Sona Circle Recruitment

Our mission is to create up to 100 new opportunities through the refugee internship programme over the next 12 months.

The programme gives refugees who arrive in the UK the chance to experience innovative working environments, which they otherwise might not have the chance to experience. The aim of the programme is to combat the current elitist and discriminatory internship system, whilst also injecting unique talent and innovation into UK businesses.

We aim to create targeted 3 month internship programmes with start-ups across different sectors in the UK, enabling refugees and asylum seekers to develop their skills and gain employment to support their livelihoods. Internships can also help refugees improve their language skills and transition more smoothly into their life in the UK. 

If scaled globally, our internship schemes would allow millions of refugees across the world to transition to secure careers, wherever they seek asylum.

In 2015, we witnessed the worst forcible displacement of people since World War II. Four million Syrian people were displaced due to conflict in the region as were an increasing number from African countries affected by violence and political unease, such as Sudan. More than three million people arrived in Europe fleeing violence and persecution. 

According to the United Nations, by the end of 2018 there were 126,720 refugees and 45,244 pending asylum cases in the UK. 

The refugee unemployment rate in the UK is 18% (more than four times the British population which is 3.9%). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation is now far worse than ever before.

Sadly, the systems in place in the UK were not able to adequately integrate refugees into UK workplaces and social systems. Refugees and asylum seekers settling in the diverse cities, still struggle to secure employment. 

Employers tend to misunderstand the legality of hiring refugees, the benefits of hiring refugees, or how to integrate refugees into their workforce. Our internships allow employers to easily and securely integrate refugees into their workforce.

In addition, Sona Circle Recruitment restores the rights and dignity of refugees by connecting them to employers and each other.

Sona Circle’s mission is to create 100 new employment opportunities for refugees in the UK in the next 12 months.

We connect with employers at exciting and innovative start-ups, with the skilled and dependable refugee workforce currently seeking employment in the UK, who fit their required skills. 

We provide information and training opportunities to support employers to understand the differences between refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants and where employment restrictions apply.

We can also support employers to access clients from our project who are job-ready, with a minimum expectation of a short work placement followed by a guaranteed interview for a genuine job opportunity. We aim for sustainable employment for the candidates but we only ask employers to provide a level playing field. 

For 3 months, a committed and bright refugee intern will shadow one or more members of the company's team, assisting in their work and gaining a realistic experience of working life in the UK and at that company. 

The intern will be paid UK/London Living wage for a 35 hour week, and a fee percentage will be paid to Sona Circle Recruitment, as a nonprofit social enterprise, to help us fund more internships.

Our programme targets refugees or those who have been granted humanitarian protection in the UK, regardless of their background or home country. 

So far, we have worked with communities in the city of London, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham and other diverse cities in the UK that host refugees and asylum seekers. 

These internship placements enable refugees to gain essential skills, build confidence while also improving language skills and benefiting from cultural exposure. There is also a chance that internship roles may directly lead to secure and permanent employment at the host company. 

By the end of 2020, 50 more refugees who would not otherwise have been able to access employment will have valuable work experience, a better understanding of UK work culture, job application and interview skills, social and professional connections and improved language skills.

Refugees can then go on to impress future employers, land more interviews and jobs, have better career prospects and ultimately secure their livelihoods and protect their families whilst they settle in the UK.

Our solution directly creates internships for marginalised communities (refugees) who would otherwise struggle to access job opportunities, because they are often not provided with the resources they need to attract employers or because employers do not understand how (and why) to successfully and legally hire refugees. 

We encourage employers to consider refugees, when otherwise they would have hired from the general population, and to also adopt refugee and minority friendly hiring practices in the future.

Our solution is innovative as it adopts a new approach (internships with start-ups and growth companies) to address a societal issue (refugee unemployment at 18% vs general unemployment of 3.9% in the UK) which will enable our target group to access employment opportunities which would otherwise be impossible for them to access.

By working with employers to create employment opportunities for refugees within their local communities, our solution addresses the issues of education, labour force participation and social integration.

We have also developed SonaTalks, a platform for sharing enlightening stories and ideas about refugees and asylum seekers in our community.

Our competitors in the UK are organisations that are involved in supporting refugees into the labour market. These include; Seek UK, Renaisi, Refugee Council,and Transitions London.

Our programme differs from other organisations as it is not restricted by industry or by the refugee's level of education. We also help provide internships directly, rather than skills-building or simply advertising jobs. Therefore we create a much more secure and direct route to employment. 

