Refugee Support - Peer Educator Volunteer (Leeds - Tigrinya)

British Red Cross volunteers help thousands of refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants every year enabling people to draw upon their own strengths to withstand crisis and rebuild their lives.

As a Peer Educator volunteer, you will be helping newly arrived refugees and their family members through the stressful and challenging time of not only moving to a new area but a new country as well. As part of a team, Peer Educators develop and present life skill programmes to help people adjust to life in the UK.

You must have lived experience of being a refugee or asylum seeker and speak Tigrinya.

This is currently a home based role and you will need access to a phone and laptop/computer for this.

You will need to commit to at least 10 weeks volunteering and be available for 1.5 hours per week plus one hour every 2 weeks to attend volunteer only meetings.

Health and Safety Statement

We take an individual approach to ensuring your safety.

We may ask you to complete a simple risk assessment. We will also have a conversation with you to discuss any restrictions that may still be in place in your region and identify any adjustments you may need.

More about this role

Volunteer role

Refugee Support - Peer Educator Volunteer

Volunteer manager

BRC Manager

Where you will be based

Office

Why we want you

Our Peer Educator volunteers help refugees and their families to get to know their area and community to help them to settle in confidently. They are empathetic, professional and help people to gain independence and confidence through our programme. You will be friendly and welcoming, helping to make people comfortable. You will use your own experience to support and empathise with people's situation, helping to make it easier for them to adjust to life in the UK.

As a Peer Educator volunteer, you will be able to keep the people you help at the heart of what you do, supporting the Red Cross to understand people's needs and the difference we can make.

What you will be doing

• Planning and delivering educational programmes for refugees and their newly arrived family members
• Creating presentations and workshops to help people really understand life in the UK (for example: how to access health care, education etc)
• Signposting people to other support
• Providing information about people's rights and entitlements in the UK
• Providing language support
• Helping with other admin tasks

The skills you need

• Strong communication skills and empathetic about the situation and needs of refugees
• Able to use your own experience of migration to support others
• Able to sensitively communicate and build understanding of cultural differences and barriers and how people may overcome them.
• Able to use emotional support skills in a calm and responsible manner
• Good teamwork skills and a willingness to support where needed
• Speak English; knowledge of another language would be helpful (particularly one used in the current local refugee population (such as Arabic, Farsi, Tigrinya, Amharic and Kurdish Sorani)
• Experience of providing language support would be useful
• Emotionally resilient as you may need to deal with challenging or difficult situations

What's in it for you

• Meet new people and be part of a supportive and inclusive team
• A great opportunity to develop your existing skills and gain new ones
• All training and induction for the role (there is no charge for training)
• Reasonable pre-agreed travel expenses for the role
• An opportunity to be part of the world's largest humanitarian organisation and the knowledge that you are making a difference to people's lives
• Build your confidence while gaining professional skills and experience in developing and delivering workshops and group sessions

Disclaimer

Health and Safety Statement We take an individual approach to ensuring your safety. We may ask you to complete a simple risk assessment. We will also have a conversation with you to discuss any restrictions that may still be in place in your region and identify any adjustments you may need.