Nicole Smith captures the hardships immigrants face when they come to the UK

Nicole Smith is 20 years old currently studying medical science this; is her story: she fled from Zimbabwe four years ago on her own when she was only 16. She left in such a rush because her circumstances in Zimbabwe were not ideal.

“It was a hard journey I was very young I grabbed one bag that’s how much of a rush I was in and I headed into the South African border ”

She spent about 2-3 months in Ireland because they could not locate her mother she was placed in the care of social services.

"The hardest thing about coming to the UK is the adjustment, when I arrived I arrived in Ireland I spent 2-3 months there before they contacted my mum."

"I was around people I didn’t know it was my first time in a third world country. It was very overwhelming, but it was better than being back home.”

Although it has been four years since Nicole left Zimbabwe, she stills feels very connected to the culture.

"One thing I miss about Zimbabwe is the environment people are happier and more welcoming."

"I have a lot of friends from Zimbabwe that I met when I came here, and I have reconnected with a lot of childhood friends as well. I also made a lot of Zimbabwe friends at university."

"The only thing that I miss is my older brother and friends."

"Her connection with her faith and counselling helped her through difficult times."

"When I first came to the UK I didn’t seek as much help as I should have and eventually my emotions were bottled up so I did go through counselling and prayer helped me a lot.”

"My advice to others would be to stay positive even though it's hard from the begging I felt like there was better out there and I know there is better out there for you too."