Skybow.
No one will know.
Skybow is an anonymous, privacy-first online resource for LGBTQ+ people from Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus who are settling in the UK. It covers asylum on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, sexual and mental health, legal aid, and crisis resources — in five community languages.
Why a separate domain
Privacy is the product. For LGBTQ+ users from Central Asia, Eastern Europe or the Caucasus, having "startnewlife.uk" in their browser history can be safe. Having "skybow.org" — distinct, low-profile, deliberately not branded as an LGBTQ+ site at first glance — protects the user from outing in shared device or family contexts. Skybow is intentionally hosted on its own domain for this reason.
What Skybow covers
- Asylum on SOGI grounds — what the Home Office actually looks for, the substantive interview, evidence gathering, working with specialist solicitors
- Sexual health — STI testing (SH.UK / SHL.UK), PrEP access, HIV care, NHS sexual health clinics
- Mental health — accessing UK NHS mental health services, MindOut, Switchboard, community-language counselling
- Legal aid — finding an immigration lawyer with Legal Aid eligibility, working with Rainbow Migration
- Crisis resources — domestic violence, hate crime reporting, emergency housing
Languages
English, Russian, Ukrainian, Uzbek, Tajik.
How it relates to the rest of Mendee
Skybow is run by Mendee CIC, the same legal entity behind StartNewLife and SiBot. Where general UK refugee information lives on StartNewLife, the LGBTQ+-specific content has its own home on Skybow for safety reasons described above.
For partners
Run an LGBTQ+ programme? Let's connect.
We work with Rainbow Migration, refugee health charities, and community-language counsellors. If you're working in this space and want to share resources or refer cases, please write.