From Ceri with love x

Dear Team 500, 

Happy Wednesday everyone. We hope you are starting to nest as the weather gets cooler and the days get longer. Within our exceptional group of people there are those who take our caring attitude out to the world and communities watching for anyone falling through the cracks or needing an extra boost to help the situation they’re in, we all do it so well, so thank you. 

This week’s nomination is from Ceri who is very proactive within her community, we send S much love for the future knowing this will make all the difference. 

This is time critical nomination, in the sense that course starts soon - but S would be incredibly appreciative at any time. ( I’m also using my own money to help her.)

If you need any other info, please let me know. Thank you very much for considering this.

Ceri

Five years ago, many people who were at risk, were hastily evacuated from Afghanistan when the Taliban took over. My nominee was one of them. Originally I met her at the hotel where I taught English. Whilst family life seemed really important to my students, she was a young (23?)woman on her own with a very young child. Her husband – a former Translator, for UK Army had abandoned her and their daughter after arriving here.

 When she was offered a place to stay, it was just around the corner from where I live. She hadn’t been one of my students, but I came to know her because of this, and to understand just how very difficult life can be for someone arriving suddenly and unexpectedly in a new place, with no family support. During the past 3 years, I’ve watched her respond with grace, determination and extraordinary resilience to really big challenges. 

Her daughter has had very serious health problems, due to allergies and asthma and has had to spend extended periods in hospital. S has always put her daughter first, and her patience and parenting are awe-inspiring.

Although I’d say we live in a safe area, a masked hoodie-wearing man, repeatedly tried to smash her front window, and to generally harass her over a period of time. I asked that she phone us, so that we could confront him - but she never took up the offer. Although she sometimes asks for advice, she rarely asks for help as she doesn’t want to be a burden.

 Because the conditions in her flat, were exacerbating her daughter’s health, she has had to move to a different flat in an area miles away, and to start over once again the long process of settling in.  

 Very recently, she discovered that the Home Office had earlier made a mistake with her visa. She herself tried repeatedly to get it corrected to ‘settled status’, but with time running out and the risk of ‘over staying’ she was advised to get a solicitor to act for her. Within days, the Home Office  corrected their error, but S had had to use her entire savings of £500. She had been painstakingly scraping together this funding in the hope that she could take a computing course at the University.

When the Taliban took over, S had just finished 4 years of full time education in Computer Studies – the first woman in her family to go to HE. However, her Afghan qualification is not accepted in Britain. She is passionate about returning to study, so that she can earn money, make a good life for her daughter, pay taxes, and contribute to her new home in Wales.

 I know it would mean such a lot to her if we were able to ‘refund’ the money that she had saved – and lost – because of the Home Office error. More than ‘just’ enabling her to do the course for which she’s been accepted, it would speak to the fact that there are people here who want her to feel welcome and to succeed here