Fleeing Ukraine and finding a future in our pool

Ukrainian refugee and mother of one, Alina, fled from the ongoing devastation in Ukraine with her daughter in hopes of a better future.

As part of our partnership with Refugee Action Kingston and in conjunction with our outreach programme at the local Job Centre – we were put in touch with Alina.

Alina fled from Ukraine with her young daughter and arrived in Kingston eager to support the pair of them. We spoke to her about the leisure industry along with the different roles available at the Malden Centre.

After discussing all her options, she decided to sign up to our NPLQ course funded entirely by Places Leisure where she would go on to qualify as a lifeguard.

She passed the course with flying colours and the centre employed her straight away as a full-time lifeguard. Alina has since been working for us for four months and is a truly great addition to the lifeguard team.

Alina’s daughter is also thriving at a local school, making lots of friends in her class and at the Malden Centre’s after school club – for which Alina is eternally grateful.