CoSS Giving: Befriending with Entraide

I have worked at University of Birmingham for 14 years, in a variety of marketing and comms roles.  I am also a freelance film maker, and I make short films and documentaries and I also make music videos. As a freelancer I work with young people at art galleries in the West Midlands, teaching them digital film making and how to market themselves as artists.

Around 10 years ago, I gained my TEFL qualification at Wolverhampton University – and as part of my teaching practice I took an ESOL Level 1 class at a local Mosque and community centre. I continued to volunteer there after I passed my qualification.

I absolutely loved working with a small group of women who had no spoken English at all when they arrived for their first class, and it was brilliant to see them gain confidence and independence as they learned the basic language necessary to go grocery shopping, order in a café, buy a train ticket.

I have many years of experience of communicating with people and feel that I can give someone the comfort that’s needed when you want to talk to someone, as I feel that people can easily talk to me.  I think that I will gain from this experience a satisfaction supporting someone who needs support and being able to help.

The reason I want to volunteer for this scheme is one of my biggest passions is developing people, helping them believe in themselves and really realise their potential. Fortunately as a Team Manager I am very lucky to be able to do this and feel really proud when I see my team members achieve that confidence, deliver something or get that promotion.

Whilst I have been lucky to do this in my team I want to be able to help others outside the bank, our group prides itself on Helping Britain Prosper and charity work is something that is very close to my heart. Personally I am also looking to learn from this experience myself, the call we had last week was a real eye opener to me and the work Entraide does is very impressive. I am really looking forward to being part of this and working with you all.

I had an earlier industrial career with responsibilities for project management and new business development. I continue to work very closely with industry in my research and teaching activities. I am an active volunteer and give my time and share my experience. I am a firm believer in making our society a better place to live in through helping each other. In doing so we can always learn from each other and thus grow together.

I want to volunteer for the Entraide Befriending Scheme as I would love to offer my support to an asylum seeker or refugee. Now more than ever, it is important to promote wellbeing and stay socially connected. Due to this, I would like to help those who have perhaps not yet integrated into the local community. From this experience, I hope to gain an understanding of what struggles asylum seekers and refugees may face and what I can do to contribute to building a community that welcomes these people. I also hope to build on my skills in promoting an individual's wellbeing.

I understand how difficult it must be for people without family/extended family/friends here in the UK. To add to this, there is the automatics pressure they will feel to adjust and integrate into UK culture/lifestyle and given the current pandemic this will not help their mental health or their progress with integration into UK life. I have always wanted to volunteer to help asylum seekers/refugees and had signed up with a local Church to assist in helping them with the English language. Due to the pandemic this was postponed and when I saw this opportunity with Entraide I knew it was meant for me. I am also a mental health first aider within the College and have undertaken courses on mindfulness, positive affirmations and building yourself up to be the best version of you. I feel all these skills and my more natural people skills and willingness to help pushes me further to take up volunteering opportunities.

I am 38 years old, I am from Romania and I came to the UK 5 years ago because I wanted a better life for myself as the financial conditions back there are not very good. I have a banking background experience for more than 15 years working with individuals and business customers.

I chose to get involved in this project because I believe I have a lot to offer. As someone who arrived to the UK a few years ago myself, I was in a similar situation and therefore I feel that the people I would be talking to would be able to relate and connect with me in a way that would be much more meaningful for them. I also believe that by perhaps listening to my experiences, they may gain some measure of confidence/belief that it is very possible to adapt to life in the UK.

I also have the advantage of perhaps addressing their concerns in a more practical manner as I experienced many of the problems they did previously and therefore I believe I can offer them more than just emotional support. Ultimately, this project strikes a chord with me as I will be talking to people who remind me of a time that I experienced and I feel very motivated and driven to help wherever I can and share my advice and experiences.

I wanted to be involved with the scheme, as I am passionate about supporting the community. I have always been keen to get involved in volunteer work that may benefit the experience of both someone else and myself.

I would like to think I am an uplifting, positive individual and I would be grateful to help in any which way I could.

When I heard about the Befriender volunteering opportunity with Entraide I was really excited to get involved. It’s a chance to try something new outside my ‘everyday’ job whilst making a difference to not only someone else’s day but potentially their future life.

It’s a small commitment which can hopefully have a lasting effect on the people Entraide support.