Migrateful

Who we are

Migrateful runs cookery classes led by refugees, asylum seekers and migrants struggling to integrate and access employment. The cookery classes provide ideal conditions not just for learning English and building confidence, but also for promoting contact and cultural exchange with the wider community.

Our mission

Due to legal, linguistic and social barriers, finding work can be extremely difficult for many migrants. Being unable to provide for themselves and their families has significant negative effects on self-esteem and mental health.

Migrateful’s mission is to empower and celebrate refugees and vulnerable migrants on their journey to integration, by supporting them to run their own cookery classes.

Our story

The Migrateful idea was borne following discussions with a group of refugee women at a Time Bank project in Tower Hamlets. The women in the group were all very qualified, yet were unemployed because of language barriers and their qualifications were not recognised in the UK. When asked about the skills they could share with the group, many of them said they could cook. This gave Jess the idea to launch Migrateful in July 2017; with the aim to get these women into employment by supporting them to share their incredible cooking skills with the world.

Our impact

Migrateful looks to support migrants in a number of ways relating to wellbeing, employability and integration. We provide our chefs with wider social networks, improved English language and communication skills, increased confidence, a source of income, and opportunities to celebrate and share their culture.