In February we introduced you to our lovely participant Vailankani who was one of our most engaged members of the GRoW Community, taking part in every GRoW activity we offered her. Vailankani has worked so hard and taken every opportunity available to her and we are so pleased now to announce that she has now landed her first ever job since relocating to the UK in 2020.
Vailankani said “I am so happy to be able to say that I have found a job and feel so lucky after looking for so long and trying so hard. I heard through a friend that there was a vacancy for a Cleaning position at a Secondary School in Yeading where she was working. As soon as she told me I got in touch and they hired me straight away. I had no prior experience of work in this field and in fact have no prior experience of working at all in this country since I came here in 2020 so I was so pleased to be offered the job and finally have some work experience to add to my CV.
The hours really suit me, they are 1.30pm to 7.00pm Monday to Friday which means I can take my son to school and I have family networks to pick him up at the end of the day. Whilst being part of the GRoW Programme I have realised that working in a school is what I want to do so it’s great that I now have my ‘foot in the door’ in a school environment and that I only need to work Term Time too.
When I first came to the UK I was really afraid, it was a new country and everything was scary but when I came to GRoW Liz, Saeema, Sonia and the team made me feel so much more confident. They put me in touch with people and helped me to make friends which was so important for me as I had no friends when I came here! Even though I have a job now I am still going to continue being part of the GRoW Programme as I want to progress further and reach my goal of becoming a Teaching Assistant or similar role in a school setting working with children, this is my dream.
Being part of the GRoW Programme has been fantastic for me, it has helped me grow as a person, especially in confidence. I can communicate so much better now, feeling confident to talk to people. It makes such a difference to me especially now that I have a job as I can really feel like I am part of a team.”