I left my country because I am persecuted by the government and by my society. I thought the government here [in the UK] would give me refugee status to stay here because I was persecuted in my country. But unfortunately, I found out things here are much more difficult than I imagined.
My asylum claim was refused and I became destitute and homeless. I was very depressed and I was very hopeless. I moved from friend’s sofa to friend’s floor to the streets. It was very, very, very tough because I lost the government support. And because I'm homeless and destitute I don't have any financial support. I don't have any accommodation. And the life for me was hell.
You feel like a prisoner in a big prison. You can’t travel, you don’t have the right to work, to get benefit you don’t have the right to get accommodation. At that time I was stressed, depressed. I lost trust in people. I lost trust in God. I was very pessimistic about the future. But now everything has has changed. Yes, my life now has changed completely.
Boaz is like a rescue boat for many people. Boaz encouraged me. They try their best to give me everything I want to help me with everything financially and also they gave me accommodation and also even, emotionally. Always they encouraged me and they took me to events, they took me cinema, they took me to the theatre and they took me to the museum and yes, they have done excellent things for me.
They helped me to submit my fresh claim. They also spoke to me about bringing new documents to support my claim. And they referred me to solicitors to help me in arranging my claim. Yes, that helped me because, you know at that time I didn't know the procedures on how to submit a fresh claim. You have to bring new evidence, new documents to support your claim and for the first interview, I didn't take any supporting documents. That is why they reject my first claim. But for the fresh claim, I took the evidence. I took documents and letters from many people and that supported my claim. And my claim was, my fresh claim was successful.
My life now is beautiful. Yeah, I am settled. I got a job and everything now is going in the right direction and I'm very optimistic about the future of myself and my family also. When I compare my life in the past with my life now, sometimes for me, it's something unbelievable. I can't believe it. I can't believe this big shift. This is a big change in my life. Now I'm very happy, very optimistic. I have got a job, I am the Assistant Manager at my work. And now my life is going in the right direction.
When you give your money to Boaz that means you give life to other people, that means you give hope to other people, that means you save lives, that means you encourage people and that means you save people from going in a bad direction.
I think Boaz is more than accommodation or food. Boaz is like a paradise for people like me, and other people who are homeless and destitute. It is about giving people hope. It makes people believe in humanity. They have given me trust in people. So I think it is very important, very, very important to support Boaz and to give generously to Boaz.
*Name changed
Due to complex and chaotic changes to asylum policy, thousands more people like Noah* are facing the real prospect of homelessness this winter.
The Boaz Trust is one of the very few charities in the North West providing the accommodation and one-to-one support that research shows is absolutely vital for helping people to rebuild their lives.
We urgently need your help to ensure we can keep our doors open to people who otherwise will be alone and sleeping rough.