Fresh Futures is a charity that seeks to Improve Lives and Inspire Change by supporting children, young people and their families in our communities. Our communities are made up of amazing people, who have also recently welcomed many Ukrainian families into the community.
Fresh Futures recognises that refugees and evacuees can be extremely vulnerable and disadvantaged when they arrive in the UK, and we have previously made a commitment to support them and their families where we can.
We currently support the DWP with their programme to offer work to those arriving to the UK from Ukraine, and we are constantly looking at ways we can offer help to those that need it.
We caught up with Ryan Cross, Community Anchor Coordinator at YCC, who is supporting Ukrainian refugees as part of his role. Ryan told us: “For us at YCC, it’s about support and making sure that we can work directly with people to truly understand what they need, what is working, and what isn’t working. This can range from connecting a refugee to activities in the area or supporting a community group to set up a new activity”.
Ryan is involved in arranging Coffee Mornings for Ukrainian refugees where they can drop in and speak to Ryan about any questions or concerns that they might have. Ryan is also looking to set up a thank you event for Host Families who have welcomed Ukrainians into their home recently.
Ryan also told us: “I like to think the work I am doing is leading to a far more sustainable, and accessible third sector in Batley and Spen. It also gives the community a wider understanding of what we do and what we’re capable of doing at YCC.”
Following on from our promise to do whatever we can to support refugees through our charity, on Tuesday 27th September Fresh Futures attended the ‘Kirklees Welcomes – Job Fair and Advice for Refugees’ event at Batley Library.
The event was open to local employers and set up to encourage members of the public that have recently arrived in the UK from Ukraine to discuss job opportunities in the Kirklees area.
The fair was well attended and Fresh Futures were able to engage with attendees about available jobs at the charity.
Samantha Latchayya, Leadership Team Coordinator at Fresh Futures said “I met with some lovely people who have arrived from Ukraine. Many of them have transferable skills, have graduated from University, or have worked in similar environments before. We are hoping that there could be some people who are interested in our roles and might apply for the jobs.”
At YCC, we value our employees and the incredible work they do to improve lives and inspire change. Our culture promotes development and diversification across all departments, from front-line service workers to in-house administration.
If you would like more information on current vacancies at Fresh Futures please visit Work With Us – Yorkshire Children’s Centre (freshfutures.org.uk)