INTERVIEW: A door opens on asylum - Jay Golding, Red Cross project manager for unaccompanied refugees

As project manager at a Red Cross youth befriending service for unaccompanied minors in Croydon, Golding is on the front line when it comes to caring for vulnerable young people in our society.

"When you speak to them after they've just arrived in the country, they can be quite despondent about what's going on," says Golding. "But two or three months down the line, when they've been housed and they reflect on their experiences, it doesn't seem so bad."

This is despite the fact that the young asylum seekers are aware of the negative publicity they attract in some quarters of the press. A recent article in the Daily Mail about an HIV-positive Somalian man seeking asylum, who had reportedly infected a couple of people, "generated a lot of discussion at the project about how dangerous the press can be," reveals Golding. The young people were angry about the negative stereotyping, especially when a small apology hidden in the paper a couple of days later admitted the man was not even from Somalia.