Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES)
The Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES) is funded by UK Border Agency and aims to help new refugees to settle and integrate into UK society by providing a timely and relevant advice, support and advocacy service. Refugee Action is contracted to deliver RIES in the North West and has offices in Manchester, Bolton and Liverpool. Each new refugee who chooses to participate in this service is assigned a case manager who will manage the transition from asylum seeker to refugee.
The overall objective of the service is to facilitate the smooth and quick integration of new refugees. A key element of the service is assisting clients to find suitable and sustainable employment.
The advocacy service part of RIES is sub-contracted to Manchester Refugee Support Network (MRSN), which in turn provides the service with a number of refugee community and refugee support organisations across central Greater Manchester and Blackburn with Darwen. MRSN manages a team of volunteer advocates who are involved in the delivery of the advocacy service. The volunteer advocates support newly granted refugees to access essential mainstream services. The role of our volunteer advocates involves the following:
- Accompanying clients to appointments at various service providing agencies such as Jobcentre Plus, Local Authority Homelessness Assessment Services, GP and dentists surgeries , hostels, educational and training institutions, etc.
- Helping clients to apply for a bank/building society or Post Office accounts,
- Helping clients to source private rented accommodation,
- Helping clients to fill in various application forms,
- Helping clients to make phone calls to book or cancel appointments etc.
Volunteering for RIES
Do you live in Greater Manchester? Want to meet and help refugees? Are you available weekdays, for a few hours?
If yes, then MRSN has opportunities for volunteers to assist refugees who have just been granted permission to stay in the UK. You will assist one or two refugees at a time and help them deal with the problems they will face as they settle in the UK. Previous experience is not necessary as we provide training. Reasonable English is required and we appreciate volunteers who can speak a second language (especially Arabic,Tigrinian, Kurdish, Farsi, Burmese, Tibetan, Somali etc). Volunteers from all backgrounds are welcome.
To learn more, call Yosief or Tecle on 0161 202 8917 or email ries@mrsn.org.uk