The Basis Project blog

Chadian Community in London

The Chadian Community Centre in London has been working with the Basis Project to secure funds for premises. They recently had their first success, £5,000 from Grassroots Grants.

Transcript

Sharmarke Diriye:

“My name is Sharmarke Diriye and I’m one of the Organisational Development Officers for London for the Basis Project. I started working in April of this year. That’s when I was able to contact the Chadian Community in London.”

Ahamat Hassan

“My name is Ahmed Hassan and I am chairman of Chadian Community in London which was founded to serve Chadian people who live in this country. The reason that we decided to create this organisation is that Chadian people have certain barriers to accessing public services so we believe having a refugee community group can help change their life.”

Sharmarke:

“The way the Basis Project works is that as an Organisational Development Officer I try to find out the needs of the organisation. One of the first things I was able to spot was that the organisation had been existing for almost four years without any funding at all. So I was able to prioritise funding for them.”

Ahamat:

“The activities we do include having a football club in London – we play every Saturday. We also recruit volunteers to teach children after school and on Sundays. This year we decided to make the organisation more formal because the service is needed and we cannot rely on people’s contributions. So we approached the Refugee Council and we were advised to approach the Basis Project.

“It is not easy to raise funds for a refugee organisation. It is difficult to find funders and to know how to fill in an application form and how to meet the criteria. So the Basis Project really helped us. We applied for Grassroots Grant to get office space so we could give information and advice.

“Our application was successful – actually, that’s good news. We got about £5,000. So we need to find some office space which is expensive. But this is a good start. We are looking forward to fundraising for our football activities and also to keep going with our project.

Sharmarke:

“Luckily the Chadian Community in London were able to secure funding from Grassroots Grants programme managed by the Capital Community Foundation. The funding was secured to help the organisation in two ways. One is to secure premises and secondly to support the programmes they want to run – mainly to do with information, advice and guidance on issues like social housing, welfare rights and employment programmes. The idea is to use volunteers who would be able to refer clients to specific agencies, to have a session worker and a place where people can come to get this assistance.

“When the organisation was successful in getting the funding it was amazing to see the happiness of the trustees and everyone else involved with the organisation. And also the new belief they had that they could secure funds from trusts and statutory organisations. So hopefully this will pave the way for the organisation.”

Ahamat:

“Office running costs and office space are important for the organisation to start because we have to receive letters at one house and another house and we don’t have a place people can go and see someone to get advice. The first question to us is always ‘Where are you based?’ and it’s really difficult. So I think it’s really important to have some space where people can have face-to-face interviews with service providers and also for us to have an address for the community. It’s a big step.”

Sharmarke:

“The Chadian community has a big concentration in London, but it is scattered all over London. So it will be fantastic to have a place for other Chadians to come. Although the funding is specific for people who live in Lambeth, because it’s the only legally constituted Chadian community group in the UK, you can imagine that any Chadian in London would like to come to be assisted or to give something back to the community.”

Ahamat

“The members of the Chadian Community are really happy that the Basis Project that the Basis Project support us, especially Sharmarke who did a lot of work. And now once we get the funding through, we are ready to move into the premises by the end of next week. So it’s a very good start.”

Interview with Kaveh Kalantari from the Iranian Association

By May Macnair

I met with Kaveh Kalantari, the Funding and Development Manager of the Iranian Association, to find out about the challenges facing their organisation, and how they plan to tackle them. The Iranian Assoication was set up in 1985 in response to the needs of Iranian refugees who fled Iran after the 1979 revolution. They support refugees and ethnic minorities through services such as immigration and welfare advice, Life in the UK test, Basic Skills education, cultural activities, supplementary schools, and health advice. They employ 10 paid staff, 3 sessional workers and around 15 volunteers a year who help run these services.

Even though they are an established RCO they still face problems. Over the last 2 years they have had a 30% drop in income, and are predicting more reductions. The recession has had something to do with this: cuts in government funding, and increased competition between RCOs for trust funding. They find Big Lottery funding particularly inaccessible, but Kaveh is determined to be successful!

Through talking to Kaveh, I learnt about the importance for organisations to be flexible and adaptable to changing economic and social environments. The Iranian Association amended their constitution so that they could diversify. Now over 50% of their clients are non-Iranian, including a large number of Polish people from the local community. They even considered changing their name, but realised the importance of their title – it symbolises the original needs of their community. Kaveh believes that single group funding is still needed, as many RCOs provide services to people who can’t go to other mainstream services because of language or cultural barriers. But a balance is definitely needed between supporting isolated communities, and providing a service for everyone.

