A parish priest has helped set up a support group for migrants after seeing “desperation” among those in his congregation.

Steven Saxby, of St Barnabas Church in St Barnabas Road, Walthamstow, has started the Waltham Forest Migrant Action Group (WFMAG) with other volunteers to try and stop what he sees as the increasing marginalisation of people who have come here from other countries.

He hopes to provide easier access to legal advice and benefits while providing a support network where migrants can socialise with other people to integrate more easily into society.

Father Saxby, 42, said: “There’s a lot of desperation in the community, there’s people in our own congregation living on very few resources and they’re anxious about where they’re going to get their next meal.

“This shouldn’t be the case but it is. Our welfare system is stretched. With government cuts and welfare reforms we have less ways to support the most vulnerable, and migrants are suffering.”

He said he and other volunteers were responding to the concerns of his own congregation, many of whom are migrants, and added that he was surprised at the positive response he received.

Father Saxby said: “We were glad to discover others were keen to be working on this as well. Migrants come over for all sorts of reasons. There’s so much negative language in the media about them but in Walthamstow we know they enrich our society.

“There’s cafes influenced and set up by migrants’ cultures and we thrive because of it. It makes our area a more interesting place to live.”

WFMAG will be co-led by migrants who will be able to advise on the key issues to tackle while ensuring it is an environment where migrants and non-migrants can meet and socialise, in order to break down social barriers.

The group will officially launch on June 22, during National Refugee Week, at an event in Harmony Hall, in Truro Road, Walthamstow, starting at 6.45pm.

People are encouraged to attend the launch.