Lola is a mother of 3 who lost her job during the pandemic.
She has spent her days looking for work while trying to balance home-learning, amongst worries of getting food on the table and keeping up with bills. She has no recourse to public funds, so cannot access any benefits, and after losing her job it has been a struggle for her and her family. She does not have family support around her and called Boloh saying she was unhappy.
She wanted her children to have a better education and was worried about their access to online learning. During lockdown the children shared Lola’s mobile phone between them to do their work online. This was made more difficult as the family did not have access to wifi and would use mobile data which wasn’t always working. Lola felt sad because she thought there was nothing she could do.
After calling Boloh, we were able to support Lola and her children with a food voucher which she said came at a time when she really needed it:
“This voucher really goes a long way for the children and I. It’s really solved a lot of problems for us because just 2 days ago, our kettle stopped working and I'm happy to say we both went out to the big Tesco in Romford to buy a lot of things that we need for our daily use.
I don't know what else to say than to thank you and say we appreciate this gift. I lost my job 2 months ago and looking for another one and this voucher really did a lot for me and my children.
The helpline later provided Lola with a voucher to access items via a foodbank, as the family were still in need and she even returned some items that she thought other people would need and appreciate more than her. To support in their online learning, her children were given a tablet and a dongle, so they can have better access to online education.
I’m so happy and so grateful to your charity, all the help they gave me is really important to me, it’s really changed a lot.
This was only made possible by the donation received from Vodaphone. Lola shared that there are less worries for them now and that she is glad she called to ask for help. Lola is still looking for a job but she now feels more hopeful, as she has someone willing to listen and support her.