"Breadwinners has really helped me communicate better in English": Interview with Abdulghaffar, Riser

Volunteer Cleo chats to Abdulghaffar about the Risers programme. Abdulghaffar has just finished the 8 week programme and will be graduating this week.

Abdulghaffar (right) behind the stall with Endri, Breadwinner (left)

Abdulghaffar is one of the young people currently taking part in Breadwinners’ Risers training programme. This means that he’s dedicated his Saturday mornings to helping run one of our busy market stands, an opportunity to gain work experience while also practicing his English language skills. We met up with Abdulghaffar to find out more about his experience with Breadwinners and how he’s finding life in the UK.

“I completed an application as soon as I heard about Breadwinners,” he told us. “I wanted to work at the market to improve my communication skills. I’ve been in London for about one and a half years. At first, I was going to college and learning English. Then, coronavirus came and I had to stay at home, so I didn’t have as much opportunity to practice.”

The Risers programme offers young people seeking asylum work experience, as well as mentorship to help them develop their skills or make plans for the future. For Abdulghaffar, though, the biggest benefit is the opportunity to practice speaking with customers in English. He explained why this is so important for him:

“I already have a lot of experience, and I used to work in a shop. But all the work I have done before was in Arabic! Now I need to get experience of working while speaking English. My favourite thing about working at the market is talking to the customers and the team, and learning new words. When the customers come and ask me questions, I can practice communicating in English.

“At first, I was nervous because my language skills aren’t great. Sometimes I would get confused about what people were saying to me. Now that I have been here for longer and know the names of the different breads, it is a lot easier.

“My mentor Francisco also helps me a lot. When I hear a new word, I can ask him what it means and he explains it to me. When I came to London, I didn’t know any English. All I could say was hello, good morning! Now it has improved a lot, and I hope that in a couple of years I will be fluent.”

Abdulghaffar also told us about future aspirations – to be an entrepreneur, and run his own business. But for now, he is staying focussed on his short-term goals:

“In the future, I want to have my own business. I haven’t decided what my business will be yet. First of all, improving my language skills is very important to me. If I can’t communicate then I can’t do anything.

“Breadwinners has really helped me communicate better in English. I would definitely advise somebody else to join the programme if they were thinking about it.”

We’re very grateful to Abdulghaffar for sharing this great insight into his experience with Breadwinners. He does have one confession to make, though:

“I haven’t tried the bread yet! But I do love the carrot cake, it’s very good.”