Refugee Company, A Beautiful Mess and the Mondmaskerfabriek

We started the foundation Refugee Company in 2015 with 4000 euro donations and 300 volunteers. Our mission is to assist refugees to become economic independent. After five years we have grown into a foundation with an annual budget of €1,7 million euro. Since 2017 we have founded three restaurants expected 600K revenue when Covid 19 is under control. As a response to the Covid 19 crisis, we kickstarted the very first Dutch surgical mask factory! In order to be independent from manufacturers on the other side of the globe. We are providing 75 people with a refugee background a job. As a CEO of the foundation and co-founder of the enterprises I work very hard. I am very dedicated, I do most of the sales myself, in order to grow I need to invest in the quality of my team. I would use the money to find an operational director and sales marcom director to help me scale. And to be honest if I extend my team it also helps me to take better care of myself and to focus on strategic things. This year of crisis management with Covid 19 has been very heavy.

The best way to integrate is through working. Refugee Company raises funds to offer work-learn programmes to people with refugee backgrounds. These programmes are run by our face mask factory and ‘A Beautiful Mess’, which is the name of our social enterprise. 

Participants start working in one of our ‘safe spaces’, either one of our restaurants or our facemaskfactory in a paid job or voluntary. As a result, paricipants become active, gain experience and build a network. Language lessons, basic civic integration, personal development and well-being are all part of the programmes.

#touched lives

211 jobs (75 in our enterprises)

428 participants

5000 community

70.000 visitors 

Refugee Company contributes to an inclusive society by:

1. Helping refugees to take an important step towards social and economic independence by creating jobs. By participating, people become stronger and happier.

2. Inspiring society to be more open towards people with refugee backgrounds.

We can scale our social enterprises so we can make more impact and provide more people into jobs. Our programme is succesfull. Restaurant A Beautiful Mess has 3 locations and wants to open 7 more. The facemaskfactory is ready to produce other medical disposables and is ISO certified this summer.

In the Netherlands only 1 out of 10 refugees manages to find work after 3 years in the country. For Eritreans it is even 1 out of 20. Estimated targetgroup 200.000.PRE-START / RE-START PROGRAMMA

We help refugees to become economically independent and self-reliant by finding work. For this it is necessary to learn the language, to return to a work rhythm and to gain experience. Refugee Company developed two programs: pre-start and re-start.

With our pre-start programme we welcome people from the asylum seekers center who are still in procedure. We get acquainted and invite the residents to come and work as volunteers in the coffee bar we run on the shelter.

The re-start programme is for refugees who just have their permit. This is a six-month work-study trajectory in the safe space of A Beautiful Mess or the facemask factory. They work in one of our Restaurants or in our facemask factory, learn the language, improve their knowledge and skills and build a network. We organise excursions at companies and prepare our participants for jobs outside. After six months the participants are partially or completely ‘work fit’ and our role mainly consists of mediating towards a next job. 

We are convinced things can be done differently, and we believe in the talents of our participants. In recent years, Refugee Company has learned that activating people in jobs or traineeships from day one is effective. Doing nothing during the initial phase puts lives on hold. Our restart programme offers a safe space, a strong network, professional guidance, and relevant work experience, which helps people recognise their value in Dutch society. There is room for improving Dutch language skills, personal development and well-being. A strong network leads to more options to find employment or education in line with their background and future ambitions, for which our coaches can provide support.

What really stands out is that almost half of our participants are Eritreans and one in five female. According to research, these two demographics in particular face increased difficulty integrating into the labour market and are more difficult to reach. Furthermore we employ 

Refugee Company 

www.refugeecompany.com

2021 implement impact measurement, methodology and training, consolicate online program and coaching

2022 strengthen team, sales, marcom, tender municipalities for new integration law, imcrease fundraisings/ friends of RC

2023 lead by example as knowledge center in employ people with a refugee background and embed personal growth and language program on the workfloor, increase revenue and therefore impact investment from our own enterprises

A Beautiful Mess 

www.abeautifulmess.nl

2021 12 employees (18 lost jobs due to COVID 19), recover from Covid 19, set up new teams for 3 locations --> 30 employees + 25 trainees

2022 open 4th location , 40 employees + 35 trainees

2023 open 5th and 6th location, 60 employees + 50 trainees

Mondmaskerfabriek 

www.mondmaskerfabriek.nl

2021 finish assignment 48 million face masks government, start entering dental and medical market, collab wholesale, kick of new productdevelopment with Philips, ISO certification - 50 jobs

2022 enter new market with 2-3 new products, automate factory, launche distribution model - 60 jobs

2023 enter new market with 2-3 new products, start entering European market, growth scenario together with investor/ wholesale partner - 75 jobs

Growing our businesses is the most effective thing to do.