Five ways for your business to support people with refugee backgrounds in Brighton

Using the expertise in the Chamber’s brilliant business network, we’ve been working on a project in collaboration with Brighton & Hove City Council, alongside local charities, to support people in Brighton with refugee backgrounds into work or business.

So far, it has been a really impactful project, helping recent arrivals to feel part of the economy of Brighton & Hove – and there are plenty of ways for our members to continue getting involved in the project.

If you’d like to lend a bit of your time to support people with refugee backgrounds in Brighton, here are five ways you can do that through the Chamber. 

Share your industry knowledge over a coffee

There are lots of skilled migrants – from architects to web developers, graphic designers to project managers – who are currently looking for work, or would like to set up their own business, but don’t yet have an established network in Brighton.

We’ve been connecting members and people who are looking for work in their sector, for an informal chat. It’d be a chance for them to talk about their qualifications and experience, to find out what sort of businesses are based locally, and plus anything that’s helpful from your experience for them to know when applying.  

Is your business hiring, or happy to give feedback at a CV clinic?

As part of our project, we’re running a series of Inclusive Employer Jobs Fairs to help connect local businesses with the talent they need.

The next Jobs Fair is on 24 April at The Dorset Gardens Methodist Church in Kemptown, and an opportunity to chat with talented job seekers who have great skills, and English as an additional language.

We’ll also be running a CV clinic to help job seekers get feedback on their CVs.

This will be our fifth Inclusive Employer Jobs fair, and so far we’ve connected over 300 job seekers with 100 local businesses. Whether it’s one job or ten on offer, come along to the next Jobs Fair to meet and connect with job seekers and local businesses, including Roedean, YMCA Downslink Group, Sussex Police, Brighton Dome & Festival, Chichester College Group, University Hospitals NHS Trust and Brighton Pier.  

Join a panel of industry experts

Whether it’s talking about your own journey; how to get an interview or job in your sector; tips for applications; how to progress a career; or work culture – could you talk for 15-20 minutes on a panel for us?

We’ve run a series of these short panel events so far (with local charity Trust for Developing Communities) and have found they’re really helpful for people who are new to a country and want some advice, insights and tips on finding work and work culture in the UK.  

Help us find a meeting space

Do you have a meeting room or an events space you could offer?

It could be a space for us to run an industry expert event, or a smaller space to bring people together.  

Or could you host a visit?

Get a group of people into your office space, hosting a tour for a small group of job seekers who are interested in the type of work that you do.

It could be a group of 4 or 5 people with finance skills who’d like to visit an accountancy practice; a group of graphic designers; or people with software development skills (the Chamber team will come too!)  

To get involved with the project for any of the above, get in touch with the Chamber team here to let us know.

Find out about more projects and ways to support the local community through Brighton Chamber, on our business support page. 

Photo by Beth Wild Photography.

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk