StartNewLife.

What StartNewLife covers

The platform is structured around the real questions a refugee asks in their first year in the UK — based on five years of community casework and the GLA-funded research that built SiBot:

• Asylum process — screening interview prep, ARC card, Section 95 housing, substantive interview, refusals and appeals
• NHS healthcare — GP registration with no fixed address, interpreter rights, mental health, women's health, dental and optical
• Housing — Home Office accommodation, post-decision moves, homelessness, private rental basics
• Work and study — work permits, recognised qualifications, ESOL, university routes
• Money and admin — bank accounts without ID, BRP, NINo, Universal Credit eligibility
• LGBTQ+ specific — links to Skybow and Rainbow Migration
• Women's safety — links to She for domestic violence resources

The community

Behind the platform sits a Telegram + WhatsApp community of 2,000+ refugees and asylum seekers, with 253,000+ messages exchanged. Eight refugee volunteers serve as community moderators. Casework support comes from the Mendee team for cases that need human help.

Languages

Content is published in seven languages — chosen to serve refugee communities historically underserved by mainstream UK information: English, Russian, Tajik, Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Ukrainian.

How it's funded

StartNewLife is run by Mendee CIC and is free to use. Funding has come from the Greater London Authority's Mayor's Challenge LDN 2023 (£48K), Innovate UK (£46.5K), and the QMUL Grow It Awards (£3K, 2022 — first external validation). Additional sustaining revenue comes from Mendee Digital Ltd's commercial services.