Young Business Matters

Ihor has only been in the UK for just under 12 months, and to begin with didn’t know much English. He struggled to fit in but had the support of his family who had fled Ukraine when the war with Russia began. He still has family in Ukraine and worries about their situation – he hopes that they will be able to escape to the UK soon. Ihor is a very musical young man and plays guitar and the harmonica – he was very much involved with the community in Ukraine and was eager to do the same in the UK. He would also like to improve his English language skills by volunteering with theatre and support community groups. Ihor struggles financially so would require bus scratch cards to attend his sessions.

During his short time in the UK, Ihor has greatly improved his English language skills to the point that he no longer requires an interpreter to support him. However he stated that he wanted to be introduced to local support groups so that he can feel more involved with the community. He has been introduced to Central Youth Theatre at the New Hampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton and will be taking part in supporting students with learning their lines for productions, as well as taking part in the shows himself. He has also been introduced to Gazebo – another theatre group in Bilston.

Ihor has found that his English language skills have improved even more by being involved with the theatre groups. He is growing in confidence by speaking with new people and loves having the opportunity to act in their productions. He is very happy and feels less isolated.

Ihor is continuing to study English at his local Adult Education classes and will become more and more involved with the volunteering side at Central Youth Theatre and Gazebo. He loves going to the cinema to watch art-nouveau films as well as reading classical novels by a variety of authors – he hopes that this will help with future productions at the Theatre clubs.

Ihor is considering going to University in September – to study classical music and English language. He is also planning to stay involved with Central Youth Theatre and Gazebo – and maybe one day we may see him on the big screen!

“Really happy to have been helped with the bus cards as it was hard to save the money to catch the bus – Thank You very much. Love meeting all the new people of a same age as myself – I love being in the community.”

– Ihor

PH has been our client for 7 months now. He has always been reluctant in engaging with our employment services. On his enrolment assessment, he disclosed that he wanted to become a barber. However, as he had no experience in that area, the chances of getting a job quickly were low. We suggested to him at the time to improve his English and then go through a hairdressing course at the college. PH didn’t like that option either as he felt it would take too long for that dream to happen.

At the time we spoke about volunteering at a barber shop and see where that would take him. However, due to cultural beliefs PH didn’t want to work for free and considered it to be a form of exploitation. Nevertheless, when we started ‘Know your Neighbourhood’, PH attended several sessions and seemed to grasp the benefits of volunteering to gain experience in areas that he wished to work in.

He then went ahead and managed to get himself a volunteer position at a barber shop, working a few hours a week. Last time he came to meet us, he seemed happy with the experience. He also said that the barber shop manager told him that if he continued to show reliability and hard work, then he would be put on the payroll as work experience.