Hanna is a care worker living in South London with her son. She currently has no recourse to public funds (NRPF), which means she can’t access much-needed government support like Universal Credit, parts of the NHS, or Free School Meals for her son. Life has been a lot harder in lockdown. She writes here about how NRPF has affected her during the Covid-19 crisis and how she’s encouraged by Boris Johnson’s recent comments on protecting migrants. 

When lockdown started, I wasn’t able to work. I’m a care worker, but also look after my asthmatic young son and we are having to live in temporary accommodation. Families living with us were worried about me bringing Covid-19 back and I needed to care for my son. 

I’m back at work now, but am on a zero hours contract. I’ve had to use up all of my savings to care for myself and my son in this crisis, and don’t know when I’ll be called into work again.

It hasn’t been easy and because I have no recourse to public funds, I have had no support.