Internships pave the way towards employment
At Trampoline House, job training isn’t just job training. Trampoline House provides a safe space for social engagement and the consideration of individual needs. This is highly valued by the job training agency Servisio, which since April 2019 has directed citizens to Trampoline House.
By Mona Torbensen
During the past months, Trampoline House has provided a space for a number of citizens in employment training via the agency Servisio. Najat is one of these. After getting to know the house, she has settled in well: “The first days are always difficult, because you don’t know the staff, but afterwards, everything has worked out very well!” says Najat and laughs a little. Having been busy in the kitchen, she has just presented the rest of the staff of Trampoline house with a tall layer cake. Najat’s passion has long been to create beautiful cakes and she never misses an opportunity to make one and share it.
Najat came to Denmark 26 years ago as a refugee from Palestine. She is the mother of three boys and two girls. During the last couple of months, she has helped with the cleaning in Trampoline House, together with a team of two other interns: “We drink a cup of coffee, then we go to the kitchen and begin our cleaning, switch on the dishwasher and clean tables around the house,” Najat explains.
Najat, who has always loved to bake, has made a cake for her internship in Trampoline House. Photo: Sofia Stærmose Hardt.
A different kind of internship
Servisio is an agency hired by Danish municipalities to help and support unemployed citizens on their way to the job market. For Servisio, Trampoline House is a valuable partner as it provides opportunities to those who might otherwise have difficulty finding a good internship placement. Ordinary placements often are less able to accommodate particular needs and language difficulties. Serena Hebsgaard, Project Coordinator at Servisio, explains:
“Trampoline House has great insight into how one enters the job market and how to support people doing that – and it is not a given that an internship placement provides that.”
Serena emphasizes the mentorships as particularly helpful: “All the citizens we have at Trampoline House are given a mentor, which has been an incredible support for people who otherwise have difficulty accessing the job market,” she says.
Time and space for the accommodation of personal needs
Najat has had several placements in the past. It means a lot to her that there is time and room for the consideration of individual needs: “I have back and shoulder pains and at other placements, such as Kvickly, you have to shelve a lot of products and carry heavy things – I can’t do that.” Asked if she likes her new placement she smiles and says: “Yes! It’s better than other places! It’s not so tough here. You can work peacefully, and if you feel unwell you can take a little break and then start again when you’re ready.”
Najat also comes on Fridays to take part in Danish lessons at Trampoline House. Here, she meets many new people from different countries: “Everyone here is lovely! They are people you can be around,” she laughs.
In Servisio, Serena this perspective:
“Those who have been at Trampoline House have been incredibly appreciative of it. It is remarkable work, since it was a group of people who didn’t feel confident before – many of them having never been on the job market before,” she says.
Support refugees’ way into the job market
In Trampoline House, we’ve developed a method that makes it easier for refugees to find a foothold in the job market. Several municipalities have already started employing our method, but in order to get a broader reach, we also need the financial support from individuals. If you, your partner or your mother would also be able to support our work with a recurring donation, it would make a great difference to our work.
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