
2.1.

Who is Ashford Place?

Ashford Place is a 30 year-old community resource, supporting its

most marginalised members. Apart from the services mentioned
above, Ashford Place has also developed programs and activities to
engage youth, elderly and other groups in football, social support
groups and other one-off activities.

Image 1. Asford Places offices.

For instance, between April 2012 and April 2013, Ashford Place
supported 1,184 individuals. Some of the activities were:

107 people were supported into employment

75 people were supported into private rented housing

101 accessed the winter shelter

349 ate in our canteen

575 attended English Language classes.

2.2. Why POD at Ashford Place?

Ashford Place is situated in a very relevant place for Romanian
economic migration. Firstly, it is in the area called Cricklewood,
which is where black market work starts. Employers pick people up
on two streets in Cricklewood, which are 5 minutes away from
Ashford Place. Secondly, the organisation is part of the borough of
Brent, where there is a large number of Romanians economic
migrants1. Why here?, we are often asked. And it seems that
Romanians have spread the word about this area to their family,
friends and neighbours, thus developing networks here. Thirdly,
Brent is the most diverse borough in London, and probably in the UK,
as well as among the poorest ones. It is the borough with the
highest numbers of NINo requests too, showing that it is the first
point of entry for many other people in similar situations (e.g. from
Somalia, Eritrea, Poland, Hungary etc.). Finally, the black market in
Cricklewood has been present for more than 50 years, having
started with Irish migrants, then Polish, and now Romanians.
1 I define Romanian economic migrants as people of Romanian nationality who
come from very poor areas of the country, and seek manual and often black
market work abroad (in this case, the UK).

However, although we work in Cricklewood, we aim to include

Romanians living pan-London.

Image 2. Cricklewood Broadway, 2014. Source: personal archive.

Image 3. Chichele Road (where people often wait for illegal work), 2014.
Source: personal archive.

3. Research findings
Ashford Place identified the need for action since June 2013, in the
face of growing crime levels and increasing resident discontent. At
the charitys request, I have conducted research on the Romanian
population waiting on the black market, from September 2013 to
January 2014. Interviews and focus groups with Romanian black
market workers, residents and local businesses revealed the
following:

3.1.

Interviews with Romanian black market workers

 Romanians standing on the black market come from areas

characterised by poverty and unemployment

Image 4. Where Romanian rough sleepers identified by

Ashford Place come from, 2014.

Image 5. Romanians poverty map2. Source: Capital, 9 January

20143.

21 GBP equals 5.46 RON, today 12/06/2014.

3http://www.capital.ro/harta-saraciei-in-romania-190643.html

Image 6. Apata village (Romania) and Chichele Road (UK,

where black market workers are being recruited). Source:
Google Maps.

Image 7. Belini village (Romania) and Ashford Place Road (UK,

where black market workers used to be recruited). Source:
Google Maps.

 They are men who often have histories of migration to other

countries too, and have 3-4 children
They are highly motivated to work, and to endure almost any
conditions for it (and thats why they sometimes prefer to save
and sleep rough than to spend money on accommodation)

Image 8. Tents in Millennium Green park, where about 30

Romanians were believed to be residing, 2014. Source: Operation
Ajutor Team.
A relatively large part of them are Roma, or from villages
where a large number of Roma live
They are often exploited by employers, who drive them at long
distances, pay them little or nothing, etc
These makes their lives stressful, and the lack of support
makes it even harder; they also feel like they miss out on
family events or activities.
3.2. Interviews with residents and local businesses
There were very high levels of discontent among residents, but far
less among local businesses. Residents, especially women, felt
intimidated by the groups of men hanging around. They started
changing their walking and jogging routes to avoid them. Others

were concerned about them not paying taxes, looking in their bins
etc. The levels of discontent have only got higher, as Ashford Place
receives daily emails about East European migrants in the area.
3.3. The extent of the problem
Romanians have become the nation with the second highest number
of arrests in the Brent and Barnet (Cricklewood is an area at the
crossroads of Brent, Barnet and Camden), after UK nationals in 2013
(Figures 1 and 2).

