Northampton charity Cohesive Society CIC is helping Ukrainian migrants get a step closer to securing local jobs thanks to a new employability project.

A group of Ukrainian men and women joined a new ‘Jobs Skills’ programme, run by Cohesive Society – a local charity which runs community activities for marginal communities in Northamptonshire.

The program was designed after extensive consultation with members of the Ukrainian community to give people the skills they need to prepare them for employment.

Imran Chowdhury, Founder of Cohesive Society, said: “This heinous war has displaced the Ukrainian community. So many highly educated professionals, teachers, economists and social workers with university degrees have had to flee their country and are now living in the UK without a job – and this is at a time when we in the UK are facing a skills shortage.”

Following the charity’s successful pilot Cohesive Society plans to run their Jobs Skills programme year-round. The training is free of charge, with participants invited to attend either in person or remotely. Each course will be 10-hours long, with a certificate for participants on completion.

Ms Valentian Bukovska, who attended the pilot programme, commented: “This programme is such a huge help for our community. We all are in a stage of building our lives, which is very challenging as we find ourselves in a new country. This information and training is incredible. We are being taught about the UK system and are gaining confidence in professional fields and job searching.”

To find out more visit https://www.cohesivesociety.org/home, call 01604 312140 or email info@cohesivesociety.org