I came to London I came to London

Meet Stella.  She came to London in 1977 from Buenos Aires.  Born and raised in Montevideo she lived there until she was 17 whenupon she fled for Argentina.  Growing up she experienced the consequences of huge economic instability in Uruguay and was subsequently chased out of her home escaping dictatorships.  3 years later her and her husband registered as refugees with the UN in Buenos Aires and when they saw their names on a list titled 'UK', they booked one way tickets to London on British Caledonia.  Within 2 months of arriving, Stella gave birth to her first baby, her post natal depression compounded by the effects of migration and familial seperation.  47 years later she is retired and a great grandmother.  You can hear Stella talk about continuing the grand Italian traditions of her childhood,  her joy in connecting with shy Londoners and her love of Portobello Market and Crystal Palace park.  Just don't make any mention of Fray Bentos.

Meet Drukthar.  He came to London in 2017 from Dharamshala.  Born in the tiny village of Ngawa, in Tibet,  his parents made the decision to move the family to India while their children were still very young.  Aged 6 he travelled overland on foot for 18 days into Nepal with his mother and siblings, with little belongings and very little food along the way.  Growing up, Drukthar wanted to exploit the best education India had to offer and continued in that vein when he had the chance to do a Masters in the UK.  These days he both studies and teaches in London and you can hear Drukthar talk about his combined love of International Relations and Manchester United.  You can also listen to Drukthar explain how living in London provides him with the best opportunity to advocate for the rights of Tibet and Tibetans everywhere.

Meet Natalia.  She came to London in 2022 from Ukraine.  She was born and brought up in Nikopol', a historic town built on fantastic reserves of minerals, in the South of Ukraine.  She had been living and working in Dnipro with her husband and teenage daughter when Russia invaded.  On the 4th day of the invasion,  she and her husband made the decision to split the family up,  with Natalia and her daughter travelling to Lviv, a town in the West of the country.   When the UK Government announced the Homes for Ukraine scheme they secured a place to stay in London and took an evacuation bus to Chelm, on the Polish border.  From there they travelled almost three days across Western Europe to France.  Their journey took a different route from other refugees as the family dog Mira was accompanying them.  Listen to Natalia talk about the challenges of trying to settle in the UK on a temporary visa,  what she thinks of the British obsession with fish and chips and what London is offering her incredibly academic daughter at a crucial stage in her high school development. 

Meet Esha.  She came to London in 2023 from Nougram,  a small village outside Jhelum.  She entered London on a fiancée visa and went to Nottingham three days later to meet the man who paid her family in Pakistan the equivalent of £4000 to bring her here, with a view to marrying her.  Relations with him quickly soured and she sought help in Nottingham with local forced marriage groups who facilitated her departure back to London.  A self confessed Anglophile, she had long been interested in Western Culture and thought a new life in the UK would be the answer to her problems at home.  But Esha's positive philosophy is helping her adjust to a different set of circumstances from the ones she dreamed of.  Now she is in London awaiting the outcome of an asylum application and hoping to start a new life in the UK.

Meet Larnie.  She came to London in 2011 from Weymouth.  Born on a British Army base in Northern Ireland, she grew up in various locations around the UK before her parents decided on settling in a classic British seaside town.  Wanting to act, she came up to the Capital as a teenager to fulfill what she thought was her dream.  It took less than a year for her to realise she had a different passion and she found herself back on the South Coast, navigating a way to turn her newfound love of raving into a profession.  Hear her talk about the pros and cons of growing up by the sea, life as a music producer and Drum and Bass DJ and the one thing she really misses about Weymouth.  You can also hear about her biggest bugbear; London's cost of living.  But there are still (some) ways to do this city on a tight budget; Larnie can give you the lowdown. 

Meet Bahadur.  He came to London in 2003 from Kabul.  A broadcast journalist on the front line in Afghanistan, he made the decision to leave after some of his colleagues 'disappeared', when the Government of the time took issue with their reportage.  Listen to him describe the way in which constant war led to huge expansion in Kabul, how some Taliban policies have led to real pain for the population and how much he misses homegrown Afghan produce and food.  A Black Cab driver here in London, he likes his job but being a father and grandfather, there's one associated element that causes him constant anxiety; the task of shepherding inebriated young Londoners.