Vice Chair of the Management Committee, Afia Khattun, welcomed everyone to the meeting and initiated the AGM Business.
She spoke briefly about Asha Neighbourhood Project’s variety of weekly groups which includes a Friendship group every Monday and Friday; a 50+ Gupshup (chat) group run by Shazia Aslam; Monday’s Mums with under 5s group and Wednesday’s walking buddies group run by Tahena Ahmed.
These groups allow a variety of women from diverse backgrounds to get together and take part in various activities such as arts & crafts, mindfulness sessions, gentle exercise and sharing liked experiences, board games as well as local outings and learning basic English.
These interactions give our service users a sense of community as many are living in isolation and may not have the opportunity to socialise otherwise.
Afia highlighted our Sanctuary project in which our support worker, Syedun Nahar offers support for vulnerable individuals and families who need ‘sanctuary’ in order to keep them safe from domestic violence and abuse.
Students who attended ESOL Entry level 1, IT and women supporting women courses spoke about their experiences of Asha and the activities. Certificates were presented by Vera Media to IT students and participants who completed the Women supporting Women course delivered by Human Being Project at Asha.
Women from the community who took part dressed in different shades of blue to show unity for 16 days Activism Against gender-based violence. The domestic violence safeguarding quiz organized by Tahena Ahmed (Health Development worker) went very well, everyone participated with some getting support with translation/interpretation.
After almost 20 years we had to sadly close our preschool this July, we want to say a huge thank you to our wonderful prechool staff Shahida Khan, Noor Aljanabi, Naseem Akhter, Rani Phull and Zifreen Ahmed as well as all the amazing parents and children for their support and hard work through the years. Helen King, Asha’s centre co-ordinator and administrator retired on 4 July 2024 after 39 years of service.
Entertainment was provided by Sarah Stead from Vera Media who sang for the community and managed to get others to join in!
One of our service users made the following comment:
“I didn’t have the confidence to go out of the house or meet other people or join a course. I’ve been poorly and not attended any courses at Asha since 2000. I’ve learned a lot on this course, I have the confidence to speak to others and go out of the house, and I’m no longer shy. I am finding it easier to communicate in appointments with my doctor. I feel very good – I am proud of myself. In the 6 weeks I have had the confidence to talk to people, to talk to doctors and start doing things for myself. What’s next..? ESOL course.”
As 2024 draws to a close we are all looking forward to many positive changes due to take place at Asha, with one of the biggest so far being Alibun Nessa joining Asha as the new Director.
This post was written by Tahena Ahmed
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