Nadia's story
There was a moment when, having just arrived in Hersham from Hertfordshire, Nadia wasn’t sure where her next meal was coming from.
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Following her flight from Saudi Arabia, the 25-year-old had just spent seven months living in a single hotel room in Stevenage and had finally found a host in Elmbridge. However, the host’s work meant there was very little to eat in the house and also, Nadia had mislaid her Home Office Application Registration Card which would have allowed her to claim
£9 per week. Add to this that she wasn’t permitted to ask her host for cash (although the host did make a few good suggestions) and Nadia was getting desperate.
Someone then suggested contacting Elmbridge CAN.​ Nadia emailed the charity pleading “I don’t have food, please help me”. “I was freaking out, I didn’t know what to do”, she says.
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It was at that point that Elmbridge CAN came into Nadia’s life. The next day Jeannie emailed stating that she’d very soon receive a large food box plus a £50 Tesco gift card.
“Elmbridge CAN saved me” recalls Nadia. “It’s like when you are so terribly anxious and then suddenly everything gets better. I was showered with kindness. I cannot thank them enough.”
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There were more food boxes to follow. Another huge box turned up filled with vegetables, pasta and what Nadia calls “general goodness”.
More recently Jeannie has been helping Nadia with her Home Office application. As an asylum seeker, Nadia is unable to work, yet she is offering her time free with local hospitality outlets in order to get experience while she is also studying in order to gain qualifications to move on to the next stage in her life.
“I just felt Elmbridge CAN had my back” says Nadia.
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The new-found support meant that Nadia could plan her next move following her escape from the ultra-strict Middle Eastern country.