Whole Education

Fahran was a bright, outgoing child in Year Six but he began to lose concentration in class and became withdrawn.

Fahran's teacher referred him to Marrie, the SHS practitioner in school. Through a one to one session, Marrie learnt that Fahran was being bullied because of his worn out uniform. It was then that Marrie asked his father, Delbar, to meet for a chat.

Marrie had worked with a friend of Fahran’s father, helping him back into employment and, because of their trusting relationship, he encouraged Delbar to meet her. Delbar was very nervous at the meeting, couldn’t communicate with Marrie directly as he only speaks Afghani and didn’t want an interpreter to come to the meeting, saying it was too private. It was agreed that there would be just Marrie, Fahran and Delba present and that Fahran could translate for his dad.

Marrie asked Fahran how everything was going at home; Fahran told her tearfully how the family of four had moved into the only available property they could find, a one-bedroom flat which was poorly decorated and infested with rats.

The landlord would let himself in, making daily, aggressive eviction threats because they were struggling to pay rent. Afraid of his family becoming homeless, Delbar had got into huge arrears, could no longer afford a school uniform and started borrowing money from a high interest money lender.

Marrie arranged new uniform for Fahran through the Welfare Fund. He became much happier at school, which helped Delbar to trust Marrie. He came to a meeting with the council, so Marrie could arrange supported housing for the family, and free school meals which no one had told the family they were entitled to. SHS has helped them access ongoing support through providing for them using the Welfare Fund and Marrie has supported Delbar through the forms he has had to complete and meetings he’s had to attend to access further support.

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