When we arrived here we were housed in temporary accommodation for around a year. It was difficult because, although the manager was very kind, my two-year-old daughter and I lived in just one bedroom and shared a bathroom and a kitchen with the other people who lived there.
I worked in management at a bank before and I have business qualifications. I wanted to work again… plus I had a child to look after, so I searched the internet to find a free English course as the first step to improving my knowledge. I found a course by the charity Welcome to the UK that taught basic English and introduced you to living in the UK and I was happy once the course started as I like learning new things.
I knew no English at all, and I knew that I had to learn quickly but then, a couple of weeks into the course, COVID happened. The course shut down and my daughter and I were stuck in that one room. We couldn’t go anywhere. We didn’t have a television. It was very hard to live. However, once COVID finished, I went back, and, around the same time, I met the LifeSkills people.
The people running the Welcome to the UK classes told me that I should attend LifeSkills with Family Action to improve my English and complete several courses to help improve my confidence.
The people running the Welcome to the UK classes told me that I should attend LifeSkills with Family Action to improve my English and complete several courses to help improve my confidence.
I was very shy at the time, and I hesitated to speak English, as I was worried about saying the wrong words… I thought people would laugh. It’s hard learning English because of the silent letters…. I don’t understand them at all, but the LifeSkills staff understood what I was saying and what I wanted to say.
I made friends with them, as they were very friendly, and when I asked them for support with something they always tried to find different ways to help me. For example, they helped me get funding to register for GCSE English and accounting courses and pay for my exams and travel. When I can speak better English and finish my accounting course I hope I can work again.
I have four or five friends who I met through my daughter’s school and through LifeSkills, and those friends are all from different countries too, and it’s nice that they’re in the same situation. I’m more confident speaking to them than I am speaking to English people.
My daughter is also doing great in school and I’m very happy with her. When she came here she couldn’t speak English, but she learnt very quickly… She wants to speak English all the time. I like England. I like it… but not everything. There are little bits I don’t like. Back home summer is summer, and winter is winter… but here it’s always raining and this summer it wasn’t summer – we didn’t see the sun!
If anyone reading this wonders if LifeSkills is for them then don’t wait – please go there… You’ll be happier. I’m very glad to have met them and happy they understood me. Now I feel positive about the future.
If anyone reading this wonders if LifeSkills is for them then don’t wait – please go there… You’ll be happier. I’m very glad to have met them and happy they understood me. Now I feel positive about the future.
Before I came here, I didn’t imagine that I would live in this situation, and I would have the problems I have. I sometimes I felt like I wanted to give up and go back… but I can’t go back. Everything felt very deep and overwhelming before, and now I can just be average. I’m getting better every day and I can picture a better life.
Find out more about Family Action and Barclays’ partnership here:
