Refugee Week - Ahmad's story

To mark Refugee Week, we want to share the good news story of Ahmad, a Restart Scheme participant in our Skipton office.

Ahmad joined the Restart Scheme after moving to Skipton from Afghanistan, where he previously worked as a firefighter. He was keen to continue his firefighting career in the UK, and to also find a job that he could do while re-training.

The Restart Scheme supported Ahmad with tailoring his CV, and reached out to the North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service for any potential job opportunities with them. His Employment Adviser, Shelina, further supported Ahmad with filling in job applications, interview preparation and establishing contact with potential employers in the local area.

With support from the Employment Advisers at Skipton, Ahmad successfully got a job and has already began training to become a firefighter in the UK.

Tony Peel of the North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service has taken Ahmad on board for a two-week training course, to become ‘safe to ride’ on the fire engines, which he will then qualify to be employed full-time.

Ahmad shared: “I’m very happy with the support provided by the Restart Scheme and I am looking forward to having a career at the fire service.”

Tony said: “We were approached by the Restart Scheme to see if we could help with a candidate who had been relocated through a government sponsored scheme. The candidate had previous firefighting experience, albeit in another country. The Restart Scheme helped Ahmad through the application process, acting as support throughout the whole transitional period.”

The Fire and Rescue service in North Yorkshire are very keen to continue working with the Restart Scheme moving forward, and hope to see more aspiring firefighters coming through their doors.