I came to the UK in 2014 when war started in East Ukraine. My husband had a job at Barclays and I could join him to live in London. When I talked to people, I found that my story of migration is very different from the public’s understanding of the term.

Though privileged compared to many immigrants, my self-esteem suffered as I struggled to come to terms with the language. I was bewildered by the politeness of the English, I couldn’t understand the gulf between what people said and what they meant. It was an alien world to me, but I loved that world and adapted myself to being a good citizen to my new country.

As I spoke to other immigrants, I discovered that every individual had a different story. So I set out on a journey to find the stories behind immigration to the UK and how these stories can help change negative perception of migration in the UK.

What you first notice are the similarities; the Ukrainians who were woken up at 5 in the morning to be told there was a war on, Mediterranean migrants who find themselves shut out by the physical distance of the English, people from Brazil who are shocked by the darkness of winter, migrants English-speaking countries who often identify themselves as expats rather than migrants.

Over the years I spent researching, the more I learned, the wider the gap seemed between the perception and reality of migration. I wanted to share the diversity of migration stories through relatable stories of people living ordinary lives, shifting the conversation around migration from the sensationalism of the journey, from the racist narrative of small boats and invasion, to the more humanist and universal experience of what it means both to lose a home, and find a home.