“Do you have any advise for us?”
“Everyone loves a trier”
“A trier?”
“Yes, just try, you’ve just got to try everything. What’s the worse that could happen? You’ll find out you don’t like it, move on. Everyone’s doing what they think is best to get by, if you’d lived the lives that they’d lived then perhaps, you know, you’d be doing the same, but just keep trying."


I came across Nina sat in an enclosed space in one of the main pedestrian streets in town. She was sat knelt on the ground, with a shawl around her, almost in a meditative position. I observed her for a while and noticed other people giving her looks as they went past. I decided to go up and ask if she was OK.

It turned out she was perfectly fine, simply taking a break. Nina works for Cancer Research UK, as a fundraiser and promoter, and one of the first things she told me was that she had not been home in over nine weeks. She explained that she had been going from place to place, working, and had not had the opportunity.

“Is that extreme dedication, or are they just working you to the bone?”
“Dedication, yeah, I really believe in this cause”

We talked about the charity and how she got involved with it, the people she had met and how it had shaped her. It seemed opportune then that I ask her what message she would like to give to people, from Cancer Research UK, accompanying her picture. She seemed a little unsure of the question, or didn’t have any words at hand so I expanded it a little and ended up at advise instead.

We ended our encounter with a quote she impromptly added which went something like: 'Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe’.

If you see her in your local high street, try talking to her - thank you, and have a great weekend.


Humans of Leeds