By Mary Atkinson, Sanctuary in Chichester Volunteer.
Isaac and Anna* arrived at Heathrow airport in July 2021, with their two-year-old daughter and a suitcase. Anna, aged 20, was also six months pregnant. The family had escaped persecution and war in their home country. “We immediately asked for asylum”, says Isaac, who was 29 at the time. “Our aim was always to be responsible parents and bring our children up in a safe country. We were determined get jobs and do all we could to become independent in the UK.”
Four years later, following support and advice from Sanctuary in Chichester (SiC), the family are well-settled and living an independent life in Chichester. Both Isaac and Anna are working, and they no longer claim Universal Credit. The children are doing well at school and nursery, with good reports from their teachers.
Isaac offered to share their story:
We went to the first officer we could see at the airport and asked for asylum. We waited 13 hours, then we were taken to the Crown Plaza Hotel in West Drayton and given a room. All we wanted to do was sleep! Many of the other residents were complaining, but we were grateful for a bed and food to eat.
We were keen to start adapting to a new culture and way of life. There is so much to learn in a new country. The staff were helpful with documentation and found a doctor for Anna. In September 2021, our son was born in a nearby hospital.
We stayed in West Drayton for 10 months. Then we were moved to a basement room at the Best Western Hotel in Peckham. The room was so small that we spent our time outside in parks and walking the streets. Our Aspen card* stopped working so we had no money, but we could eat at the hotel.
* Aspen cards are payment cards that the Home Office put asylum seekers’ weekly subsistence allowance onto.
After 28 days we were moved to Bracklesham, where we had a flat in a building with other asylum seekers. It was a nice flat near to the sea, but we had nothing. No food, no internet, no blankets. It was terrifying. I couldn’t feed my own family. I didn’t know where to go for help. I didn’t know our future. My English was very poor, and I didn’t understand the forms needed to get our Aspen card working again. We lived on bread and milk for three weeks.
Finally, a café owner allowed me to use their internet. I contacted a lot of organisations who didn’t reply. Then a friendly volunteer from our time in West Drayton suggested emailing Sanctuary in Chichester. We got a positive reply and within days, we had a visit from a SiC staff member for an assessment of our needs. We were supplied with food, clothes, furniture, a TV, bikes and a pushchair. Little Bundles gave clothes, nappies and toys for the children. The Rotary Club provided household equipment. We got food from UK Harvest. Everyone was so helpful. They gave advice on sorting out our Aspen card, understanding the benefits system and places where we could get support.
We started to feel that we could move on with our lives. We both enrolled at Chichester College for English lessons, and I took the bridging module ‘From Adversity to University’ at the University of Chichester. Staff and volunteers at SiC supported us is so many ways – solving problems with broken boilers, helping us work out bus timetables, filling in complicated forms and so much more. We loved the warmth, safety and welcome at weekly drop-in. But we didn’t want to be reliant on other people for money.
We couldn’t find work in the few jobs we were allowed to work in while seeking asylum. As parents, we are responsible for our children, and we want to provide for them ourselves. It affects your mental health when you don’t have the ability to take care of yourself and your family. We waited and waited until we were given leave to remain in October 2023.
We had to move again, as we had to leave our Home Office accommodation. We couldn’t find anywhere to live before we were evicted but we managed to get a flat in emergency housing in Fishbourne. The children found it hard with all the moves. But now that we had Leave to Remain, I could look for work. My English had improved so I could attend interviews, and I got a job in a warehouse. It is boring work with long hours and lots of night shifts, but it is what you do for your family.
In February 2024, we moved again, this time to social housing in Chichester. We feel happy and settled here. Anna now works in a kitchen at a restaurant in Chichester. We both work shifts so one of us can look after the children before and after school. Having the bikes cuts down on travelling time to and from work.
We have lots of plans for our future. We would like to move to a house with a garden for the children. I would like to train to become a plumber. But we have learnt that plans don’t always work out – and you might need to change them! For now, we are working hard to integrate into English culture and bring our children up to be kind and caring people.
* Names have been changed to protect their idenitiy, and the family’s country of origin was omitted for their safety.