REN has been incubated by international humanitarian agency World Jewish Relief, who bring over 80 years of established expertise in helping people who are fleeing war and persecution to rebuild their lives, particularly through employment programmes.

REN has grown from a seed of an idea into its own independent organisation with a growing membership network spanning local, regional and national agencies, organisations and businesses. Across our membership, we are working with a minimum of 10,000 refugees each year.

To date our impacts include:

  • Brokered relationships between employers and network members
  • Secured ‘start up’ funding from Home Office to operationalise the network
  • A partner with the Department of Work & Pensions to signpost and open up access to support for refugees
  • Collated a range of national data, best practice and case studies that will help others expand opportunities 
  • Hosted Business Roundtable with UNHCR and the Home Office
  • Hosted 5 Refugee Jobs Fairs across the UK including London, Hitchen, Abderdeen, Birmingham and Leeds
  • Hosted REN Annual Summits