Our Impact
We're delighted to share our latest impact report.
Highlights include:
- £72,000 contested allowances and fees recovered for our advice clients
- 69% of mentees said they felt more confident.
- 34 women in our English class felt more confident talking to their GP or child's school.
If you would like to find out more about this report or would like to support our work, please get in touch.
Email - mail@salusburyworld.org.uk
Jane's story
"I was in a bad situation...Without you, I would not know what to do."
Jane* met Salusbury World after a recommendation from a Family Wellbeing Centre. She joined our Women’s Project, hoping to improve her English and to make friends. She had been sofa-surfing with her son for several months, and was barely managing, despite working two cleaning jobs.
As Jane began to trust our English teacher, she started to talk about the domestic abuse she was suffering. She was unaware that she had any rights, did not understand her immigration status and was reluctant to “make problems”.
Our advice worker, Nicky, helped Jane understand her rights and advocated for her. With our support, Jane applied for Universal Credit, housing, Child Benefit and challenged a tax penalty.
Jane’s 15-year-old son was struggling at school; he did not speak English and had little academic support. Nicky referred him to Salusbury World’s mentoring scheme, and he began weekly mentoring sessions
Jane and her son then became street homeless. She did not know where to turn and was very distressed. We advised her and, with our help, she took her case to housing officials at Brent Civic Centre. Her claim was initially refused because her immigration status and rights were not recognised but together we provided evidence and secured her entitlement.
During this time, Jane’s ex-husband made threats to kill her and her son; criminal proceedings in relation to attempts to traffic her into sex work are ongoing. Inevitably, Jane’s health has suffered as a result of the stress but she tells us that it is improving – she and her son are living in new accommodation away from her ex-husband and near her son’s school. We have been able to provide them with a laptop and furniture donations, as well as food bank referrals. Both feel more settled: Jane’s English has improved, and she has formed close friendships with two women in the Women’s Project; her son feels more confident at school and is making good progress. One day Jane wants to find work empowering women, perhaps running a refuge.
Sajeda's story
"She's helped me so much."
“School in London was very hard at the beginning. I didn't speak much English and I was bullied and laughed at by the other children. When I was in year 10, Salusbury World found me a mentor. She's so kind and she still comes every week to help me with my homework. She works through problems with me and doesn’t just give me the answer. She's helped me so much - I used to be afraid of speaking up in class but she encouraged me to ask and answer questions. She gives me confidence and now I'm in Year 11, I'm in higher sets. My mentor says, "everything is going to be fine".
In the holidays, I have volunteered with the little children and also been kayaking and horse-riding. It was so fun! Salusbury World helped me to make new friends. If I hadn’t come, I would have had to stay at home, and it would be so boring.”