We spoke about partnership work, and how it is another good way of sustaining services. They had a franchise with the Hammersmith and West London college for 11 years, providing IT and ESOL courses, and have developed other partnerships through word of mouth. But where do RCOs begin in developing partnerships? Kaveh told me that accrediting services can improve fundraising success, as it shows professionalism and commitment to quality. He also mentioned that the Legal Services Commission should stop its plans to start charging for the Quality Mark; many RCOs cannot afford to pay and should have the same access to opportunities as other organisations.

However, partnership work can be challenging too. RCOs have to overcome fierce competition from mainstream organisations who are trying to win funding through commissioning of services. Kaveh has experienced that mainstream organisations often promise partnership work, but then don’t deliver. Many RCOs see the Refugee Council as one of these competitors. Kaveh feels that the Refugee Council should explore more adamantly partnership building, breaking down barriers between RCOs and mainstream organisations. If the Iranian Association can develop a partnership with a local college, why not with the Refugee Council too?

Kaveh has another idea in the pipeline for the Iranian Association: setting up a social enterprise arm for ESOL and translation. This would help to generate income for other services.

Having spent a couple of hours in Kaveh’s company, I really sensed that the Iranian Association opens its doors to everyone. It encourages all refugees, asylum seekers and ethnic minorities to come for support, including marginalised groups such as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender individuals, who may find it hard to talk openly within their community. I think that their openness and honesty will encourage integration in our society.

If you would like to find out more about them, please visit: http://www.iranianassociation.org.uk/

Peterborough African Community Organisation

Last month Penny McLean and I spent a very enjoyable day with Shpetim Alimeta (Basis Project Organisational Development Officer for the East of England) visiting the Peterborough African Community Organisation.

They're a terrific group and, with Shpetim's help, managed to secure funding for a community radio station at the end of last year.

Here's the film we made about their work. (A transcript is available on the Basis Project website.)

West London Somaliland Community

Here's our latest video - about the West London Somaliland Community, who have been working with the Basis Project for the past year.

West London Somaliland Community – transcript

Id:
“My name is Id Hassan Muse , I’m the co-ordinator of West London Somaliland Community and we’re here today to take part in a tournament that a club has organised for the kids during the Easter holidays.”

Adam:
“My name’s Adam and I’m 13-years-old and I love going to the Somalilanders Community because it gives me a chance to play football and I love what I do. And it gives me a chance to meet all of my friends because they also go. I think it’s brilliant.

“Behind me there’s a football tournament going on. I normally play up front to score some goals and in the last game I scored the final goal and we’re top of our league table.”

Id:
“We have now more than 80 children registered with the club and 60 children come regularly every Saturday for ages 10 to 17. We have a very diverse group, with Asian children, White British, Somalilanders and other Somalis. And we are really proud of our team.”

Abdullahi Ali

“My name’s Abdullahi Ali. I’m the organiser of this event as well as the Chairman of West London Somaliland Community. In Somali we’d say ‘Ku soo dhawaada’ which is wide, open-handed welcome you here. This event is for the 18th anniversary of Somaliland regaining freedom from dictatorship and we’re hoping to get 600 people here. There will be playing, music, singing, dancing, poetry, speeches about the culture and history of the country to teach the younger people about what happened, why it happened and what we achieved from it.”

Id:
“This project is funded by the Football Foundation. It is a two year project and after the two years we hope to be able to sustain the project through the Football Foundation and to develop it more widely with the social outcomes.”

Liban:
“Hi, my name’s Liban, I’m 12-years-old, I play centre midfield and I like my team because they pass around, they do a lot of action and they come back all the time.”

More information: http://www.wlsomalilandcommunity.org.uk

Discovery Of The Talents video transcript

Here's the transcript for the video we made last year about The Discovery Of The Talents project in Birmingham.

Caption: The Discovery of the Talents was founded in 2006 by Justin Nsiko Bankwa, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

In 2008, with help from the Basis Project, they got funding from Trafford Hall for an allotment project in Birmingham.

Caption: David Hirst, the Basis Project Organisational Development Officer in the West Midlands.

“I’ve known Justin and his group probably for about a year and I’ve supported their willingness to get an allotment and encouraged them – I sent a few emails to the council when they lost their application and generally encouraged them.”

