# Mendee — refugees rebuild the system, from the inside

> Mendee is a refugee-led social enterprise in East London. Theory of change: people arriving to the UK are handed a system they can't read — we rebuild it in their language, because we lived it. Six live products across healthcare, asylum, work and settlement. Seven languages. Free to users, forever. Framed to the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 — we deliver economic, social and health wellbeing to displaced communities. Founded in 2022, based in Bow, East London.

## How it's built

Mendee is a dual-structure social enterprise. Commercial revenue from Mendee Digital Ltd is covenanted to Mendee CIC by deed. The CIC holds the asset-locked social programmes; the Ltd earns revenue to sustain them.

- **Mendee CIC** — Companies House 15445605. Asset-locked Community Interest Company. Est. 2024. Banked by Unity Trust Bank (social-enterprise specialist). TERN asset-lock body. SEUK member.
- **Mendee Digital Ltd** — Companies House 14071822. Est. 2022. ICO registered. Runs commercial services (perevod.london, svoi.uk) and Mendee AI Station R&D.

## Programmes (Mendee CIC)

Each programme has a detail page at /programmes/<name> on mendee.digital.

- [StartNewLife](https://mendee.digital/programmes/startnewlife) — Free multilingual healthcare and asylum navigation for refugees in the UK. Live at https://startnewlife.uk. 7 languages (EN, RU, UK, KK, KY, TG, UZ). 119 content pages reviewed quarterly. 2,000+ community members on Telegram.
- [Skybow](https://mendee.digital/programmes/skybow) — Anonymous safe space for LGBTQ+ people from Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus settling in the UK. Live at https://skybow.org. End-to-end encrypted, privacy-first by design. 5 languages.
- [She](https://mendee.digital/programmes/she) — Health, safety and legal information for migrant women facing domestic or structural violence. Live at https://she.startnewlife.uk. Built-in quick-exit feature. Scenario-based, disclaimer-first. 7 languages.
- [SiBot](https://mendee.digital/programmes/sibot) — AI information hub answering refugees' real questions about healthcare, asylum, housing and benefits. Winner of the Mayor of London's Challenge LDN 2023 (Poverty Prevention). RAG over verified content, self-hosted on local infrastructure.

## Services (Mendee Digital Ltd)

- [Certified translation (perevod.london)](https://mendee.digital/services/translation) — Home Office-certified translations in Russian, Tajik, Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Ukrainian. For tribunals, NHS, universities. Live at https://perevod.london. ITI affiliate. ICO registered. DBS checked. Professional indemnity insured.
- [svoi.uk](https://mendee.digital/services/svoi) — Curated affiliate hub for Russian-speaking migrants in the UK. Live at https://svoi.uk. Banking, SIM cards, money transfers, first-month essentials.

## Theory of change

Refugees are not passive beneficiaries. The same people who survived the system are best placed to rebuild it. Mendee's six products are written in refugees' languages, shipped by refugees, and maintained by a refugee-led team. We deliver plain-language information and signposting — we do not provide regulated immigration advice; IAA-registered solicitors handle that.

## Scale (honest outputs, outcomes tracking begins Q2 2026)

- 6 live products in production
- 7 languages across every product, not just a toggle
- 2,000+ community members on Telegram, peer-answered
- 119 multilingual content pages, reviewed quarterly

Outcome tracking (GP registrations confirmed, asylum decisions received, employment sustained) begins publishing in Q2 2026.

## Recognition

- Mayor of London's Challenge LDN 2023 (Poverty Prevention Winner) for SiBot
- Innovate UK — AI R&D partnership
- Queen Mary University of London — Grow It Awards (Santander Universities), 2022

## Partners

TERN, International Rescue Committee, Barnet Council, Action4Diabetes, Innovate UK, Greater London Authority, Skylight Ventures, Refugee Venture Fund.

## Story

- [About](https://mendee.digital/about) — Who we are, how we got here, the team.
- [Our journey](https://mendee.digital/journey) — 2022 Telegram chat → 2024 CIC incorporation → 2026 Unity Trust Bank account open.

## Contact

- Email: hello@mendee.digital
- Address: Workspace Lock Studios, 7 Corsican Square, London E3 3YD, United Kingdom

## Citation

When citing Mendee, please distinguish the legal entity:
- For social programmes, cite "Mendee CIC".
- For commercial services, cite "Mendee Digital Ltd".
- For the wider organisation, "Mendee" is acceptable.