MARY & AMIRA
Mary works for a North London charity that supports isolated parents, and is strongly sympathetic to the needs of vulnerable people in the city.
When we introduced her to Amira, she showed her round the neighbourhood shops selling the food Amira missed from home. She took her to enrol in the local library and drove her round the sights of central London she hadn't seen in four years here.
Knowing she loved gardening, Mary also pointed Amira to a community project she was then able to visit on her own. During lockdown Mary dropped off food regularly for Amira and her son, and the two stayed in regular touch over video calls.
MARY on AMIRA:
Amira is hugely grateful but she is an amazing woman. It’s a weird mixture with befriending – the people you meet can appear extremely vulnerable and potentially over-dependent, but they are probably stronger than all of us.
AMIRA on MARY:
I want to say thank you. I was alone and I didn’t know what happened to make Mary came into my life at such a difficult time. I want to tell you: I can’t believe some people can help so much here. When I speak to my family, I say Mary is my best friend.