Figure 1. Top 10 nationalities of all subjects arrested in the last 12

months, Barnet borough, 2013. Source: Barnet NPT.

Figure 2. Top 10 nationalities of all subjects arrested in the last 12

months, Brent borough, 2013. Source: Barnet NPT.

Another issue is rough sleeping. A relatively large percent of

Romanians that were arrested in Brent (21%) and Barnet (23%) were
of no fixed abode4 (NPT, 2013).Moreover, Brent and Barnet have the
highest rates of Romanian rough sleepers in London (25% and 21%,
respectively Figure 3). Furthermore, over the past seven years, the
numbers of Romanians who have been seen sleeping rough in Brent
have increased sharply. In 2013, between July and September, the
number of Romanian rough sleepers in Brent was, for the first time,
equal to that of UK citizens in Brent (Figure 4).

4In numbers, 77 out of 364 and 98 out of 375 people who had been arrested between 07/11/2012 and
07/11/2013 in Brent and Barnet respectively declared that they did not have a fixed residence (NPT,
2013).

Percentage of Romanian rough sleepers

30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Figure 3. Romanian Rough Sleepers in London, by borough, 2013.

Source: Ashford Place.

Figure 4. Percents of Romanian and UK Rough Sleepers in Brent

between 2010 and 2013. Source: Ashford Place.

4. Why is POD needed?

POD means bridge in Romanian. If Romanians are willing to work
legally, live in rented accommodation and integrate in the UK in
general, we are providing them with a bridge that they can cross.
Thus, assisting them with work and accommodation (mainly but not
only) has four main advantages. Firstly, it would promote a more
positive image of Romania, as most vulnerable people, who are
often the target of the media, would be supported to lead more
independent and dignified lives. Secondly, subsistence/petty/nonviolent crime levels would decrease. Thirdly, it would make residents
feel safer, and provide a platform for Romanian nationals to be a
more active and positive part of the communities in London. Finally,
Romanians would contribute to UKs taxes, and, in the same time,
this action would save taxpayer funds which go towards outreach
work, policing, park maintenance, etc.

5. Our work so far

5.1. Outreach and Reconnection
In partnership with the MET Police, we have verified 5 Romanian
rough sleepers and assisted those which wanted to go back to
5 That means visited their rough sleeping sites, which is a prerequisite for us to
offer assistance.

Romania to access the Reconnection programme (offering destitute

people one chance to return to their homes for free).
5.2 Voluntary support
For five months, we had opened Ashford Places support services to
Romanian nationals, in the hope that we would soon receive
funding. Whilst at the beginning there was one volunteer, after one
month we were two, coming once a week and assisting clients with
work documents mainly (and other services too), as well as
continuing the engagement with the police, the Romanian Embassy,
local authorities, residents associations, the media and community
members.

Image 9. Some of the Romanians waiting for volunteer support.

During this time, we have engaged with 78+ clients, with the
following outcomes:
39 supported with NINos,
34 ESOL referrals,

11 reconnections,
8 accessed the winter shelter,
51 lunches,
72 showers,
34 receive their post here,
21 clothing/laundry activities.

Image 10. Ashford Places reception.

To record our work, we have developed a POD database in the
system. However, activities before that have not been recorded, so
the records above are far less than the work done. Nonetheless, we
have these details in the database now.

At the end of May, we stopped providing voluntary services, as the

demand was increasing, and it was almost impossible to fundraise
whilst providing support. Thus, we decided that a more sustainable
strategy would be to simply focus on fundraising, in the hope that

we would find support to this urgent matter faster than if we also

provided support to Romanian nationals.

5.3. A story
Stefan is in his 50s and came to the UK in 2013. He easily found
work and earned money. He brought his partner over here, but soon
found himself unemployed, and had to send his partner back. In the
meantime, he found Ashford Place, where he was offered sheltered
accommodation (a winter programme, where rough sleepers are
accommodated in churches), as well as employment support. He
applied and received his NINo, made a CV and applied to various
jobs. He first found a part-time job in a clothes store, and then found
a full-time one in a laundry company (for hotel bedding). We also
made a savings plan, to see how much he needed to save so that he
can afford to rent a room. By that time the winter shelter had closed,
and he had to move back to a garage again. Soon after, he lost his
job, as, at his age, he cannot give as much energy as younger
labourers can, and the market is competitive. Also, he will soon be
evicted from his garage. If we had support services in place, we
would have assisted him to find another job, and to update his CV:
instead, he now has to look for jobs literally from door to door.