With some of the organisations, such as Code Your Future, we help recruit candidates for their programmes after which we help the refugees that attend these programmes to find jobs. With others such as Refugee Action, Seek UK and Transitions London, we help recruit candidates on a commission sharing basis.

The initial Sona Circle platform in 2017 was built around an app which included a simple registration using basic user information to update user profiles, it used Location Based Service (LBS) Capabilities to find people with skills nearby, private chat and public messaging forums, and included skill endorsements to build community trust and credibility. 

Over time, we found that the job recruitment aspects of Sona Circle were gaining more traction through the Sona Circle website (www.sonacircle.com) and so this element has been moved off the app. 

We also found that we were able to build a community of volunteers, mentors and supporters for refugees and asylum seekers through our social media platforms where we currently have over 35,000 followers and subscribers; as well as through the SonaTalks platform where we have held 2 events, shared over 30 videos through our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YK6YZK21nRglgM-iAqZbw) and reached over 20,000 people in teh process.

Although the initial version of the Sona Circle app is not currently live, we have plans to develop a new app focused on heritage. 

The purpose of the free App is to act as a time capsule in which refugees in the UK can share both their histories (stories, memories, songs and poetry) as well as their cultural traditions (including art, food and clothing) with one another, future generations and members of the public who are interested in learning more about the culture and heritage of refugees.

We have carried out extensive research on how we can build a sustainable, scalable social enterprise that restores the rights and dignity of 5,000 refugees and asylum seekers by 2025. 

A discussion paper on labour and refugee laws and policies by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) clearly states that comprehensive livelihood programmes would benefit refugees globally as there is a decline in labour force participation, falling education levels and rapid decline into lower income groups among refugees who primarily work in a few select sectors and in a very limited number of occupations.

https://www.ilo.org/empent/Projects/refugee-livelihoods/WCMS_634395/lang--en/index.htm 

Our business model addresses the issues of education, labour force participation and social integration. By supporting the engagement of minority groups and restoring access to economic opportunities, we aim to reach thousands of people seeking to improve their income and economic equality.

We have successfully built a social media community of over 30,000 followers https://www.instagram.com/sonacircleapp/ and created awareness through our SonaTalks YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YK6YZK21nRglgM-iAqZbw.

Primary research carried out at Lesbos and Athens in Greece, Cyprus, UN City in Copenhagen, Calais, France and among refugee support organisations in the UK found that;

Refugees across Europe reported high use of the internet and websites and apps such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Refugee.info and Viber to stay in contact and get news. Organisations such as MDM (Doctors of the world), SaveRefugees.info, UNHCR and Starfish also provide news and integration advice for refugees. 

Despite the availability of these services, refugees have reported a severe lack of information on employment opportunities.

A discussion paper on labour and refugee laws and policies by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) clearly states that comprehensive livelihood programmes would benefit refugees globally as there is a decline in labour force participation, falling education levels and rapid decline into lower income groups among refugees who primarily work in a few select sectors and in a very limited number of occupations.

The reality is that not all displaced people are poor or lack education and skills but all are in search of an identity, a community and their dignity to escape desperate circumstances. As the refugee Olympic team very bravely demonstrated on the world stage at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, there is immense human potential possessed by refugees which we must reawaken by seeing the opportunities imminent in their struggles.

Our objective therefore is to approach the refugee crisis not with charity but through the private sector which we believe can flourish by reimagining new architecture of identity and belonging relevant to the realities of the twenty-first century.

We have carried out extensive primary and secondary research on how we can build a sustainable, scalable social enterprise that restores the rights and dignity of thousands of refugees around the world. 

Our model addresses the issues of education, labour force participation and social integration. By supporting the engagement of refugees and asylum seekers and restoring access to economic opportunities, we aim to reach thousands of people seeking to improve their income and economic equality.

This action directly relates to and builds on the following EU/UN policies:

The Action Plan on the integration of third-country nationals

• Employment and vocational training, including actions to promote early integration into the labour market and migrants entrepreneurship

Integration in the labour market of legally residing third-country nationals

• The inclusion of migrants in the labour market to ensure their effective integration into the host societies and their positive impact on the economy.

Currently: So far Sona Circle has directly enabled over 100 refugees to access opportunities (including employment, internships, volunteering and skills development).

In one year: Our one year target is to place 100 refugees in internships, and 100 refugees and asylum seekers placed in other employment opportunities including apprenticeships, volunteering, skills development and full-time/part-time work placements.

