Ukrainian refugees are being urged to consider becoming drivers for Brighton and Hove Buses amid a major shortage.
The bus company is part of the public transport operator Go-Ahead which is working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help Ukrainians take on vacant roles.
Britain has suffered from a shortage of bus drivers since the end of the coronavirus lockdowns.
And the industry body, the Confederation of Passenger Transport, recently estimated that 9 per cent of bus driver positions are vacant.
Ukrainian bus drivers can exchange their licence for a British licence under existing rules.
And Go-Ahead’s Sussex bus companies – Brighton and Hove Buses and Metrobus – have introduced a new policy and training programme to support Ukrainian refugees back into work.
They previously required foreign bus drivers in the UK to wait a year before applying for jobs.
Licence-holding Ukrainian refugees assessed by the DWP to have a good understanding of English have been invited by the companies to a recruitment open day on Thursday (10 November).
Brighton and Hove Jobcentre employer adviser Anita Pain said: “It’s terrific how businesses have come together to support the Ukrainian community.
“We are delighted to have been a part of this innovative and fast-paced approach to fill vacancies in our city.”
Ed Wills, the managing director of Brighton and Hove Buses and Metrobus, said: “We provide a first-class bus service for our community.
“We want to help local people live their lives to the full whether that’s driving them to work, school or to meet up with friends and family.
“As a company, we also have the ability to offer jobs to people from Ukraine who are here to start a new and more peaceful life.
“I look forward to having more recruitment events like this in the future.”
Very unkind, inaccurate probably, for B&H News to call these brave and noble Ukrainian people “refugees”?
Most readers are likely to much prefer the more accurate titles of ‘Visitor’ or ‘Guest’ in our City of Sanctuary, surely?
From widespread media reports,since shortly after the Russian invasion last February, it seems that most of our Guests are mothers with children, plus some pensioners, of whom it seems reasonable to conclude, the vast majority wish only for the earliest
expulsion of all Russian invaders from every part of Ukraine, so that these Guests can leave the UK to rebuild their family lives in their own country.
Understandably some may wish to stay longer – to earn money to replace what the Russians have stolen or destroyed; to improve their command of English; to see their adolescent children through secondary school here; and possibly to guide a few older youngsters through relationships and into marriage?
Those who have heard live interviews with English-speaking Ukrainians are very likely to have been impressed by the obvious well-educated and competent personalities of these noble Ukrainian people so, whilst assisting in the defence of their nation, we need to welcome the contribution to our society which these Guests are likely to bring to us during whatever time it takes to rid Ukraine of the Russian invaders, surely?
Hopefully B&H News will never again stigmatise our Ukrainian guests by mis-describing these brave people as being “refugees”?