The East Manchester Community Association (TEMCA)

The East Manchester Community Association (TEMCA)

Annual Report for 2010 -11

TEMCA

TEMCA is both a Charity [No. 1131060] and a Company limited by Guarantee [2044714].

The Board Members are:

Revd Ting Suie Roy Chow [Company Secretary]

Mr Colin BurtonTaylor, [Treasure

Revd. Brian O’Neill [Chair]

Ms Sue Bowen,

Revd Sally Thomas.

Ms Cath Maffia

Ms Rachel Foakes (advisory)

The TEMCA Board met regularly during this period to consider charity policies, the work of the charity, and ways forward for the future. The Board met regularly on a monthly basis, and focused on developing the work Rainbow Haven. This meets the aims of TEMCA by providing support refugees, asylum seekers, migrant workers, and other vulnerable new arrivals and members of the community. This includes those who are destitute asylum seekers, whose cases were not approved for status or leave to remain. Rainbow Haven also supports and develops activities that promote community cohesion and raise awareness in the wider community, of the needs and experiences of our service users.

TEMCA oversees the work of the worker team in their delivery of high quality services and in the development and delivery of the two community drop-ins in East Manchester and Salford.

Rainbow Haven

Staff and volunteers

We are extremely proud of the work of our paid staff, who run the drop-ins and provide a warm welcome, information and support to the many people who visit the drop-ins and seek help in dealing with their problems and issues. The co-ordinators also ensure a programme of educational and social activities is delivered throughout the year at both drop-ins.

Drop-in Co-ordinators: Amanda Jones Said

Sysay Tedros (return from maternity leave February 2011)

Adam Sharpe (covering maternity leave until end January 2011)

Cook:LemLem Kahsay

The drop-in coordinators offer many skills, including long-term experience of social and community work, provision of information and advocacy, project co-ordination and development, knowledge and understanding of newly arrived communities, and language skills. Our cook works on a tight budget to provide healthy and delicious warm meals for all our drop-in visitors.

Volunteer Team

We rely heavily on our volunteer team at the two centres, and many of our volunteers are

drop-in users who have taken up volunteering opportunities once they start to settle into life in the UK, alongside members of the local community. This diversity contributes greatly to the life

of the drop-ins. Volunteers work on reception, in the IT suite, in the shop and kitchen, with admin tasks, and with providing basic support and information to visitors. On average there are 12 volunteers supporting the drop-ins, and the volunteering programme means that people can gain skills and experience that can help move people towards other opportunities, including courses, training, social activities and employment. We benefit greatly from our partnership with the Jesuit Volunteering Community, who provide volunteers on year-long placements to support our work.

Social work students

We regularly offer placements to students from ManchesterMetropolitanUniversity and during 2010 we were pleased to develop our partnership with Salford University Department of Social Work to offer placements to their students as well. The students gain understanding of the needs and experiences of our services users, and learn about the kinds of support that they are entitled to as well as the kinds of support that benefit their well-being and ability to settle into the UK. The project over time gains from the input of the students as they learn how to work with individuals and become able to provide support under the supervision of our project coordinators.

Core activities

Advice and Information

We offer three drop in sessions a week, two in East Manchester on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and one which takes place in Salford on Wednesdays. We are open to the public from

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the drop in days. Many clients’ needs are very complex, and many do not speak much English, so we are very fortunate in having multilingual project workers and volunteers.

Key to the drop-ins is the range of advice, information, signposting and advocacy on offer. Our co-ordinators provide individual support, and in addition there are advice sessions provided by the Citizens Advice Bureau and Manchester Refugee Support Network, through the Migrant Impact Fund. Rainbow Haven is well linked to other advice agencies and solicitors, and is able to make meaningful referrals to these to meet the needs of drop-in users.Two of our volunteers have received advice training through the Migrant Impact Fund project.

Rainbow Haven has had a consistently high attendance throughout 2010/2011 across the three days we offer sessions to the community. Each session is attended by between 30 – 40 people and of these an average of 20 access advice and advocacy at each session. Attendance varies with the various holidays and religious festivals, but the drop-in remains open for most of the year. The totals for the year are thus 4320 visitors, with 2880 accessing the information, advice and support sessions. The project has witnessed continued levels of refugees and asylum seekers attending the sessions, and an increase in the number Czech migrant workers, who have come to the UK for work but put in difficult or impossible situations and end unemployed and destitute.