In five years: Our plan is to first establish the existing model in the UK and then after a year, to scale it up and expand to other countries in Europe. Our target is to have placed 5,000 refugees and asylum seekers in employment and development opportunities by 2025.

The core outcome of Sona Circle over the next five years is the establishment of opportunities. In practical terms this involves:

• Creating short-term and long-term job opportunities for refugee families affected in the host communities through the Sona Circle recruitment platform for refugees which aims to create 200 jobs and opportunities in 12 months by working with local employers in selected countries across Europe. Our target is to have placed 5,000 refugees and asylum seekers in employment and development opportunities by 2025.
• Provide training courses for refugee owned business and professional skills (industrial apprenticeships) both directly and through our partner organisations which include Code Door, Code your future, the entrepreneurial refugee network and Manchester Refugee Support Network and others.
• Promote private sector investment in refugee businesses through our partner organisations by creating jobs for refugees.
• Support the establishment and growth of micro, small and medium enterprises targeting vulnerable families through the same channels mentioned above.
• Stimulate local economic development based on engagement and partnership between the public and private sector employers, refugees and asylum through the growth of an integrated network on the Sona Circle platform which is aimed at refugees, asylum seekers, employers, local government agencies, NGO’s, volunteers, and aid organisations.
• Improve labour market management and compliance with national labour criteria, alongside the Labour Ministries and partner organisations which include Refugee Action which is currently running the ‘lift the ban campaign’ http://lifttheban.co.uk/ https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/lift-the-ban/

Sona Circle faces several risks and uncertainties which affect the operations of the organisation. 

An important factor is reaching refugees and generating awareness of our work. Although we have been successful in achieving this to-date, this forms a key consideration. Reaching and engaging refugee communities can often by very difficult due to the social challenges of such groups including language and cultural barriers, the unease of ‘foreign’ communities and limited integration success. 

A further important consideration is in building a network of engaged partners through employers and community groups. These groups often fail to fully recognise refugees, may find it difficult to connect with these stakeholders and may have certain social stigmas affecting this change.

Political uncertainty also affects our purpose. The recognition and acceptance of refugees within communities is an important factor on a social level which may either support or detract from our work depending on the perception of refugees within communities. 

Finally, we must ensure we positively make an impact in the lives of refugees and our communities. This is the most important consideration of all. 

Reaching and engaging refugee communities requires an important and considered response and we actively shape our work with expert partners and refugees. In our work, we seek to provide an inclusive solution that recognises the skills and potential of refugees and their contribution to society. This can be demonstrated through the SonaTalks events and through the community of over 35,000 social media followers and subscribers.

We are building a network of employers across the UK through direct outreach, marketing and through our networks within the corporate world. The first step in making employers aware of the enormous potential that exists in the refugee workforce is by breaking down the informational barriers and stigmas which they might have about refugees. We do this through our Refugee Employment Guides which we share with employers. this can be downloaded at the following link: https://sonacircle.com/resources/

In order to effect political change in support of refugees and asylum seekers, we are actively engage with core coalitions and refugee organisations to ensure the needs of refugees are recognised by the Government. For example, we participate in the Right to Work coalition by Refugee Action which was featured in the Financial Times and supported by global business leaders and social experts.

Finally, we regularly review our success through defined criteria that positively changes the lives of those we serve.

At a quantitative level, we review:

• the number of individuals engaged in our community
• the number of opportunities created via employment
• the number of partners actively engaged 

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Aside from the two full time members of staff, we have been supported on a part time basis by six highly skilled individuals in both an operational and mentoring basis. 

They include a project manager based in Germany, a refugee support worker based in Italy, a social and community manager, a management consultant, a strategy consultant, an international relations advisor, and the MBA Programme Director at Aston University who has advised in some 25 countries for international and national development and aid organisations. 

We are also assisted by four temporary volunteers. 

I am Seye, a founder of Sona Circle Recruitment. Being of mixed heritage (Nigerian and Greek) I have spent almost half my life in Nigeria prior to relocating to the UK. 

My professional background is in corporate and investment banking in Africa, Middle East and the UK, which I did for 10 years prior to this. I have a masters in finance, an MBA and I am a chartered accountant.

I have experienced first-hand, the need to leave a place I called home (both internally within Nigeria as well as externally out of the country) due to religious tensions, civil unrest and a lack of economic opportunities within the country. 

