Jade Amoli-Jackson is one of sixteen writers whose work has been published in an anthology, ‘From there to here’. The book is the result of a competition run by decibel in association with Penguin, which invited writers to submit short stories about their personal experiences of immigration to the UK.

Not all stories are directly autobiographical, some of the authors wrote about their parents’ experiences for example, but Jade’s is a deeply moving, often harsh account of the circumstances surrounding her own arrival to the UK.

The story is entitled ‘My painful journey’. In her speech at the launch of the book, Kate Mosse, author and one of the panel judges, explained that what had singled out the sixteen short stories was first and foremost the quality of the writing. This, she explained, had made it easier for the judges to pick out the winning entries.

Jade has been volunteering at the Refugee Council for over two years. She said:

“I’ve really enjoyed my time at the Refugee Council. It has helped me in so many ways, learning to use computers and experiencing working in the UK. It is because of this that I was able to write the story that is published in this book.

“It was difficult to write, I cried a lot. I’m glad I wrote it though, I hope it will help other people who went through what I went through.

“I hope to carry on writing – I write poems and short stories, and I hope one day that people will get to read them.”

The book is available in bookshops now, or from the Refugee Council’s online shop.