What is it like to live with no right to work, no home and no right to any of the social benefits British citizens take for granted?
That is what I’m trying to find out at the moment and – to make it more challenging – I’m searching for a way to show it visually.

As a journalist who likes to cover the kinds of stories that the mainstream media and media-consuming public are less inclined to bother with, I have written about the UK asylum system numerous times before.
Both in magazines and here and here on this blog, I’ve told the stories of some of those unfortunates who have slipped through the broken system and found themselves destitute – with no right to be in the country yet still very much here, with no support.

This is a subject I am deeply committed to as both a journalist and as a citizen. I am disgusted by the fact that my government is effectively turning traumatised individuals out on the street and leaving them at the mercy of whatever befalls them.
Some are forced into the illegal labour market, women can find themselves pushed into sex work and it’s only through the generosity of friends, religious groups and charities that they manage to get by day to day.
This is not – I repeat NOT – an issue of economic migration. These are people seeking sanctuary here because of problems in their homelands, and hoping to gain refugee status.

Anyway, in my quest to find out more about what life is like out there on the margins, I’m spending time with an African lady who is destitute in Manchester. Last week I went with her to the reporting centre where she has to check in once a week….she has to take two buses to get there despite having no legal form of income. And I went with her to pick up her £10 emergency food voucher from an independent charity. This must last a week…it is not a lot of money…and it can only be spent in one shop. After a year, even this is cut off.
The charity also ran a small cooking session for some of the users. It was over-subscribed because they got to eat the food afterwards…the only chance they get to eat decent food and vegetables all week.

My intention is to follow her over the coming months, to photograph her life and to interview her about what life is like. It’s a sensitive subject and she is being very generous and open sharing her experiences with me – something I am immensely grateful for.