These experiences have instilled in me a desire to help others who are going through a similar experience as I know the many difficulties which can be faced when trying to re-integrate into a new environment and culture.

Our supporting team and consultants have extensive experience. Our team includes a refugee support worker in Italy who sees first-hand the issues refugees face when integrating to a new country, an international relations advisor who has previously worked in research at the Kofi Annan foundation, and the MBA Programme Director at Aston University who has advised in some 25 countries for international and national development and aid organisations (including ILO, ADB, CARE, DANIDA, DFID, EU, SIDA, NORAD, UNDP, UNIDO and the World Bank).

We are currently partnered with a number of organisations supporting Refugees in the UK including Manchester Refugee Support Network, The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network, Refugee Action, Ashley Community Housing, Transitions London, Code Door, Code Your Future, Breadwinners and Renaisi.

• Seek UK: online job platform to help employers find refugees
• Renaisi: helps on their journeys into work, equipping them with essential skills, knowledge, experience and opportunities.
• Refugee Council: working with Starbucks, NHS and other public and private organisations to promote refugee integration
• Transitions London: employment agency that focuses on refugee professionals (engineers and architects)

With some of the organisations such as Breadwinners, Code Door and Code Your Future, we help recruit candidates for their programmes after which we help the refugees that attend these programmes to find jobs. With others such as Refugee Action, Seek UK and Transitions London, we help recruit candidates on a commission sharing basis.

We are also currently building partnerships with start-ups around the UK, such as Zego, WhiteHat, Aire and Signal.AI, who can take on interns as part of our programme.

In 2015, we witnessed the worst forcible displacement of people since World War II. Four million Syrian people were displaced due to conflict in the region as were an increasing number from Africa as the use violence afflicted the nations of Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than three million people arrived in Europe fleeing violence and persecution. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by the end of 2018 there were 126,720 refugees and 45,244 pending asylum cases in the UK. 

Sadly the systems in place in the UK were not able to adequately create an effective response which has meant that refugees still face two significant issues. These are the social needs which Sona Circle is aiming to address:

 -Securing employment opportunities

 -Locating support services

The Sona Circle model addresses the issues of education, labour force participation and social integration. By supporting the engagement of minority groups and restoring access to economic opportunities, we aim to reach thousands of people in the UK seeking to improve their income and economic equality.

We deliver social impact through the following: 

• Creating short-term and long-term job opportunities for refugee families affected in the UK through the Sona Circle recruitment platform
• Creating awareness about the need to support refugees through organising the SonaTalks events

Sona Circle currently generates income through four sources which we intend to continue over the next 12 months. These are as follows:

1. Recruitment fees: commission received from companies on placing refugee candidates in various roles within their organisations. The commission rates can range from 5% to 20% depending on what can be negotiated with the various employers and will vary in the profit/non-profit sectors.

2. Sponsorship fees: generated through organising the SonaTalks events which is planned to occur annually. We have different tiers of sponsorship packages depending on the benefits sought by the sponsors.

3. Grants: So far, we have received grants from the BSEEN programme and the UNLTD social enterprise programme. We continue at apply for grants and funding through other organisations and platforms.

4. Fund raising campaign: We receive donations and contributions through the JustGiving refugee campaign aimed at supporting refugee employment. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/SonaCircle

We are extremely passionate about supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK to access opportunities. Our target for 2020 is to support 200 refugees to obtain paid employment in the UK.

 In order to achieve this, the plans in place to ensure that the venture continues to deliver social impact and is sustainable are as follows: 

• Create short-term and long-term job opportunities for refugee families affected in the UK through the Sona Circle recruitment platform for refugees.
• Provide training courses for refugee owned business and professional skills (industrial apprenticeships) through our partner organisations which include Code Door, Code your future, TERN and MRSN.
• Creating awareness about the need to support refugees through organising the SonaTalks 2020 event entitled: Creating Opportunities for Refugee Communities’.
• Expanding our online community of refugees and asylum seekers through social media, Sona Circle App and email subscriptions which will enable us match the jobs which are created with the most suitable candidates.

However, this solution will require the involvement of Solve which will enable us to focus on Sona Circle on a full-time basis. The funding received will enable the platform to make a substantial social change through integration. By increasing our partnerships, solutions and awareness we will be able to positively impact the lives of refugees through employability, skills development and community building.

Our achievement against these outcomes is already being, and will continue to be regularly measured by engaging with our stakeholders which include employers, partners and of course refugees.

