B got in touch with Riverside because she needed to find somewhere to live having left her partner because of domestic violence. Here are her words:
“It (coming to Riverside) helps me relax. It’s very important for me to have that. For a person who’s feeling low it counts very, very much. Before coming to Riverside my life was very bad. I came here and learnt a lot and feel very confident now. In the future things will be good. I am very positive about that. I feel proud of myself because I didn’t stay down. I got up and feel stronger. I came to Riverside at the right time, just when I needed the support. People from this building are not fake.
Here, when you speak to people you feel they are listening to you. I was living in this area and I heard people talking about Riverside. At first, I came with an issue about my house, and they helped me find somewhere to live. After that I came a lot, sometimes to enjoy the courses. I had a chance to work as a volunteer, which was very good experience. It helped me learn a lot of English. After that I came to the women’s group and the conversation class. I came to the IT course and learnt how to use a laptop. In July I found a job. I’m happy to have work because it’s very important for me to earn money. It’s not the job I really want to do, so I keep in contact with Riverside because my English needs to improve.
When you live here, you need to learn. You don’t want people to see that you don’t understand what they’re saying. I like people to help me, and I like much more to help myself. The connection with Riverside is difficult sometimes because of my work rota. At the moment I’m still coming for the women’s group.
I hope to find a job working with people. I am very sure I have the ability to support people because I have a lot of life experience. Now I am very confident and I am not afraid. If I don’t know something I can ask. I know where to go to get information. I can do everything myself now. Sometimes I ring Riverside to get information, then I follow it up myself.
Some people go through life like in a tunnel, and it’s very hard to get out of it. For me, I came here because I wanted to change something.”
