This Christmas, I’m hoping to raise some money for Mikail — a lovely man who sells The Big Issue outside Fulham Broadway. When shared his story with me, it once again reminded me just how fortunate most of us are, and how easily life can change.

Mikail is 33 and grew up in Italy. Until seven years ago, his life looked like many other people's: he worked in construction, was married, and had a 3-year old son, also named Mikail. One day, on his way home from work, his world quite literally changed. A drunk driver crashed into him, leaving Mikail with life-changing injuries and permanent pain. The driver was never prosecuted, and Mikail received no compensation. Overnight, he lost his health and his ability to work.

Today, he can barely walk, and a spinal cord injury causes uncontrollable shaking. The medication he receives through the NHS helps manage the pain but doesn’t treat the root issue, meaning his condition is slowly getting worse.

Within months, he lost even more. His wife left him and their son, and with no income and no way to pay rent, Mikail had to make an impossible decision: he sent his son to live with his grandmother in Moldova, where he would at least have food, schooling, and a stable home. His grandmother is now 84 and still caring for him.

Mikail came to the UK in the hope to rebuild his life. He doesn’t qualify for most benefits due to his pre-settled status, so he earns what he can by selling The Big Issue. He lives in a shared house 15 miles outside of London with twelve other people and sends almost everything he earns back to Moldova to support his son and grandmother. It’s the only way he can make sure his son is safe, fed, and able to attend school. Mikail sees him just once a year, and only when he can afford the flight.

Five years ago, the house Mikail’s grandmother built more than two decades ago burned down. They rebuilt it with whatever they had — but it still has no electricity and no heating. That means Mikail’s son has no access to the basics he needs to study or even do his homework once it gets dark.

I know all of you are good people and have big hearts. And I also know how easy it is to miss what’s happening around us. Life is busy, we rush from A to B, and our own problems often feel all-consuming. But the truth is that there is a lot of suffering around us that we simply don’t see.

We’re conditioned to be cautious, to look away, to assume someone else will step in, or to believe that the small gestures we can offer won’t make any real difference. And while parts of that may be true, the bigger truth is this: helping someone who genuinely can’t help themselves is one of the most meaningful things we can do — and it goes so much further than you think.

We are incredibly fortunate even if it doesn't always feel that way. And if we have the chance to make someone else’s life even a little bit easier, it feels like the right thing to do.

If you are able to donate — even £5 — it would mean more than you know. Every contribution goes directly toward helping Mikail and his family get through winter and giving him a bit of breathing room after years of hardship.

Whether you donate or not, I hope Mikail’s story serves as a reminder that so many people around us are quietly carrying more than we’ll ever realise — and how much difference a small act of community can make.