Ayana had fled to the UK in fear of her life and was forced to leave her husband and small children behind to keep them safe. After many months she was granted refugee status and applied for family reunion visas for her husband and children. They were granted a 30 day entry visa and did not know how they would find money and arrange the flights in this time. Ayana contacted another agency in their area who got in touch with us.
We took the case and booked flights for the week after. It was difficult to get a direct flight to Ayana’s home city but we found an option that got them into the UK on the first leg. Unfortunately the father found it difficult to make the connecting flight without having much English and they were left at Gatwick. With three children under ten who’d been awake all night he struggled to get in touch for help.
An airport worker called our emergency number and was able to let us reassure the father. Going well above and beyond her role she took care of the family whilst we were able to find someone to interpret. A family friend stepped in and was able to provide further reassurance to the family. In the meantime we arranged for a taxi to drive them up to the North of England where the mother was waiting. The airport worker escorted them to the taxi. We paid the taxi company extra money so they could pass some cash to the father for food for himself and the children.
Ayana was reunited with her husband and children only an hour later than originally planned.
We stayed in touch with Ayana’s family friend providing updates as they travelled. They’d not managed to collect their luggage and over the next week we called the baggage reclaim at several airports on their behalf to locate the cases, file a lost baggage claim and get their luggage returned to them.
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