English Classes

Rainbow Haven has always prioritised English language classes for its users, providing sessions in a safe and welcoming environment at pre-entry level, to prepare people to move on into higher levels at college. Due to funding restrictions and changing targets, our partner agencies in Manchesterare not currently able to provide these classes, so we are fortunate to have two qualified volunteers delivering the sessions at both drop-ins. In Salford the classes are delivered by Salford Family Learning and remain popular and much needed.

Computer Classes

We have, with the assistance of People’s Voice Media and Broughton Database, the ability to offer ICT sessions on a weekly basis. We are able to offer ECDL [European Computer Driving

Licence] at level 1, and ICT skills from Basic to Level 2 in word processing, spreadsheets, database, presentation graphics, internet, and file management. These courses create the possibility for users to develop and improve their ICT skills, and enable them to seek further training and employment opportunities. This also assists them in accessing information that can help to reduce social isolation, have contact with their home countries, and research their own case evidence. There are nine places available on each IT course, and the sessions are always popular.

Creche

Both drop-ins have crèche provision provided St Ambrose Young Families and Salford Sure Start in Salford, and by St Clement’s Sure Start Children’s Centre in Manchester. These are essential to ensure that parents of young children are able to access advice and information, English classes, IT classes, and also have a break from childcare. The children benefit opportunities to play and speak English. In East Manchester there are ‘stay and play’ sessions to encourage parents to engage and play with their young children with the support of the crèche team.

Destitution work

Lankelly Chase funds Rainbow Haven to deliver destitution support, providing worker time for case work for destitute asylum seekers whose claims have been refused and who have no means of support. This is delivered in partnership with the British Red Cross which provides bus fares and toiletries for this group of people. Rainbow Haven also works in partnership with Oxfam to deliver hardship support to migrant workers experiencing extreme hardship. Rainbow Haven covers the costs for the food parcels from other sources.

Social and educational activities

Rainbow Haven works in partnership with many other agencies in Manchester, Salford and the Northwest. With their cooperation we are able to develop projects for the clients that support their mental health and their wellbeing through engagement with a variety of activities. This ensures that the drop-ins remain vibrant and interesting for our users, providing opportunities for learning and socialising, and breaking down the isolation that many experience on arrival in the UK.

• Our on-site psychotherapists have continued to offer their outreach service at both venues, seeing people each week for ongoing therapeutic sessions. These are important sessions for many clients, who may be dealing with painful past experiences, or struggling to settle into their new lives in the UK. This work was piloted by Manchester Psychotherapy Service at McCartney House, and has proved very successful, pioneering a way for psychotherapy to be delivered in drop-in services. Salford Psychotherapy Service has taken on the delivery of this work for the drop-in in Salford.

• This year we have partnered with Wai Yin’s Women’s Society to offer the opportunity to our service users to learn how to develop gardening skills, utilising spare land at the project to grow basic vegetables. The project was targeted at those with the right to work in the UK - those with refugee status and economic migrants. This was an attempt to raise people’s confidence, provide skills and informally develop English language skills.

• We have offered several arts and crafts activities at both project sites. The projects included embroidery, painting and origami and both men and women involved themselves in all three of these activities, demonstrating their artistic abilities and creating a useful distraction from anxieties relating to their personal situations. These sessions are funded and run by a variety of partner agencies and community artists, and the embroidery sessions have been delivered by a textiles student on placement from ManchesterMetropolitanUniversity, and participants created two lovely pieces celebrating Rainbow Haven.

• With ’Musicians without Borders’ at Rainbow Haven’s Salford base, we were able to develop the ‘Rainbow Haven Singers’, a well attended and much loved choir, practising and performing songs from many backgrounds and genres in a range of languages. Rainbow Haven Singers have filled Salford’s drop-in with a fresh atmosphere and a new enthusiasm. The creation of the choir has led to independent performances and the continuation of the weekly session.

• Women service users have been learning manicure and nail art at the Salford base. This has promoted bonding between service users as well as teaching a skill that can be used for self-employment. Women at Rainbow Haven have also had the opportunity to access drama workshops through Community Arts Northwest, and they worked towards a performance that show cased the facts and the feelings behind women’s migration to the United Kingdom.

