The Somali organisation bypassing the language barrier to care jobs

“I don’t like to take benefits,” says Shukri Warsame. “I want to take care of my family myself and be independent. If I’m sitting at home doing nothing, relying on benefits, my children will think they don’t have to pay their way when they leave school.”

However, for Warsame, who is Somali and arrived in the UK from the Netherlands 12 years ago, finding work with limited English and a lack of qualifications, has been difficult. It is a common story. But Warsame recently completed a training course and has been working for nine and a half hours a week as a carer, for a frail, elderly Somali woman who lives on her own and speaks no English. She hopes she will soon be able to work full-time in the field.

The job is the result of a new scheme run by the Midaye Somali Development Network, in west London, to get long-term unskilled, unemployed members of the Somali community into work. Community developer Idil Hassan created the personal assistant support service (Pass) to provide training and job opportunities where English is not essential – and speaking Somali a distinct advantage. It matches newly skilled-up participants with older and disabled Somalis who pay for the care they receive from their council-funded personal budget.

So far, seven people have been trained by Pass, which is supported by Kensington and Chelsea council, and two are working. “Of course, learning English for life in general is important, but there’s a mindset that people have to have done it before they can get a job,” says Hassan, who arrived in the borough as a child refugee in the 90s. “We can create jobs within the community that a person can do without English.

“People desperately want to work. It’s a misconception that they don’t. I know lots of people who would be happy to give up benefits today if there was a job available.”

Using a Pass-trained carer means elderly Somali people benefit from not having a language barrier, and are able to build a long-term relationship – something that is far less likely with agency carers, says Hassan.

“These are elderly people who can’t speak the language, don’t know the culture, don’t have any family, can’t talk to their neighbours,” she adds. “They can’t do anything for themselves. They’re at a very vulnerable stage in their lives. This help means a lot to them; it helps them integrate into society.”

Warsame’s time with 76-year-old Binti is spent doing simple tasks that make a big difference, such as changing bedsheets and taking her to community events that make her feel less isolated.

“Binti is very kind,” says Warsame. “She always tells me she finds it hard to trust people because she’s been through a lot of problems in her life, but that she trusts me.”

Hassan hopes the Pass programme may be taken up by the other west London boroughs where Midaye supports members of the Somali community.

Warsame says: “Caring comes naturally to me – I’ve always looked after people – but having the training has given me more confidence. I feel this is my profession now.”