Mentoring refugee programme
In May 2022, the Chief Executive Officers of the Engineering Council (EngC), Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), and the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), met with then HRH The Prince of Wales, now His Majesty King Charles III, to explore how the engineering profession can assist refugees in securing employment.
Approaching the network of volunteer mentors and collaborating with Business in The Community (BITC) and the Refugee Employment Network (REN) was discussed, to create a programme that matched refugees with mentors from Professional Engineering Institutions (PEIs) with the potential to scale based on demand.
This work has since progressed and has been overseen by a Mentoring Refugees into Work Committee, which last met on 22 October 2024. One of the outputs of this committee was to remind all PEIs of this important initiative and also to issue an additional request for support through the nomination of suitable mentors for the scheme.