Sona Circle has been very fortunate in the amount of (non-financial) support we have received from the community. 

We seek to partner with UK start-ups and growth businesses that could provide placements for refugee interns. 

We also seek to partner with (more) charities and organisations that work with refugees on their arrival in the UK, that can direct them towards our internship programmes and provide us with suitable candidates. 

By working with Solve, over the next 12 months, our goal is to obtain not only the financial support to enable our full time member/s of staff to carry out the day today operational aspects of the social enterprise but also to benefit from the mentorship, guidance and continuous development through the focused and relevant training courses which are organised by Solve.

In order to achieve our goals, we will need to form a strategic partnership with the UK Refugee Council which is led by the Chief Executive, Maurice Wren. The Refugee Council is currently leading a number a projects to support Refugee integration and employment including; 

• Just Bread which is a 12 week training programme for Refugee Women, 
• Starbucks: helping refugees into jobs
• Helping Refugees Health Professionals join the NHS 

 Our intention is to work alongside the UK Refugee Council as well as their partners in recruiting Refugees and filling the roles which are being created through our network and 35,000 social media followers.

 We also aim to partner with the Tent Foundation which is a non-profit organisation mobilizing the private sector to improve the lives of refugees around the globe. Among their members are Starbucks, Airbnb, Unilever, Ikea, Citi, Facebook, Google, Goldman Sachs and LinkedIn to mention just a few. These are all very large organisations which have already made a public commitment to help improve the lives of refugees. 

We advance the economic, financial and political inclusion of refugees by providing them with high-quality work experience opportunities, increasing refugee workforce inclusion, encouraging integration (through understanding and educated inclusion in workplaces) and encourage companies to continue to adopt refugee-friendly hiring practices.

The refugee unemployment rate in the UK is 18% (more than three times the British population). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation is now far worse than ever before.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, more needs to be done to enable refugees to support themselves, their families and their livelihoods. By creating paid employment and a route into the UK job market, our refugee employment programme directly benefits the approximately 150,000 refugees in the UK.

Our aim is to help refugees and asylum seekers in the UK to obtain paid employment, internship opportunities, apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities with both private and public organisations. We plan to create 200 jobs and opportunities in 12 months while also creating awareness about the need to support refugees through the SonaTalks 2020 event.

These results have a truly long term impact and will have life-long implications for participants. 

Sona Tech C.I.C. (Sona Circle) is a non-profit social enterprise based in the UK which connects refugees with local opportunities; enabling refugees and asylum seekers to develop their skills and gain employment to support their livelihoods.

We advance the economic, financial and political inclusion of refugees by providing them with high-quality work experience opportunities, increasing refugee workforce inclusion, encouraging integration (through understanding and educated inclusion in workplaces) and encourage companies to continue to adopt refugee-friendly hiring practices.

The refugee unemployment rate in the UK is 18% (more than three times the British population). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation is now far worse than ever before.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, more needs to be done to enable refugees to support themselves, their families and their livelihoods. By creating paid employment and a route into the UK job market, our refugee employment programme directly benefits the approximately 150,000 refugees in the UK.

Our aim is to help refugees and asylum seekers in the UK to obtain paid employment, internship opportunities, apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities with both private and public organisations. We plan to create 200 jobs and opportunities in 12 months while also creating awareness about the need to support refugees through the SonaTalks 2020 event.

These results have a truly long term impact and will have life-long implications for participants. 

Sona Tech C.I.C. (Sona Circle) is a non-profit social enterprise based in the UK which connects refugees with local opportunities; enabling refugees and asylum seekers to develop their skills and gain employment to support their livelihoods.

We advance the economic, financial and political inclusion of refugees by providing them with high-quality work experience opportunities, increasing refugee workforce inclusion, encouraging integration (through understanding and educated inclusion in workplaces) and encourage companies to continue to adopt refugee-friendly hiring practices.

The refugee unemployment rate in the UK is 18% (more than three times the British population). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation is now far worse than ever before.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, more needs to be done to enable refugees to support themselves, their families and their livelihoods. By creating paid employment and a route into the UK job market, our refugee employment programme directly benefits the approximately 150,000 refugees in the UK.

Our aim is to help refugees and asylum seekers in the UK to obtain paid employment, internship opportunities, apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities with both private and public organisations. We plan to create 200 jobs and opportunities in 12 months while also creating awareness about the need to support refugees through the SonaTalks 2020 event.

These results have a truly long term impact and will have life-long implications for participants.