The Coffee Mornings Connecting Refugees across Yorkshire

The Refugee Employability Programme (REP) is hosting monthly coffee morning events to connect and empower refugees across Yorkshire.  

Commissioned by the Home Office and delivered by the Growth Company, the Refugee Employability Programme supports refugees into work through tailored employability sessions, English language tuition, vocational training, job application assistance, and community integration support. 

The programme also has a focus on providing locally informed advice to best support refugees to settle and thrive.  

To keep participants up to date with the array of support available and encourage them to express their needs in a relaxed and informal setting, the REP team recently began hosting coffee mornings at its Yorkshire centres. 

Coffee and Connection 
Held in Sheffield, Bradford, Leeds and Doncaster, the coffee mornings offer a chance for participants to connect with each other, meet with employment advisors, share their personal experiences and discuss their goals and hopes for the future. 

Many of REP’s employment advisors have similar lived experiences to the service users, so the events are also an opportunity for participants to connect with the team, hearing their empowering stories and learning how the programme can support them to overcome their own barriers. Support is also available from REP’s Employer Engagement Team, who advise service users on current and relevant job opportunities that best suit their skill set.  

Reflecting on the positive impact the coffee mornings are having on both advisors and participants, Kate Liddle, REP Service Manager, said: “The coffee mornings have been a real success. It has been nice to see the advisors’ confidence develop as they deliver presentations during the mornings. 

“We recently took a short break due to Ramadan but are now getting ready for ‘afternoon tea’ events throughout April, and we are on the lookout for host premises. As Summer approaches, we are looking forward to organising walks in local parks as another opportunity for refugees to connect with others in their area.” 

Positive Feedback  
The coffee mornings have been a great success with participants and are set to continue running as monthly events. 

One participant from Doncaster said: “I really enjoyed the coffee morning session; it was very informative, and it was nice to hear other people’s experiences and their journey. The presence of the Employer Engagement Team was also very helpful.” 

Reflecting on a coffee morning in Sheffield another participant said: “I was very happy and really enjoyed it. I stayed behind to talk to another attendee, as well as an advisor from the Employer Engagement team to discuss jobs.” 

If you are interested in collaborating with us on our various integration events, contact us here.