Why you should donate to this charity?

Refugee Education UK is the leading refugee education charity in the UK - this means they support young refugees with getting into schools, settling in class, managing exams and ultimately progressing through to university and beyond. I can’t tell you the number of young people I meet who cling to education because they know it is a key to unlock their future and an environment in which they can be and become themselves. The asylum system is not welcoming to refugees, but education is one forward-looking and hopeful way to navigate it. REUK has also always kept it local - they are deeply embedded in the Harlesden community and are playing their role in the ongoing transformation of that pocket of North West London. I think about charities carefully and have a huge amount of faith in this one’s ability to bring lasting change.

What will the impact be of your donation?

Do you remember your first day at school? Imagine doing it alone and not being able to speak a word of the local language. The donation allows specialist support workers and volunteers to be there for young refugees as they take their first steps in education. It also facilitates the process by which recently arrived young refugees get to that first point - on the right course and in the right place. It produces resources for refugees from all over the world on how to settle here in the UK. It allows the organisation to research the issue and advocate for policy change. It pays for the lived experience programme I coordinate, where young people are invited to reflect on their own experience in order to help others whose situation mirrors theirs. It pays for the mental health support for young refugees when it isn’t going well. It’s a lifeline for the price of a coffee.

Why I am doing a triathlon?

This year my body has changed. I have always loved to move - but this year time has caught up with me. I have dragged my muscles - torn and anxious - through the mud and across the tarmac. My joints are splintered and my lungs are black. This triathlon is one final challenge before I retire to a chair forevermore. I currently have a hamstring injury so haven’t yet been able to start my preparation for this event (which is currently scheduled for June 3rd!). Never has the concept of ‘base-level fitness’ been so thoroughly examined!

Thank you for the support for this important cause - if you’d like to discuss it more please do get in touch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVhtsU5QX-0