special projects - employability through volunteering

Project Case Studies

Kashif Ijaz

Kashif Ijaz, a qualified accountant, was working in a part-time position when he decided to look for volunteer work to make use of his free hours and enhance his UK business skills. Through the Internet, he contacted Reach this year. Reach found the perfect opportunity for him with the Lambeth branch of the Alzheimer's Society, which needed someone with financial skills to prepare and interpret financial information.

With a strong background in corporate and government positions in Pakistan, Kashif was able to contribute his skills to the branch operation and as Kashif says, "to learn new skills." He is now in a full time position with a major city accountacy firm.

Yvonne Kate Asare Akoto

Yvonne arrived in the UK from Ghana in 2004. Despite a professional background as a human resources administrator for an international education agency and as a data analyst at the Ministry of Trade & Industry, the only job available to her in the UK was a part-time care worker.

"But I wanted to get back to my career," says Yvonne, who has a masters degree in Public Administration. A friend advised her to contact Reach to find her a voluntary opportunity that would add UK experience to her CV. She is now working with Action for Refugees in Lewisham helping with the administration and training as an advisor to counsel refugees on welfare benefits, employment, housing and education. Lewisham is benefitting from her skills and Yvonne is adding to hers, gaining knowledge about UK public programs and the legal system.

Yvonne also wants to add a legal background to her qualifications and has enrolled in a foundation course.

"I am grateful for the service I got from Reach," says Yvonne. "The opportunity they provided me with really gave me an in-depth understanding of the work I want to do." Eventually she would like a training position in a law firm or get a job as a generalist advisor in a charity.

Modupe Akinbo

When the City and Hackney Office of the charity MIND asked Reach for a volunteer Accountant Assistant, Modupe Akinbo was available to give ten hours a week. After seven years professional experience in Nigeria, she had worked briefly for a media company in the UK, but then decided to take two years study leave and finish her ACCA qualification. The opportunity with MIND gave her the additional UK experience she needed and MIND was greatly helped by her work with its financial systems.

Modupe has recently found paid work on a contract basis with the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) charity and with Hayes Accountancy.