Learning to Write Letters to Parliament Taught Me That My Voice Matters By Imee
I joined VODW's classes wanting to learn more and, just as importantly, to be with my fellow domestic workers, a reminder that community was as much a draw for me as the curriculum itself. Over a year and a half in ESOL, IT, Mediacom, Body Mind and Wellness, and Financial Literacy, I found both in generous measure, arriving each week nervous, excited, happy, and curious, buoyed by a simple, steady belief that there is no age limit on learning.
My lessons ranged widely and meaningfully. In Financial Literacy, I learned to manage my earnings and understood, perhaps for the first time, just how important an emergency savings fund can be. In IT, I picked up tools like Google Docs and Maps that make daily life easier to navigate. Mediacom introduced me to Canva and the pleasure of creative design. But it was ESOL that gave me something particularly striking, the skill of writing letters to MPs and Peers, a direct and powerful tool for making my voice heard in the halls where decisions about my life and rights are made.
During my sessions, I felt reconnected with myself, watched my stress ease, built confidence, grew more resilient, and felt a genuine sense of belonging. That growing confidence became, for me, the belief that I could do it, whatever it happened to be. Recognition and an award followed, along with a graduation day that left me feeling happy and proud of myself.
My thanks to everyone who made these classes possible are sincere and generous, an expression of gratitude for the opportunity itself. Looking ahead, I hope to gain more skills, and to keep showing up with attentiveness and punctuality, small disciplines that reflect a deep respect for the opportunity I have been given.
The letter writing skills I learned point directly to the heart of what VODW's advocacy work is about. Knowing how to write to an MP or a Peer means knowing how to participate in the very system that decides whether campaigns like the right to change employer without restriction, the right to renew the ODW visa, the right to settlement, and the right to British citizenship become law. My story shows that VODW's classes do more than build individual confidence, they equip domestic workers like me with the literal tools to raise our voices where it counts most.
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