The Belpech Trust: helping people build new lives

For ten years, Breaking Barriers has been supporting refugees into meaningful employment. In this time, we have helped 3560 people work toward their long-term employment goals. And we couldn’t have achieved this without the support of the many organisations and individuals who have been part of our journey so far.  

One such organisation is the Belpech Trust, a grant giving charity that is dedicated to helping people of refugee background, and prison leavers, to build new lives and gain economic independence. We are grateful to the trust for its support since December 2020, and for most recently backing our Be the Difference appeal as a match funder.  

Charles Bland, a philanthropist who previously worked in the energy industry, is chair of Belpech. Here he talks about the trust’s support for Breaking Barriers: 

“The Belpech Trust is a grant giving charity which supports refugees and people coming out of prison. We believe that everyone deserves a chance to build a life for themselves and their families: they benefit and so does the whole of society. 

“Refugees don’t want to be refugees: they want a chance to build a life for themselves and their family in a safe environment. The key to this is a job, which is the route to sustainable economic independence and a chance to contribute to the society in which they are living. 

“We support Breaking Barriers because of its focus on supporting refugees into meaningful employment. “Meaningful” means not just any job but one that uses existing skills and enables growth and development.   

“Breaking Barriers is committed to understanding and integrating the lived experience of refugees and to working with a network of corporates to connect refugee skills with corporate requirements. Their team of mentors is extending nationally to provide continuing support to refugees into and during employment. 

“For all these reasons Breaking Barriers is delivering on the Belpech Trust vision of truly sustainable employment for all refugees.”