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Horizons

“Having the chance to volunteer is very helpful. It is good to keep busy and keep moving because it helps you to forget your problems and relax for a few hours. Volunteering has also helped me improve my English.”
Horizons volunteer

 

Horizons is a supported volunteer service for adult refugees and asylum seekers who want to do voluntary work.

Though they want to make a contribution to life in the UK, asylum seekers are not allowed to work, and even those with refugee status face many barriers to employment.

Horizons matches refugees' skills with the needs of employers in Manchester and Salford. This gives volunteers an opportunity to gain valuable experience of British workplaces where they can develop their talents and confidence, and make new friends.

Thirty-one organisations are currently signed up to the project including Stepping Hill Hospital, George House Trust, Cancer Care and the Imperial War Museum. Horizons has placed 360 volunteers since it was launched in 2003 and has 100 people working at any one time. Project workers also deliver training to other organisations. 

From January 2007, Horizons is funded by the Home Office Goldstar Programme as a beacon of best practice in volunteering with disadvantaged groups.

Real lives:

Midwife from the DRC volunteers in Stockport

Clementine, a former midwife from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was keen to develop her skills and she now volunteers each week at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport.

She said: “At first I worked with the elderly people, but as a midwife I was keen to work in the maternity ward. Now I also help the new mothers and am able to watch how the midwives work. I can learn about practices in the UK and keep my skills.

“Through volunteering I have met friends, improved my English and I really enjoy being around the babies and    mothers. Horizons has helped me so much. If I didn’t volunteer I would have nothing to do.”

Sally Cassini, voluntary services manager at the hospital, said: “We are delighted to have Clementine and to give others a chance to work with someone from a different culture. She is a lovely person, lively, loyal and committed to the hospital and has become an invaluable member of the team.

“We have a good partnership with Horizons and have taken on several volunteers. We benefit from their help while they get experience of a real workplace in the UK.”

 

 

Funded by Home Office Goldstar Programme

 

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