Mubarak: have a target and you will reach it

Finding Centrepoint

Mubarak, 21, arrived in the UK in 2021 under humanitarian protection after leaving his home country of Sudan. After living in care for a few years, Mubarak was referred to Centrepoint by his key worker towards the end of 2024 as he was at risk of homelessness and a few months later found a space in one of the semi-independent homes in London.

“My key worker referred me and so I’ve come to live with Centrepoint until I can move into my own property.”

He’s recently begun to feel more settled in his new home, making friends and connections in the area, which have helped him to find his place. Having that comfortability and feeling safe in his new home has allowed him to take up different opportunities as he begins to get ready to move into his own property in the future. 

“When I arrived here, I had no friends, but after being here for 2 months, I found some friends living around this area. I sometimes go and visit him, and he can come here too. I really like the area, and the building is nice and it’s very clean.”

He has developed a good relationship with his key worker, Tsegay, who supports him with day-to-day tasks and advice, as well as being able to help with covering the cost of some travel, if he needs to attend external meetings. 

“Tsegay has helped me a lot. If I need anything, I can ask him directly. Sometimes he can help me with a Travelcard if I’m meeting with Elizabeth or I have to go to a meeting somewhere else.”

Taking every opportunity 

Whilst living with Centrepoint, Mubarak has been working closely with the jobs and education team to help him get his qualifications and to find a role which he is interested in pursuing. He’s been working with Elizabeth, a jobs and education advisor, who has been supporting him at looking and applying for roles, as well as meeting with potential employers and with getting the necessary qualifications he needs.

Whilst on his journey to the UK, Mubarak had taken on some construction roles and so was interested in continuing working in these areas, and Elizabeth has been searching for something that could match his experience.

“Elizabeth has been helping me with my education and if I’m looking for any job, she comes here to hep me. She helps me with all kinds of stuff.”

“I met with Elizabeth and some employers came to talk about construction jobs. So, we talked about some jobs, and they took my email. I was doing construction work when I was in Libya. I was doing painting and construction of different buildings”.

Alongside looking for jobs in construction and seeing what qualifications and experience he might need to move into this sector, he also recently completed his level 1 in food hygiene and safety course. 

Having his qualification can help him to walk into roles in the hospitality sector and allow him to progress within those roles. After achieving his level one, he’s begun to think about doing the next level of the qualification to see that options this might open up for him.

“I did my health and safety food qualification as well. I started that in August and did it for four weeks. That went well and then last week, they sent me the link to do the next level of the training.”

“It’s good for if you want to do cooking or you want to work in a café or in hospitality and those kinds of things. If you learn and have this, you can start working in like a coffee shop or something else. If you’ve been doing it for a long time, you can be even more qualified to do things.”

Working towards his dream

As an avid football fan, supporting Arsenal and playing midfielder when he practices with his friends, Mubarak dreamed of becoming a footballer. Now it’s something that he enjoys doing in his free time and has given him the chance to practice another skill that he’s been honing – barbering. 

Before games, he takes the opportunity to give his friends a fresh trim and have the chance to practice some different styles. He has an interest in finding a barbering course he can go on in the future in order to get his qualification and take the next steps into those positions. 

“If we have somewhere to go, I just do my friend’s haircut. Especially when we have football, I try to cut his hair.”

Before he can apply for a barbering place at college, he is first completing his Foundational skills qualifications – a necessary to make an application to college.

“In the future, I want to go to college and then I want to do a barbering course. I’m really interested in doing a barbering course. I already have some experience, because I like to do my friend’s hair.” 

“If you want to do a barbering course, you need to have your GCSEs, or I need to have English Level 3.”

Thinking to the future

Mubarak is already thinking to the future and is hopeful that he will soon get his bidding number from the council so he can move into his own flat. Although this can take time, he is hopeful that he gets allocated soon and can begin to live independently. 

“I like being here in this house. At the moment, I am waiting for my bidding number so I can start to bid and then I can get my own house. I don’t have an idea of when that might be yet – I keep asking my social worker.”

Whilst living with Centrepoint, and throughout his journey, he has had a clear piece of guidance in mind which has helped him to reach where he is and help him to keep up the motivation to move forward.

“If you have a target, just start to work for it and you will reach it one day. If you have goals, you have to start working for them and don’t give up.”

After achieving so much in a short period of time with Centrepoint, we are excited to see what Mubarak does next and the steps he takes to reach his dream.