Hey everyone! If you owe me a coffee, you know what to do ;)

My friend Aiden and I met in Sept 2018 at the university LGBTQ+ society- 6 years ago now! When his course finished in 2020, and as a result of the pandemic, he struggled to find a job that would sponsor his graduate visa over here in the UK. Unfortunately, unable to tackle the massive costs home office asks you to pay, and the many hurdles you have to jump, he had to return to Pakistan. What followed was an incredibly difficult 3 years of his life, effectively having to detransition and shed all queerness in order to survive life there.

Fast forward 3 years later, and he got accepted to do a Masters over here, also securing a graduate visa sponsored job! The difficulty now is in paying the extortionate fees. A breakdown: £820 appointment, and £2,400 NHS subcharge.

Legally it's a grey area and he is not allowed to directly fundraise for himself- but I can! And that's where you come in! A legal loophole in all this is he 'can accept gifts or sponsors of money'. In other words I'm fundraising for myself, and will then gift this to him. All I ask is for a donation that is the price of a coffee, and if 1,000 of you do that, we'll have reached our goal!

I was truly gutted when he had to move back to Pakistan the first time and really wanted to do something about it, but didn't know how to help back then. This time I know how, and want to do everything I can to help him stay here in the UK.

For Aiden, being able to stay here, would help him keep the career and queer life he has built here with his friends and help keep him safe- returning home is not an option and is very scary.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for donating. Please share with friends if you can! All love and joy, Elliot x