Smart Works Leeds: Meet the Ukrainian refugee who has landed a top job in investment after charity's support

A charity helping women into employment is now working with Ukrainian refugees in Leeds to help them access the job market.
Geha Pandey
By Geha Pandey
Published 24th Jun 2023, 04:45 GMT
Updated 28th Jun 2023, 15:42 GMT
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Smart Works is a national charity which has helped more than 30,000 women build confidence and secure employment. It opened its Leeds centre in 2019 and has recently seen one of its Ukrainian refugees, Alla, secure a role as an investment manager at a local asset management firm in the city.

She was referred to Smart Works Leeds by her local job centre when she arrived in the country in 2022. The charity worked with Alla on her CV and matched her with a coach in the sector of banking.

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Alla was then introduced to key financial institutes in Leeds and secured interviews. As it has pledged to do with all the women it helps get an interview, Smart Works also provided her with interview clothing and a capsule collection of clothes for starting work.

Staff of Smart Works Leeds who are helping women employment with Alla H, a refugee who has been using their services.Staff of Smart Works Leeds who are helping women employment with Alla H, a refugee who has been using their services.
Staff of Smart Works Leeds who are helping women employment with Alla H, a refugee who has been using their services.

Now six months into her new role, Alla said: "I am happy with my job and very grateful to Smart Works for supporting me. It was difficult for me to find a job in a new country, and the support I received was invaluable."

During Refugee Week this year, the Leeds-base welcomed more than 35 job seekers from the Ukrainian refugee community to a ‘coffee and connect' morning. Attendees shared tips for accessing the UK job market and networked to forge vital connections to help them get back into work in Yorkshire.

One-to-one career coaching sessions also took place to help attendees make plans for their job search while successful clients of Smart Works from the Ukrainian community talked about their journey to seek employment in the UK.

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Lottie Roberts, outreach and communications officer at Smart Works Leeds, said: “We were completely blown away with the popularity of the event on Tuesday. Yorkshire is home to a community of Ukrainian refugees, many of whom held stable jobs providing for their families before coming to the UK.”

To access the Smart Works service and find out more about the charity or become a supporter, visit the website or email at [email protected].

Related topics:LeedsYorkshire