The refugee nurses making new careers in the NHS in Norfolk and Suffolk

The project is a collaboration between the NHS, Liverpool John Moores University, RefuAid, and Talent Beyond Boundaries

A group of refugee health workers are taking part in a pilot programme utilising their skills to help reduce gaps in the NHS workforce. They have come from places like Syria and Lebanon where they worked as nurses. What is life like for them in the UK and how are local people helping them settle in?

'Helping the community is what nursing is about'

Yasmine Sadek graduated this year from the Lebanese American University with a nursing degree

The nurses are joining the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services in the region.

They will start as healthcare assistants but work their way up with nurse training.

Yasmine Sadek is half Palestinian and half Lebanese and was born and raised in Lebanon.

She says: "In Lebanon, the health sector was struggling, there was a shortage of supplies and staff.

"It was really challenging and to add on to that we had the blast in Beirut. No-one was ready for it."

In August 2020 Beirut was rocked by an enormous blast as hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate exploded, killing more than 200 people.

Khaled, Rayyan and Yasmine (left to right) are three of a group of six in the pilot programme

The 21-year-old says: "The day after the blast, I went to volunteer at my university hospital.

"It was chaotic, there was a shortage of staff and that's why I went to help out.

"It felt great to help the community because that's what nursing is all about."

She says the chance to move to the UK and work in a mental health hospital is "amazing".

"I'm so grateful I am working in mental health because that is everything I wanted to do back home but couldn't because the mental health facilities in Lebanon are so limited.

"Here I am developing myself, I am more than happy to learn even more."

'Great Yarmouth is far away from bombs and fighting'

Nurse Khaled says he left Syria because of the war

Khaled is from Syria where he trained as a nurse and is now working at a mental health hospital in Great Yarmouth.

He says: "I volunteered as a nurse in my country during the war because there was a shortage of nurses.

"It was hard, it was challenging, it wasn't easy at all.

"So we had to work overtime, one or two nurses handling 45 patients during shifts, most of the time we had no days off because we had no staff."

He says he had to leave Syria because of the war and always wanted to come to the UK.

The 25-year-old says: "My cousin lives here and he told me if you can come over here it would be amazing."

Khaled says people in Great Yarmouth and at the hospital have been welcoming

He says he wants to work in mental health "to learn something new in my life".

"It's about the patients and it's about how you are helping.

"To see the smile on their faces at the end your shift, it's all worth it."

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He says working for the NHS is a "win-win deal". "They need me and I need the safety, I need a better future for myself.

"Great Yarmouth is a quiet place far away from the noise, the bombs and the fighting."

'I'm overwhelmed by their courage'

Charity volunteer Della Anverali says doing things like catching a bus or train to Norwich can be a new experience for the refugees

Della Anverali is from the charity Reset which runs a project called Neighbours for Newcomers that helps refugees in their new homes.

She says: "I think it's an opportunity for strangers to settle into a new town but also they bring a benefit to the town because they are nurses and we're desperate for nurses."

The charity is a friend to the refugees rather than giving advice or doing things for them, she says.

The 75-year-old says: "For example, when they needed to find a GP, we got the forms but they filled them in, we told them where it was but they went there themselves, so it's a supporting role."

The group have gone to local museums and Christmas events to see more of the local community

Ms Anverali says the change from their home country to Great Yarmouth is "very dramatic".

She says "You arrive in a town where you know nobody, even if you move from London to Great Yarmouth it's a big step.

"We have a WhatsApp group, so just to have a 'where can I buy this' message on WhatsApp makes life a bit easier for them to settle in.

"They are adapting remarkably quickly. I'm overwhelmed by their ability to pick things up and their courage, because they are only young and after the first couple of weeks they've jumped in and got on with it.

"They're amazing."