Sheffield Station Foyer wins BIG!

Posted by MST on October 8, 2009 | No Comments |  Print This Post |  Email This Post

Station Foyer in Sheffield has been awarded a three year grant from the Big Lottery to provide support to the local community of European Union migrants and refugees.

The grant, which has come from the Big Lottery’s Reaching Communities Programme, will fund the Jobs, Education and Training Project (JET) and will build on the foyer’s current offer to refugees. More intensive support will now be available to a wider service user group (including European Union migrants) and especially to women and those unable to access mainstream services.

Support will include:

• career advice (including interview techniques, CV and application form writing)
• job search
• work and volunteer placements
• the Citizenship Programme (life in the UK)
• English For Speakers of other Language (ESOL) classes community interpreting training programme
• benefits and financial advice.

Les Cloughley, Head of Operations for Midlands and South Yorkshire, said of the success, “the call I took was one of those nice moments. Not just for the team who have all worked so hard since we opened, but also for the service users, which, after all, is what we are here for.”

The services offered by the JET Project will be delivered by qualified and experienced staff from this summer. And we’re sure they’ll continue to build on their repeated success.

Station Foyer is the first Refugee Foyer in the UK. Foyers are places which link housing to education, training and employment support. The Station Foyer was established in 2003 after service users identified the lack of access to education, training and support towards employment, as the main  hindrance to their integration into UK society.

• Find out more about Sheffield Station Foyer