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Paula joined us as an Admin volunteer and has also recently acted as a mentor to Voices in Exile service users. We recently spoke to Paula to ask how her background as a GP enabled her to help refugees find work in the NHS, and what she enjoys about the mentoring experience.

Hi Paula, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a retired GP and moved to Brighton from Manchester 10 years ago. I’ve also worked in Public Health where I ran immunisation programmes and investigated outbreaks, and I used to teach at both Brighton and Sussex and Manchester medical schools.

Voices in Exile Admin Support Volunteer and Mentor, Paula

What made you join Voices in Exile?

Some of my patients in Brighton were refugees and I saw how hard it was for them. I wanted to do something useful when I retired and when I saw Voices in Exile was recruiting, it felt like a good fit. My husband and I are both children of immigrants.

What does a day in the Admin office look like?

I offered to support admin as both primary care and Public Health involve a lot of admin these days, and also my hearing isn’t great so it’s easier to do office work. Susan always finds me interesting things to do – digitising records, updating resources on the Voices website, or helping to organise events. It’s different every week! And everyone here is so supportive, it’s such a nice place to work.

Your professional career has enabled you to mentor some clients looking for employment, could you tell us more about that process?

It’s difficult for someone with a profession to change countries – even moving across the country can be difficult, as I found when I moved from Manchester. It’s even harder if you come from outside the NHS – you may have excellent knowledge of your specialty and a wealth of experience, but the recruitment process may be unfamiliar.

I have done my best to support two healthcare professionals in their search for work in the healthcare sector. They have a lot to offer and will be an asset to the NHS.

A Voices in Exile service user who recently found work after being supported by Paula said:

“Paula is very helpful and patient. When she sent me an email she sent all the details I needed and if I asked her to do anything she completed everything efficiently. With her help, I applied for a health care assistant role and got an interview and the job.”

Could you be a mentor to migrant professionals? 

Our Skills & Employability Caseworker, Lucy, is keen to hear from other professionals who would like to mentor refugees seeking employment. If you are interested in a mentoring role at Voices in Exile, please email lucy.newton@voicesinexile.org

Here, Mohammed explains how support from Voices in Exile has helped him to settle in the UK since he left Sudan in 2019, and how he’s recently reunited with his wife, Lana, after 5 years apart.

“I came to the UK five years ago after fleeing conflict in my home country of Sudan. Voices in Exile have been supporting me here in Brighton.

I go to their English classes and they have helped me with applying for refugee status, getting a job, and helping me to reunite with my wife. I had to leave my wife behind in Sudan and I didn’t see her for more than five years. But she recently got her visa to come to the UK and now she is living here with me.

I volunteer in the food bank at Voices in Exile every week. I enjoy volunteering here because I can help other people in the same way that I have been helped and that makes me happy.

Everyone here is so friendly. Anytime I need help — with contacting the council, or the doctor, anything I need, I can talk to anyone here and I know they will help me.”

If you’d like to donate to Voices in Exile to support our food bank or the other work we do to support refugees and asylum seekers, visit our donate page.