Continuing our series focused on volunteering opportunities for HR professionals, we met a consultant who used her mentoring skills to help a refugee find work.

After working in-house for major corporates like Credit Suisse and Cable and Wireless, HR practitioner and qualified mediator Nikki von Bülow turned her hand to consulting. Alongside her HR consultancy work, she began volunteering with the CIPD Trust around 10 years ago, mentoring young people. But in May 2024, she joined its Rebuilding Futures programme, to steer her mentoring skills towards an underserved group of people.

Meet Nikki

“I was feeling sad about the reception of people coming to this country,” von Bülow explains, and wanted to consciously do something to combat the negativity that refugees face. Once she’d made her decision though, fear set in.

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“I’d never been involved in anything like that before. I felt quite anxious about the extent [to which] I would be able to help, understand or be able to cope.” She worried about whether there would be a language barrier, whether she’d be asked to do tasks she wasn’t qualified for and about who she’d be paired with.

She needn’t have worried though. The refugee and asylum seeker mentees linked with the CIPD Trust’s Rebuilding Futures programme have all been granted settled status, so there’s no obligation to ensure immigration-related paperwork is sorted out.

The Trust also provided online training, connected mentors with people to talk to if they had concerns and ensures that all mentees have “board-level English”, as von Bülow puts it. “I felt as prepared as I could for the reality of meeting somebody who’d been through [trauma],” she says.

Meet Hamza

One month later, in June 2024, von Bülow was assigned to work with Hamza, a civil and structural engineer from Afghanistan, who has two first-class degrees. “The first call we had was a video call, and that was the first sense I got that this kind of mentoring would be different,” von Bülow says.

“He was one of 12 refugee men in a two-bedroom house with no table or chairs, so made the call from as private a place as he could,” which was on his bed, in a noisy environment, while constantly having to shoo people around him away. “I knew then I was going into a very unusual situation,” she explains. “But from that first call, he struck me as very genuine, and passionate about his work.”

A helping hand

Having helped reconstruct bombed buildings in Kabul before coming to the UK, Hamza wanted a career in construction. As von Bülow had no deep experience in that sector, she reached out to her network, calling on her friend Sue Archer, a chartered surveyor, to help convey the skills Hamza listed on his CV in a way that made sense for employers in the UK construction sector.

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As mentorship meetings continued, von Bülow was impressed by Hamza’s proactivity: “Any actions we talked about him taking, he’d done it by the next time we spoke,” she explains, but points out that her experience was not universal. “Some mentees expected their mentor to do things for them. In my case, I did the first draft of his CV, and [Archer] did the technical [work].”

Barriers

Despite having a newly updated CV, Hamza wasn’t getting interviews without UK experience and a UK reference. Again, von Bülow’s network came to the rescue, offering shadowing and on-site opportunities.

In September 2024 Hamza was offered shadowing experience, from which he secured two credible references.

One month later, Hamza started his first UK role as a site manager in London. First on the invitation list of people to visit him at work was von Bülow and Archer. “He looked so happy, and was keen to show us around,” von Bülow recalls.

In October 2025, Hamza started his second project management job. “Being mentored was a real game-changer for me,” says Hamza. “It’s like being steered perfectly when you have a car but don’t know how to drive.”

Payback

The Rebuilding Futures mentoring scheme has given von Bülow a fulfilling long-term connection that has filtered outside of the workplace sphere: from a celebratory dinner when Hamza got his first job, to Christmas get togethers. Hamza is her only mentee through the scheme, but she’s keen to take on more mentees when her schedule allows.

“It gave me such a good feeling. And it’s good to frighten yourself occasionally!” says von Bülow, who describes the experience as fulfilling, humbling and eye-opening. “It gives you hope, and a fresh perspective on the workplace,” she adds. “And a lot of large organisations have ESG goals,” von Bülow notes, explaining that this kind of mentoring can support a wider organisational vision.

Advice

Von Bülow advises HR professionals exploring this volunteering opportunity to be very clear and realistic about their time, and what they’re willing to do. “You want a professional but supportive connection,” von Bülow advises.

As well as being prepared to give mentees time and support, von Bülow advises potential mentors to be aware of potential barriers for asylum seekers, and not to neglect the small details: there will be things you instinctively know that a refugee will not, she reminds, explaining that she had to remind her mentee to buy an additional train ticket when travelling out of London. “You have to really listen, ask and walk in [their] shoes for a bit,” says von Bülow.

And if, despite your best efforts, your mentee doesn’t get a job, remember: “You’re not there to get them the job,” notes von Bülow. “You’re there to give them the skills, and to support them to [get a job].”

Aspiring volunteers can be assured that they already have the skills to help though, says von Bülow. “[HR professionals], more than most, have the skills for this. You understand the UK jobs market, the barriers, and have a network of people that can support this kind of work. Don’t think you’re on your own, or that it’s too big a task.”

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How it works

“The Rebuilding Futures programme connects talented people with refugee status with experienced mentors, to help them rebuild their lives and careers in the UK,” explains Sally Eley, head of the CIPD Trust. Over the last financial year, the programme has supported 53 displaced people.

“Mentees are referred through our valued charity partners, RefuAid and Breaking Barriers, who ensure that all participants have the right to work in the UK, have strong English proficiency and are ready to take the next step in their career journey. Mentors are matched based on mentees’ development goals, mentor expertise and availability, and sometimes industry or location.”

Every mentee is allocated a caseworker provided by the Trust’s charity partners, to support refugees and asylum seekers holistically, including with housing and mental health. For volunteer mentors, the Trust offers training that has been informed by the experiences of refugees. The training involves practical tools and guidance, Eley explains.

Get involved

Any HR professional, whether qualified with the CIPD or not, can volunteer to support a refugee or asylum seeker through the Rebuilding Futures scheme. To register your interest, click here.

 

This article was published in the November/December 2025 edition of HR magazine.

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