Project round-up: Working in the UK
You may have heard about our recent project with Bristol Refugee Rights, funded by Quartet Community Foundation, to give asylum seekers an inside view of the Bristol labour market. This project linked closely to the current #LiftTheBan campaign which is urging the Government to allow asylum seekers the right to work in the UK. Throughout the programme, these asylum seekers have consistently shown willingness and passion for being able to work and contribute back to society, and most of all, get their lives back on track.
Overall, the project aims were to;
- Teach asylum seekers about the UK job market with information on CVs, applications, job searches, employment rights, salary expectations and much more
- Link asylum seekers to a variety of local employers and arrange visits to 5 businesses
These aims were to provide asylum seekers with correct and up-to-date knowledge of working in the UK, so that when they do receive their refugee status they have the skills and information to find work.
The project kicked off in November 2018 with an initial meeting with a room full of asylum seekers who receive support from Bristol Refugee Rights. This session covered the topics of the first project aim.
Aimee, one of the attendees, said that “the workshop today has inspired me greatly because we don’t know how to do things and the first thing you have to learn about is people and the British culture. Some people don’t know this and want it to be like what it was when they were back home, but it is different here.”
The next steps for the programme were to visit a variety of employers. The asylum seekers were encouraged to choose the visits that were relevant to their preferred industry. We made sure to have representatives from the public sector, private sector, global employers, institutions and business hubs.
The first employer visit was to Bristol City Council who gave the group a great insight into the types of different roles available at the Council. Cllr. Ruth Pickersgill, Easton Ward, said: “So many asylum seekers in my ward and in other parts of Bristol have qualifications, skills and experience that we desperately need in our City, and yet they are unable to put them to use. I really welcome this scheme which will help them to be ‘work ready’ as soon as their refugee status is agreed, and enable them to support themselves and their families, contribute to the local economy and enrich our local workforce.”
Next, the group visited our ACH Bristol office to learn more about working in a social enterprise. Again, our company contains a variety of roles, from housing and support teams through to marketing. ACH CEO, Fuad, is a refugee himself and could relate to the struggles the group were going through. He urged them to use this ‘waiting’ time to build up as many skills as possible and not waste it.
The third employer visit was to First Bus. They are always looking to recruit drivers in the Bristol area and are a great global employer to work with. First West of England Managing Director, James Freeman, welcomed the group with a fantastic talk around what working as a bus driver is really like; the driving is the easy bit – it’s working with people that’s the hard part!
The next visit was to Engine Shed, a business hub in Central Bristol. Engine Shed is home to many start-ups, businesses and tech organisations including tech incubator SETsquared. The asylum seekers were given a tour of the building and a talk by Lydia Samuel, Entrepreneurship Facilitator, who spoke about the challenges and motivations of being self-employed, as well as finding out about their own entrepreneurial ideas.
The last employer visit was to UWE (The University of the West of England). With nearly 4,000 staff and 4 different campus locations across Bristol and Gloucester, UWE is a leading employer in the South West. They also currently have over 30,000 students studying with them to build their careers and are a key anchor institution for the city, making them a great organisation for the asylum seeker group to learn from. It was a great day and all the UWE staff made a real impact on the group.
This project has been truly successful and has given these asylum seekers the skills to find decent employment when they receive their status. We hope to do more programmes like this in the future, so if you are an employer and would like to be a part of it, please contact holly.fowden@ach.org.uk.
