In the wake of the 2015 refugee crisis, and having just returned to the UK after an extended period abroad, engineer and management consultant, Jolie Powell, wanted to find a way to support forcibly displaced people. A magazine interview with Breaking Barriers’ founder Matt Powell inspired Jolie to sign up as a volunteer – a role she undertook with dedication for six years, supporting many refugees on their employment journeys.
To mark Jolie’s contribution to our mission, and in honour of Volunteers’ Week, we are delighted to publish her reflections on her volunteering experience.
Please tell us about yourself.
I grew up in the UK and my career was in engineering and management consulting until I lived abroad for an extended period, bringing up my family and working part-time. On my return to the UK in 2016, I felt that I had something valuable to offer that drew on both my business skills and my experience of moving to and settling in various foreign countries. I felt strongly that by sharing my skills and experience I could not only help others but also broaden my own outlook.
What inspired you to want to support refugees?
Around the time I returned to my home country, I had a growing concern for refugees and asylum seekers, having observed through the media the horrors of the 2015 refugee crisis. After 15 years living abroad in three different countries, I knew from first-hand experience how it feels to find yourself in a new country with no friends or family close by, and a limited understanding of the culture and norms. So, I felt I had some empathy with people who had recently arrived in the UK from a foreign land, even though the circumstances of their immigration might be vastly different from my own.
How did you come across Breaking Barriers?
I first heard of Breaking Barriers when I came across an interview with its founder in a magazine. As I read about Breaking Barriers’ work and the volunteering opportunities to support refugees, something clicked for me. Having felt that there was nothing I could do when witnessing with the enormous scale of the refugee crisis, here was something I could help with. Breaking Barriers’ mission to help refugees in the UK to find meaningful employment and so give them a better chance of settling here, made complete sense to me. The profile of volunteers they were looking for matched my own, so I immediately got in touch. I started my induction at Breaking Barriers just a few weeks later.
I was humbled by the experiences the clients had been through and the challenges they had overcome to get to the start of their life in the UK. Their resilience impressed me greatly. Gaining stable, fulfilling employment takes months if not years and it was not uncommon for a client to make 50 to 100 job applications. Despite so many rejections, clients kept coming back and trying again and again.
Jolie
What did your volunteering role involve?
I worked as an Advice and Guidance volunteer for six years, meeting weekly with clients on a one-to-one basis, either in person or remotely (after the pandemic). The aim of the sessions was to support them with the next step on their road to finding education or employment in the UK. Every case was unique and so every session was different, but typical activities included helping the client to identify their skills, assisting them in writing a CV, and demonstrating how to search for job opportunities. In later stage sessions I might assist them with making job applications or preparing for interviews. Something important I learned is that the role of Advice and Guidance volunteer wasn’t about finding a job for the client. Rather it was to help them develop the skills, know-how and confidence they needed to be able to identify suitable roles and apply for jobs independently.
What did you gain through volunteering?
The main things I gained through volunteering at Breaking Barriers was a broadening of my own world outlook and a better understanding of the hurdles faced by refugees in the UK. I was humbled by the experiences the clients had been through and the challenges they had overcome to get to the start of their life in the UK. Their resilience impressed me greatly. Gaining stable, fulfilling employment takes months if not years and it was not uncommon for a client to make 50 to 100 job applications. Despite so many rejections, clients kept coming back and trying again and again. I wondered if this determination in the face of rejection in some way reflected the journeys they had been on to get to this point. Without this resilience, they would not have made it this far in the first place.
Do you have any memorable stories or highlights from volunteering with Breaking Barriers?
My favourite memory of volunteering at Breaking Barriers was a celebratory lunch with clients, volunteers and staff. Everyone was encouraged to bring in a dish from their country to share with the group and I enjoyed learning about countries and cultures that were new to me. The highlight was when one of our clients played us a video of a performance of her refugee choir in London. It was uplifting to see her so full of joy and expressing her gratitude for the support she had found in the UK and from Breaking Barriers.
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