• The British Red Cross ran a four week course for parents and guardians on basic first aid for children. The course was very well attended and interpreters were on hand to ensure the information was clearly understood. We also had some sessions delivered by the Health Visitor and Oral Hygiene Teams who had a research project to look into the needs of under fives.

• In order to address what can be a problematic introduction to the UK financial systems Rainbow Haven had access to a worker who offered advice on opening and managing a UK bank account. The service has proved to be extremely useful for those who have leave to remain or who have migrated for work purposes. A group is being set up to develop ways of assisting people to continue having control of their finances.

• In December 2010 we hosted a gathering of service users, partner agencies and local service providers to come together at the project in Gorton. Service users, including members of the host community, prepared and cooked traditional foods from their countries showcasing their cuisine, traditions and cultures. Service providers distributed relevant information to users of the service, talked to service users and made connections with them that would have practical outcomes for the longer term. We also encouraged service users to bring their friends to the event and they have begun to access the drop-ins for information and networking. Music was provided by a Czech/Roma band, who are regular users of the service. This session was developed in partnership with St Clement’s Sure Start Children’s Centre, as part on an ongoing area of work to increase the links between the two agencies and to promote greater access to both among client groups. This is proving to be very successful, and is one way in which the project promotes community cohesion and opportunities for people to meet and mix and develop understanding of each others’ experiences and cultures.

• For International Women’s Day in March 2011 we celebrated in partnership with the Health Improvement Team in Salford with dance, henna painting, arts and crafts and jewellery making. In East Manchester our social work students and volunteers organised a well attended event with Tai Chi, calligraphy, mah jong, arts and crafts and special food.

• During the festive season 2010 to celebrate Eid and Christmas a volunteer-led residents group called Kitchen Angels in Salford worked with our service users to make healthy mince pies and ginger bread. A volunteer from SALT also made Christmas decorations with our service users.

• In November 2010 the BBC supported us to make a short film about Rainbow Haven for the Salford Film Festival.

• Between January and March 2011 we supported Broughton Trust in peer research they conducted into the needs of migrant communities within Salford looking hate crime, ESOL provision and housing issues. This was commissioned by Salford City Council.

• We hosted two events as part of a Health Action Consultation Process looking at issues to do with teenage pregnancy awareness and celebrating diversity, and engaged our services users in these consultations.

• We hosted Salex (the main social housing provider in Salford) residents’ focus groups looking at tenant related issues.

Consultation

During 2010 we engaged a consultant, Steve Conway, to conduct a major consultation with service users, volunteers and service providers and to work on funding bids to secure a sustainable future for Rainbow Haven. The consultation provided a lot of information about how the work of Rainbow Haven greatly benefits both service users and partner agencies, and is seen as providing an essential service to new arrivals within the wider community. It also provided ideas for future sustainable development. A report was produced and can be obtained from Rainbow Haven. Through this work, we have already been fortunate to gain a grant of £40,000 from Tudor Trust, awarded in January 2011.

Salford Change of Venue

In February Rainbow Haven moved out of its location in Salford as the building was being demolished. We moved into the Life Centre during February and March while waiting for the brand new Emmanuel Centre to be ready for us to move into in the early summer.

Risk Assessment

During 2010 a comprehensive Risk Assessment was carried out at both sites, and action plans were made with regular assessments taking place to ensure that the premises are safe.

Thanks to funders and partners

TEMCA is determined to continue supporting and promoting Rainbow Haven, and will strive to maintain and develop the project and sustain and increase the benefits for those who access the drop-ins. We record our sincere thanks to our staff, Amanda, Sysay, Adam, Lemlem and we thank and appreciate the work of all our volunteers.

We also appreciate the commitment of our volunteer Board members and the energy they put into sustaining the work of TEMCA and Rainbow Haven.

We are very grateful to all those who have supported the project with grants and funding to allow us to deliver our core activities in both East Manchester and Salford:

British Red Cross

Lankelly Chase

Oxfam

SalfordCity Council Community Cohesion Team

Tudor Trust

United Reformed Church

We are also grateful to the following for financial contributions to help us deliver extra social and educational activities for the benefit of our service users:

Health Improvement Team

New East Manchester

Refugee Action

Salex Homes

We are grateful to all our partner agencies, those named below for specific services, and all those who have contributed over the past year to our work in many other ways, and we greatly appreciate the extra benefit to our service users from their input into the drop-in sessions and more widely.