Bread & Roses provides practical and emotional support to women from refugee backgrounds who want to work. The social enterprise was started up in response to the fact that refugees are six times less likely to be employed than the national average, with women facing a number of barriers that make it even harder to find employment. Working in partnership with refugee organisations around London, B
read & Roses delivers workshops which provide advice and guidance in the area of employability for refugee and asylum seeking women. In a context where many women suffer from poor emotional well-being and low self-esteem, however, it is not only practical support that is needed, so we also run floristry workshops. These workshops provide a relaxed, sociable space where women can be creative, and often lead to conversations which help us to identify other areas in which programme participants may need support. This holistic approach to working with women gives them a better chance of securing and maintaining jobs, therefore reducing the isolating effects, both social and financial, of unemployment. And the benefits of the floristry are not only therapeutic, as the flowers made in workshops are sold to local businesses. The money made from the sale of our beautiful flowers goes directly back to the women who arranged them, helping them with the cost of attending interviews and gaining qualifications.