Caption: They plan to plant a range of fruit and vegetables, including some that also grow in DRC.

Justin:

“First of all we plant callaloo, which we are 100% sure will grow up here. And we will try other fruit and other vegetables like cabbage, beans and maize which we are 100% sure will grow.”

Caption: The Discovery of the Talents wants to encourage as many refugees as possible to work on and enjoy the allotment. They plan to expand the allotment to accommodate as many people as wish to join them.

Justin:

“It is a very good experience for us. When, one day, if I am back in the Congo, I can see which is the best place to do an allotment project.”

Leeds Afro-Latino Group

At the end of last year we went to see the Leeds Afro-Latino Group – they’ve been working with Basis Project Organisational Development Officer, Mani Thapa, to try to access funding.

Run by Sam Miezi, the group has music and 3-D animation studios in a building renovated entirely by volunteers.

They set up as a Community Interest Company (CIC) in 2006 but found that many people, including some funders, didn’t know what a CIC is and therefore didn’t want to give funding. So, they’re now a registered charity.

They told us that they wanted to develop training programmes for local young people in music and animation.

And, the good news is… they’ve now been given a grant!

Jose, Filipe and Sam from Leeds Afro-Latino Group 

Mani takes up the story:

The grant from Leeds Community Foundation's Grassroot Grants is meant to help set up a series of digital music making workshop for 17-35 years old disadvantaged young adults which will provide the opportunity to learn basics of music production. It aims to target disadvantaged people in providing training covering all aspects of digital music production from development in song writing, music beat making, singing, music editing, recording and music video production.

The project will not only provide a safe place to promote interaction between different groups but will also build up people's skills and confidence. Participants will learn an array of exciting creative skills to unlock their creative talent; providing a huge impact on their personal development by enriching their lives and accumulating practical hands-on experience.

This project will also help boost their confidence and develop social skills, such as active listening and communication, understanding of other people’s perspective, respecting each other, working in teams, creativity and other useful working habits etc.

We hope to be able to report back on their progress later in the year.

The Discovery Of The Talents

Towards the end of last year, Penny McLean and I went up to Birmingham to meet David Hirst (the Basis Project Organisational Development Officer for the West Midlands) and Kika Aime Bubala and Justin Nsiko Bankwa from The Discovery Of The Talents.

They're a refugee community organisation that, with help from David, have received funding for an allotment project.

We thought it was worthy of a short film. So, here it is. (It was our first time with the camera, so apologies for being very slightly sub-Spielberg.)

You can read more about them on The Basis Project website.

Mimoza Matoshi

There's a new case study on the Basis Project website - an article by and interview with Mimoza Matoshi who set up Integration Support Services in Harlow, Essex.

I made many attempts during my first years in Harlow to integrate with the community and most of the time I failed as I did not have the right guidance, support and information. The lack of these, and many other issues, encouraged me to set up a group with the purpose of supporting refugees, asylum seekers and migrants from all over the world to integrate in the community.

I have since managed to establish Integration Support Services as a well known organisation across Essex with 12 volunteers, four part-time staff and over 30 partners locally and nationally. Of course, I have had tremendous support from volunteers, family and many individuals directly and indirectly involved with the project.

Latin American Golden Years Day Centre

I had the pleasure of visiting the Latin American Golden Years Day Centre (Centro Latinoamericano “Los Años Dorados”) in Lambeth last week to meet with the Co-ordinator, Jorge Morales.

I'm writing them up for a case study on the new Basis Project website, due to launch at the end of March, and several things about what Jorge said stood out.

Firstly, I was struck by how much emphasis he puts on the role of the organisation's trustees. Recruiting new trustees to strengthen the board was one of the first things he did when he took on the role, and he really uses them. Some organisations, I think, underestimate the role of trustees but, even though their presence might not be felt in day-to-day work, I reckon that successful charities are almost always built on the foundation of an effective board.

The other thing that stood out for me about Golden Years was the fact that, with support from the local Health Trust, they had been able to get in a consultant to help their strategic planning. That process of having an external person come in, speak to users, staff and anyone else with an interest in the project, and then help develop some clear plans for the future is clearly extremely useful. It's not always easy to get funding for such work, but some management consultants from other sectors might be willing to volunteer.

Jorge Morales, Co-ordinator of the Golden Years Day Centre