'She handed over her house key I couldn't believe her trust in me, a complete stranger

As our final appeal total hits £3.46million we talk to a beneficiary of Refugees at Home a charity we are funding thanks to your amazing support

- DAVID COHEN

When Irfan received his refugee status in the summer of 2023 after 18 months of waiting and being barred from seeking work, he thought the hardest year of his life was finally behind him. The very next day he went for a job interview and got a position working for a security firm. The 24-year-old — who is unable to return safely to his native Pakistan for political reasons — had been a star student in school and was full of hope he could also now pursue his ambition of studying to become an economist.

But a few days later he received the standard notice that he had 28 days to leave his Home Office accommodation and find somewhere else to live. He did not have money to rent privately so he approached the council, but single men are low priority and it said he would have to wait.

When eviction day came, Irfan still had nowhere to go, so he took his backpack and a small suitcase with all his belongings and camped out at Euston station. He would go to work by day and sit on a station bench by night, eating McDonald’s fries for dinner and trying to sleep sitting up. Every day he would call the council, but after 50 nights of sleeping rough, he had lost all patience.

“I spoke to the Citizens Advice Bureau who suggested I try Refugees at Home, an organisation that connects refugees in need with people with a spare room who put you up for free,” said Irfan. “I was in a terrible state — hardly sleeping, hungry, my body shutting down, my emotional state very low. It felt like the end. By the time I called Refugees at Home I was so desperate I didn’t even say hello. I just said, ‘I need your help. Please, please listen to me’.”