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How does it really feel to send money home?

4 min read
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We feel very lucky to have the customers we do. Why? Because as migrants, so many of them have incredible drive and inspirational stories.

Stories of courage, adventure, freedom. 

Stories of leaving home, of giving back. 

Stories of being rejected in one place, and accepted in another. 

Stories of going from outcast to matriarch, from helpless child to grown-up provider. 

It’s these stories that get us up in the morning.

So we thought it was time to share them.

Asking the questions

We reached out to a few of our customers, asking them if they wanted to tell us how it really feels to send money home.

We wanted real, honest answers to questions like:

How does it really feel to work so hard, then send money home?

How does it feel, being so far away?

How do you keep your homeland alive in your hearts?

Why did you leave in the first place?

It wasn’t long before we heard back.

Telling their stories

Within two weeks of asking, we settled on 14 people hailing from different parts of the world—Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Ghana, the Philippines, Morocco, Nigeria, Romania, and Turkey—all now living in London, and happy to share their stories about how it feels to send money home.

We sent them some of the questions we were going to ask, so they could have a think—and we requested nothing but honesty in return. 

At the same time, we worked with ReadyAimFire—a new production company in the UK—to prepare the shoot in a studio in Clapton, East London.

When the day of the shoot came, we weren’t sure what to expect. None of our guests were professionals, we had not done a screen test, we had no idea how they’d respond in real life. Would they freeze? Would they say nothing? Would they even show up?

We needn’t have worried. From the very first interview, we were drawn right into their stories. They dug deep into their feelings and responded to our questions with charm, honesty and grace. 

They discussed not only their positive feelings from money transfers—pride, joy, happiness—but their negative ones: annoyance, frustration, sadness. 

We heard about ambitions fulfilled and frustrated. Homelands far away but held close. How they’ve made a new home in a foreign land. 

It was a beautiful few days that we’ll never forget. You can see them all for yourself, right here.

And if you’re reading this—Wheezy, Aga, Jurate, Viktoriya, Angela, Oana, Bismarck, Esra, Carmela, Hardy, Nataliya, Naimah, Manar—thank you, once again, for opening up to us with such humour and warmth.  It was a real privilege to work with you.

Funny how, in this age of machine learning and data, artificial intelligence and science, it’s the human stories that still grab us. Maybe more than ever.

Are you ready to see the results? Here goes.

______________

Need to send money home? Don’t forget to sign up to TransferGo for easy, fast and affordable money transfers to Europe, Africa, Asia and beyond.

About the author

jennifertate

Jennifer Tate

Jennifer Tate is a freelance copywriter and content manager based in Newcastle upon Tyne with over 15 years of experience in creating SEO copy and content for both leading brands and independent start-ups. Working across a variety of sectors from fintech to fashion and healthcare to homeware, Jennifer specialises in content creation, content management and social media strategies and has worked with TransferGo since 2017. As well as TransferGo, Jennifer has also recently created copy and content for Charlotte Tilbury, carecircle, Tommee Tippee and Robinson Pelham.

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