Mustafa's story: Keep on learning and be responsible for yourself

Journey to Centrepoint

Mustafa, 22, arrived in the UK, aged 17 under humanitarian protection in 2021 and as he was a minor, was moved into foster care. However, when he turned 18, he was asked to leave his home as he had aged out of the support and he began to move between different temporary houses and accommodations, before turning to rough sleeping when he had no more options for housing. 

Whilst moving between these different temporary shelters and accommodations, he began to work with a support organisation who recommended that he reach out to the Centrepoint Helpline, to see what more permanent options might be available to him and what other avenues or housing there might be.  

Together, they contacted the Helpline explaining his living situation and a Helpline advisor was able to share some information around where he might be able to get support with more long-term housing options. As he had been living in the area for many years the Helpline suggested that Mustafa reach out to the council, who might be able to provide temporary accommodation whilst he finds more suitable options. However, the council did not see him as being a priority need, which meant that together they had to look for alternative support options. 

After months of phone calls and emails between his housing officer, the support organisation he was working with and the Helpline advisor, they reviewed all his options and what might be suitable for him. It was during this time that a flat became available in a Centrepoint supported home, which was local to where he had been staying and felt like the right option for him. He flat and has been living in his home for the last 18 months. During their communications, a flat became available at a Centrepoint supported home which he has been living in for the last 18 months. 

After years of instability with his housing options, he settled into his new home quickly, developing close relationships with some of the other young people and the support staff to help him on his journey to independence. 

“It was good – I was living nearby before I moved to here. So, I found my friend here, which was very good, and sometimes we had out inside together, sometimes we go outside together.”

Key worker relationships

Whilst living in his new home, he’s been working closely with his key worker, Leanne, and has appreciated the range of help and advice she has been able to offer. He knows that he can go to her with any questions or if he needs some support.

Mustafa was also eligible for Centrepoint’s refugee bursary, which he has been able to use to put towards the cost of his travel to and from college. As travel costs go up, this has enabled him to continue on attending college and means that he can get one step closer to his goals.

“It’s good living here with Centrepoint. Each day when we live here, they help us with travelcards or important emails or if I have any questions, I can just ask them here.”

Mustafa is currently at college, where he has been studying ESOL for just over a year and really enjoying the opportunity to study and begin to feel more comfortable with the language. He also has taken additional English lessons with the Centrepoint education team, which he has preferred, being able to have the one-on-one support and learn at his own pace.

“I’m currently in college studying ESOL. It’s taking a long time to learn sand the classes with Centrepoint are good. And when I go to college, it’s quite different with everyone in the class.”

Although Mustafa’s English is coming along really well, he has appreciated having Leanne there on hand for support with translating different documents and helping with any vocational language with job applications and or with any difficult conversations on the phone. 

“At the moment, Leanne is my key worker. If I want to apply for some jobs and something is difficult to understand, I show it to them, and they explain it in different ways to describe it and help me. It’s been really helpful. For example, and important things like when I had to contact my GP, she helped me to contact them.”

Although college takes up a huge amount of his time, he makes sure to be spending his down time on doing additional work or looking and applying for potential jobs. Alongside this, he has a passion for a wide range of different music and enjoys sitting in his room and putting on a playlist to unwind.

“When I’m not in college, I’m doing homework or applying for jobs. For fun, I like watching videos and listening to music. I listen to English music, French and Arabic music.”

Working towards his dream job

Alongside his time spent at college and working with the education team on getting the qualifications he needs to move into work, he has also been working closely with Asif, a jobs and education advisor, to try and find roles that work for him. They have been working together for around 18 months, developing skills together that might help with Mustafa taking the steps he needs to enter into the working world.

“Here I’m working with jobs and education with Asif- if there is anything about a job, I know that I can ask Asif all the time.”

Mustafa has a wide range of interests when it comes to his future job, but knows that if he can speak English fluently, this will help to open a lot of doors for him. Once he has his qualification in English finalised, he has an interest in becoming an electrician and has been working with Asif to see what course might work best for him to reach his goal.

“I want to do many jobs, but I’m still learning English and I want to finish that and then do a course so I can become an electrician. I’ve been asking Asif what the best course would be to learn.”

For the time being, although he is still interested in finding out about potential job opportunities and might be open to him, he wants to finish off his ESOL classes as well as any functional skills qualifications to help him take the steps into working. He knows how important having these help his applications will be when it comes to going into his dream role, so is making sure to take every opportunity he can to finish the course and achieve his grades.

“I want to finish my English course, and I have three years left. When I did my functional skills, it was good and that’s going to help me a lot to do some courses, as you need a lot of qualifications. When you have those qualifications, you need to prove it before you can do the course, so they’re very important.”

“If I speak English properly, then I can go onto any course, like a security course or driving to meet someone. I need to speak English perfectly.”

Advice from his journey 

Throughout Mustafa’s journey, he’s learnt a lot about supporting himself and has a set of guiding principles which have helped him to continue on and take each step forward. For Mustafa, he sees every opportunity as one that he can learn from and help him to take full responsibility for himself so that he can be his own advocate and not need to always rely on the help of others.

“For me, the best thing is to try to always learn something and then this is going to help you in the future. There is always something you need to learn, so keep on learning and you have to be responsible for yourself. You don’t always need someone to help you.”

The next thing he wants to be able to rely on himself for, is being able to speak English fluently as this will help to open a lot of doors and mean that he can be more independent. He hopes that once he is in that position, he will be able to support other young people in similar places for them to feel comfortable in looking after themselves.

“For example, if I speak perfect English, if I get some qualifications, I should be able to work and I won’t need someone to help me as I’ve been able to work everything out and then I’m responsible for myself. And then I’ll be able to help other people.”

We wish Mustafa all the best with his dream of becoming an electrician and are so proud everything he has been able to achieve so far.