Image 11. Stefan at Ashford Place, 2014. Source: personal archive.

Image 12. Stefans garage, 2013. Source: Ashford Place outreach.

5.3. Fundraising and awareness event

On the 6th of March2014 , Ashford Place, in partnership with the
Romanian Cultural Centre (RCC), organised a fundraising event. On
the night, we raised 1760. Also, some people kindly set up monthly
donations, whilst others (individuals and companies) offered various
forms of support (e.g. with English classes). In response, we have set
up a newsletter, with updates on the progress of POD.

Image 13. The fundraising event and concert at the RCC. Source:
RCC.
Also, on the 27th of May 2014, Ashford Place and MET Police have
organised a community meeting to encourage dialogue between
stakeholders on the issue of black market work and rough sleeping,
which are relatively high for the Romanian population in the area. It
was fruitful in the sense that key local actors got a better
understanding of the active initiatives at work, as well as had the
opportunity to ask questions and to engage constructively with
Ashford Place, MET Police, Romanian police and even three rough
sleepers present at the event.

Image 14. Sergeant Bryan Wappat, presenting Project Prospera and

Operation Ajutor. Source: personal archive.
Image 15. Two of the three rough sleepers present at the meeting.
Source: personal archive.

6. Current strategy

There are few other organisations which provide similar support

(mainly work-related) on a voluntary basis (e.g. MY Romania Group).

However, they address a more stable segment of the Romanian
population (people who have accommodation, more qualifications,
etc.). This project, however, cannot, by any means, be based on
volunteers. It is not optional this support is a basic assistance that
is available to almost all nationals in the UK. Supporting most
vulnerable individuals is key to any societys progress. Why
Romanians are not assisted? In our case, it is simply the currently
overstretched budget of the charity, which cannot include a
relatively numerous population such as Romanians.

POD touches on the controversial and sensitive issue of vulnerable

Romanians in the UK. We have often been asked if we are not
encouraging people to come over by supporting them to find work
and accommodation. This is certainly not the case. Together with the
police, we have decided that Romanians will be given access to our
services on the basis that they prove that they no longer work on
the black market and that, once they have saved some money, they
seek to rent a room (and we have developed ways of monitoring
that). Furthermore, Romanians come here anyway. Before we
provided voluntary assistance and after we ceased to do that,
numbers have remained the same. It is clear that the motivation to
work abroad is strong, regardless of how prepared migrants are to
do so.

We have seen that our work is effective in helping people become

more independent: 78 people left Ashford Place with more potential
for independence. We have a platform where we can provide
support: Ashford Place. We have developed a database and
measured our outcomes. We are supported by the Romanian
Embassy and the police in our endeavour. We have two dedicated
volunteers who are willing to start providing support again, as well
as a handful of people who can enrich the opportunities available
(for example, with jobs for Romanian-speakers, English classes, Bed
and Breakfast, etc). What we lack at the moment is funding.

7. Contact details
Would you like to sign up to the newsletter?
Would you like to receive the research report on black market work?
Would you like to offer support to POD?
Would you like to promote our cause?

Then, please get in touch with us!

Laura Chilintan, Project POD Coordinator, at
laura.chilintan@ashfordplace.org.uk
AdelinaCega, Project POD Caseworker, at adelina.cega@gmail.com
Lucien Lawrence, Outreach Coordinator, at
Lucien.Lawrence@ashfordplace.org.uk
John Doocey, Director of Community Services, at
John.Doocey@ashfordplace.org.uk

Ashford Place | 60 Ashford Road | London | NW2 6TU

tel: 020 8208 8590 (ext 221) l fax: 020 8452 1373
web: www.ashfordplace.org.uk
twitter:@ashford_place facebook:/ashfordplace.org.uk

(Formerly Cricklewood Homeless Concern)

Registered Charity: 1097475
Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England and Wales:
04407339