Rachel
Rachel is a 53 year old single mother, who has accrued almost £10,000 of debts. Much of her benefits go towards large repayment rates set by her creditors. She lives with her teenage daughter and struggles to purchase basic necessities.
Rachel has been relying on occasional handouts of food from Church and as she is diabetic, it is even more important for her to ensure that she is eating properly. Rachel received a Ramadan Food Parcel from Al-Mizan Charitable Trust, ensuring that she and her daughter are ...
Dena
Dena is a 47 year old asylum seeker from Ethopia. She has been waiting for her asylum application to be resolved for over 10 years and continues to live alone, with no family and no support, and with little chance of rebuilding her life.
She has a chronic health condition and has been in intensive care on two occasions over the last year. She recently suffered secondary meningitis which has affected her cognitive functioning and her vision in her right eye. She now has severe memory problems and has also been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result o ...
Jake
Jake grew up in the London Borough of Hackney, the youngest of 6 children. Whilst his siblings are married, his elderly parents struggled to bring him up as he was truanting regularly from school and became involved in drugs and gang-related violence. Having failed his GCSE exams last year, a youth worker encouraged him to take on an apprenticeship at a local company learning administrative and business skills. Since then he has been motivated to repeat his GCSEs in English and Maths so that he can go to college and continue his studies. The Trust awarded him with an int ...
Layla
Twenty-four year old Layla is a refugee from war-torn Congo, where she was raped by a militia group at the age of 15 years. She fled her home country, with her grandmother, after her family were killed. Settled in the UK, she married a few years ago, but her husband was violent towards her. After becoming pregnant, she fled her husband's home, afraid that her husband's regular beatings would harm her unborn child. She now lives in a hostel, sharing a room with a crack addict. Layla works 25 hours a week on minimum wage as a cleaner, earning just £152 per week (gross), s ...
Hadil
Originally born in Sudan, Hadil grew up in an inner-city area of London, plagued by drug dealing and gang-related violence. Whilst in prison, he converted to Islam. He now lives in a hostel near Brick Lane and is trying to get his life back on track. He volunteers as a youth-worker, and is shortly to complete a painting and decorating course at college. Hadil is struggling to pay his rent and often does not eat for 2 or 3 days. The Job Centre cut off his benefits 6 weeks ago because of a processing error, and he was expecting to receive a lump sum this week to pay off hi ...
Leo
Seven years ago, Leo was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Since his mum doesn't feel she can cope with him at home, he was recently granted single tenancy in an unfurnished flat. His Support Worker applied to the Trust on his behalf for £150 to buy bedding and a mattress.
Sarah
After her husband left her, Sarah was determined to give her two children the opportunities she never had as a child. She works from home running her friend's online business, which allows her to continue to care for her children. Working on minimum wage, and usually less, life is hard, but Sarah is frugal and cheerful in the face of hardship. She applied to the Trust for an interest-free loan of £450 to undertake a professional book-keeping course at college so that she can improve her job prospects and provide for her children.
Rizwan
Earlier this year, Rizwan's family were shocked by the death of the main-breadwinner in the family. His father suffered a heart attack at the age of 52 years, leaving behind a widow and four orphaned children. After the initial shock, the family found themselves in financial turmoil, having never had to worry about the household finances before. Rizwan, who is 14 years old, has found this particularly difficult as he is autistic and had a very special relationship with his father, who loved him dearly. As part of Rizwan's School Review, his Social Worker recommended tha ...
Sugrabai
After her husband's stroke a few years ago, Sugrabai, who is 66 years old, cares for him full-time. He is incontinent and cannot walk independently. Although Sugrabai cares for all his personal needs, and takes charge of all the household chores, he can be very abusive towards her, and sometimes violent. Since her washing machine broke down a few months ago, she washes all his clothes by hand, despite having severe back problems. She has become very weak and extremely depressed. A local charity applied to the Trust on her behalf for £200 to buy a washing machine.
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Natalie
Natalie is a single mother who was divorced after 12 years of marriage to an alcoholic, who beat her regularly. Now with three daughters aged 3, 6 and 8, she struggles to be a good mother, working 20 hours a week in a local nursery.
Her eldest daughter, Shakira, has been offered a place at a leading sports academy but her mother cannot afford the expensive sportswear and equipment that she requires to fulfil her dream of being a tennis player. The Trust offered Shakira a grant of £80 to pay for her team uniform.
Asad
Asad is the only child of elderly and disabled parents. His father suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and has not been able to work for the last 15 years; his mother is a full-time carer. From primary school, Asad quite literally brought himself up, and later supported his family dealing drugs on the estate. Following a messy relationship and a short stint in prison, he became involved in a charity where he received counselling and basic skills training in literacy and numeracy. In response to an application submitted by the charity on behalf of Asad, the Trust com ...
