This week, we’d like to help a family of 4, who are all living in one room.

The mum, Sajee, was tortured in her home country and sought asylum in the UK with her family. She has 2 children, aged 3 and 7, and she is 5 months pregnant. She also has PTSD.

They were staying with someone they knew, who then moved, so they were left homeless and have now been housed temporarily in a small hotel room.

Living in one room would be hard at the best of times, but lockdown has made it even worse. The hotel provides basic meals, and the family has £40 a week left to live on (they aren’t allowed to work yet). After they buy extra food for the children, there isn't much left. 

The 7 year old boy is classed as vulnerable, so is allowed to go to school during lockdown. But he hasn’t been attending. The school's family support worker got in touch with the family to find out why, and discovered it was because they couldn't afford the bus fare. For 1 child and 1 adult it is £28 a week – which would have left them with just £12.

With your help, we’d love to make this time easier for the whole family. We’d like to raise funds to buy them bus passes so the little boy can go to school, provide school shoes, a backpack and all the other school supplies he needs, buy grocery vouchers so they can supplement the meals they’re given with more fruit and vegetables, provide more clothing, as well as some toys and crafts to keep the youngest child entertained.

Any funds we raise above what is needed for these things will be used to help the family buy things for their new baby, and any furniture or white goods they need when they move into more permanent accommodation.

Above all, we want to let them know they aren’t alone.