At Belina we have a great team of people, each with their own specialist area of expertise.
Anila Saif works with people who need extra support because English is not their first language and provides advice on local courses as well as helping to run our community leadership programme.
Anila says “One of the biggest barriers to work that some of our customers face is that they don’t speak good English. Not only does this mean that they struggle to apply for jobs but it also affects their confidence because they can’t communicate in the way they need to.
“The GRoW Programme offers really good support for people and we currently run two projects – 1:1 sessions with clients and group sessions on our SWEET project. Part of my job is to help support people by signposting them to ESOL classes in local colleges to help them improve their English and also to provide them with advice about programmes they can do to improve their confidence. I have also been delivering IT sessions as part of the Summer GRoW Leadership Programme.
“Clients who come on our programme often feedback to me that their confidence is raised after our sessions as it really helps them understand what they can achieve and aspire to do. Many of our customers are Bengali and after meeting with us for just a couple of hours they are speaking much better English and are managing to look for jobs online and send emails. They just need a little push in the right direction to move them forward and to find out about the ESOL courses they can attend to get to where they need to be.
“Every Monday from 9.30am to 11.30am we run a session at Botwell Green Library in Hillingdon to help people looking for work and this is a great opportunity to come and see me if you struggle with speaking English. I speak several languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Pashto so can help many people. I am also available at my office every Tuesday to help people with their CVs and applying for jobs and if you are interested in coming to see me please do just drop me a line at anila@belinagrow.co.uk or whatsapp me on 07449306024.”