When my husband was detained on Boxing Day, BID brought him home.
Donations to BID doubled 2nd to 9th December. Families like ours need your support.
I’m sharing our story because BID gave our family hope when we had none, and I know other families need that hope too.
This week, donations to BID are being doubled, which means your support can go even further to help families like mine. You can donate here.
It was coming up to Christmas. The kids were expecting their dad home from prison. We were counting down, excited he was going to be back home at Christmas time, and we’d be able to do the holidays together.
Our lives were turned upside down when my husband was taken to Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre on Boxing Day. At that point, I had absolutely no hope. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn.
Somebody at Yarl’s Wood told my husband about BID. I quickly contacted them. Honestly, I cannot put into words how effective BID were, and how much they cared.
Without any stigma, without any stereotype, without any kind of judgment, they did what they felt was right, which was to reunite the family.
All the support they provided was free and they didn't leave any stone unturned. I work full time in a school so BID even arranged a remote hearing for us, so I didn’t have to travel six hours there and back and wait all day. The barrister they provided was an expert in this field, and my husband was eventually released.
He was home a year, and then they took him again when he went to report.
The damage that that did to the children was horrific. They were waiting for Dad to pick them up, and he didn't turn up because he'd been detained. For months, they lived with anxiety looking out the window, asking, “Where’s Daddy gone?”
If he had had a British passport, he wouldn’t have been facing deportation or detention. He would have been released and accepted as rehabilitated into the community.
There were moments when we feared he might take his own life if he was deported. With all that hanging over your head, with the rhetoric in the media as it is, your family being separated, your mental health, your finances, how the children were coping, my own mood and anxiety and how that was passing on to them, it was just too much.
Again, BID was right there and took over. It was utter sheer relief when he walked through the door, particularly the second time around as I had no idea he was being released, and he'd got a train up.
My daughter said, “Mum, you screamed and it was so exciting. It was so exciting to see dad.” So yeah, obviously, you just hope to God that it doesn't happen to them again because the third time would be extremely cruel.
I will never forget the compassion the BID team showed. It was like they were fighting for a member of their own family. They changed my children’s lives. They changed our lives.
Having someone you love detained is utterly life changing. BID brought Dad home, and for the past two years we’ve had precious memories as a family: the girls putting nail varnish on Dad’s hands, doing his makeup, and putting pegs in his hair. You can't put into words how important that is.
Right now, donations to BID are being doubled. For one week only, every pound you donate will go twice as far to help BID reunite more families like ours.
