Mary has been receiving food parcels and nappies from LRN for the last 6 months. Initially from Nigeria, Mary was an orphan, living mainly on the streets, until she was trafficked into the UK at the age of 14 for the purposes of prostitution. Imprisoned by her traffickers, she managed to make her escape during a visit to a clinic and was picked up by a couple who helped her to make an application for asylum. However, Mary’s application was refused, she argued with her hosts and left them, living street-homeless for 2 years until she was referred to LRN. Mary is now staying with an acquaintance close to LRN, sleeping on the floor and struggling to care for her young baby. Although a fresh application is now being made to the Home Office, the process is lengthy, stressful and uncertain; nevertheless, coming to LRN each Wednesday, receiving food and attending the Women’s Group has, in her words, changed her life – ‘I never knew people could be kind, could care for me in this way.’

Nimi, from Sri-Lanka, has been receiving food parcels for well over a year. The victim of government soldiers who broke into her home and raped her in front of her family, Nimi came to the UK alone, leaving her children behind and knowing that her husband had been killed. Nimi made an application for asylum which was refused because in her traumatized state she was unable to speak coherently about her experience in front of a male interpreter and Home Office interviewer. Now living with acquaintances while she attempts to reopen her case, Nimi uses the food parcels to contribute towards her upkeep so that she does not end up on the streets.  She keeps in sporadic contact with her children in Sri-Lanka, and hopes one day to be reunited with them here in the UK.