NB4U was born out of a lack of support for Ukrainian Refugees and Sponsors in NorthBirmingham in April 2022 when the first guests started to arrive. A group of volunteers came together to offer advice and guidance, one volunteer acted in an advisory capacity to BCC, NB4U provided social events, supported in dealing with issues and helped to arrange new sponsors. What started as a very small group quickly developed supporting in excess of 400 people, both guests and sponsors across Sutton Coldfield, Erdington and Kingstanding.
NB4U has responded to the needs identified by both Ukrainian refugees and sponsors by providing opportunities to meet and socialise, offering ESOL classes in Sutton Coldfield library, supporting both guests and sponsors with admin issues and school admissions. As guests have become more established we have also supported with rematching, finding new sponsors for relatives and more recently have been very actively involved in the Move On process supporting guests in visiting rental accommodation, negotiating contracts and helping furnish their new accommodation.
NB4U is actively engaged in supporting our Ukrainian guests to seek and find paid employment by researching and sharing information regarding job fairs on our social media outlets and by offering an experienced person to attend with them or meet them there. A translation service has been provided. These activities have been initiated and supported by a small group of volunteers. We have a dedicated social media network channel to specifically share job advertisements when and where we see them which is actively used by our Ukrainians, volunteers and others including our hosts. CV writing classes have been held by a volunteer for small groups which have already resulted in some individuals finding employment.
