Hi, My name is Sarah Duncan, I am the Impact and Development Manager at Europia. I grew up in Liverpool and studied Chemistry in The University of Sheffield. Shortly after graduating I moved to Singapore for 8 years where I worked as a Medical Chemist. After the birth of our first daughter my husband and I decided that it was time to return home to the UK, we settled in Manchester as it was close to Liverpool and offered scope for my husband’s job. A few years and a career change later I started work at Europia. I have been with Europia since 2017 in a variety of different roles. For the first few years I coordinated the Europia Support Project, as part of this role I worked with our Head of Advice to support clients with welfare issues. In 2019 my colleagues and I introduced the Europia EU Settlement Scheme support project, here we assisted and continue to assist clients with their applications to the EU Settlement Scheme. More recently I have moved away from direct client engagement and instead focus my energy on Europia processes, reports and funding applications. I feel that Europia is a fantastic charity, it provides much needed support to a sector of society often overlooked. I feel proud to work as part of the team.

Hi, I'm Mandy, My background is in Nursing and Health Visiting, where I have worked in different cities across the UK, with families, their children and across the communities that I have worked in. During the 2000s, I worked for Trafford MBC (Greater Manchester), commissioning the Voluntary and Community sector to set up projects promoting inclusion and Diversity. From 1991-2001 I lived with my family and worked in Transylvania (Romania) and across the country. This is where I had the privilege of learning Romanian. My 2 children were educated in Romanian schools. I have visited Eastern and Central European countries many times, including Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Moldova, Czech and Slovak Republics. My interests outside work include: walking, reading, travelling and fun with friends. Europia offers great services for EU Citizens. I am delighted to use my skills to work with such a passionate team of people.

Having moved to the U.K in 2005 one of the first languages I was introduced to was Polish. Having worked in various third sector jobs including homelessness, addiction and mental health I then got trained as an ESOL teacher. I was brought into Europia as a trustee and within a short span of time led the unincorporated community group to a registered CIO. Creating a team with shared power, co-production and championing for lived experience representation is my vision. Ensuring Europia is a compassionate and effective organisation providing holistic and practical support to EU nations is my mission.

Hello, I’m Karol and I was born in 1986 in Poland; I’ve been living in the UK for over 15 years now. I’ve studied Fine Art at MMU and since graduation I’ve been working as a painter. Meanwhile I got interested in volunteering as a way of expanding my skills, contacts and learning new things about the environment around me. This is how I came across of Europia in 2017 where I was establishing an European LGBTQ discussion group. My role in the organisation has been changing and evolving from the start to become a Volunteer Coordinator in the end. It’s always been natural to me to share my knowledge and skills with others, to connect people and encourage them to try new things, it felt that this role was perfect for me. My other role at Europia is to support our clients with the EU Settlement Scheme. I enjoy working with clients, helping them make their living situation easier. It’s an incredibly rewarding role. I haven’t forgotten about my artistic skills, though. I carry on producing new paintings, and taking part in curating art exhibitions. Me and other 7 creative individuals set up Europia Art Collective. So far we have organised a number of art events. Once the lockdown is over, we will get back together to surprise you with more odd and beautiful projects.

Hi, My name is Karolina; I am originally from Poland where I earned my master degree in Sociology. At Europia, I work as an Advice Team Leader. I occasionally collaborated with Europia on different projects, and since October 2019, I have been working with the Advice Team permanently. Our department directly supports EU citizens with the whole range of welfare right services from food parcels through housing, benefits, education, legal support, and many more. We try to make the life and experience of living in a foreign country as easy as possible for them. Being a migrant myself, working with members of different communities as a youth worker, community interpreter, cultural consultant or welfare advisor, has made me realise we are the assets, we do have skills, and our experience and knowledge should be valued and recognised. I am also a co-founder and one of the directors of Heart & Parcel, where I work with amazing women from around the world and their delicious foods. I am also an associate of Just Psychology in the role of a Cultural Consultant.

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Hi, my name is Ramona. Before Europia, I was working as regional organiser at Migrants Organise. There, I was working with Europeans, refugees and asylum seekers stopping detentions and doing campaigns to change the policy for migrants in the UK. In this job I was also working with the Roma community. At the moment, I am working as Roma Advocacy Worker at Europia. I help and give advice to the Roma people. For me helping the Roma community is important because they need someone who understands them and can give them advice which will help improve their current issues and can explain what their next steps should be to help their situation. I am doing this work because I know I am reliable and most of the Roma people know me and so it's easy for me to give the help necessary for them to improve their situations. Now I have 5 children between 3 and 17 years old. I am a happy mother and a happy person too. I believe that Europia has had a great impact on individuals within Roma community. Many of them have received the most accurate and appropriate help and advice.

Hi, I am originally from Sofia, Bulgaria and came to the UK 5 years ago to complete a degree in Artificial Intelligence. While being in university, I also discovered my passion for digital art. Since my graduation, I have been developing both my creative and technical skills. Even though I came to this country as a student, I still needed some time to adapt to the new environment. Amazingly, organisations such as Europia offer support for people while they go through this process. I found out about Europia by becoming a member of Europia Art Collective. Soon after that, I started helping them with translation for their Bulgarian clients that require assistance. During the lockdown in the UK, I was also translating the COVID-19 guidance in Bulgarian. Since the end of 2020, I have been working on configuring Europia's new clients' system and also offer technical support when it is needed. I am glad to contribute my technical skills to a stronger Eastern European national community through my work for Europia.

Marta comes from Kalisz in Poland. She graduated from the University of Bialystok with her masters degree in economics in 2005 and completed the Graduate Diploma in Law and the Legal Practice Course at the Metropolitan Manchester University. She was admitted to the roll of solicitors in 2011 and became a Partner in June 2013. Marta speaks fluent Polish, English and Italian, and is a Director at McHale & Co. She provides pro-bono work for the Europia Legal Surgery.