Moulsecoomb
Inclusion Project
There
is so much going on in
Moulsecoomb, and the majority of residents felt that not enough people
were aware of activities and services available to them within the
area.
PEP
have designed, in
consultation with local people and Brighton
& Hove City Council, the Moulsecoomb Treasures directory, which
provides information on local events and services available within the
Moulsecoomb area. Why not take a look ... click
here
The
need
for engagement with
isolated women from Bangladeshi families in Moulsecoomb was identified
as part of the East Brighton NDC programme. This led to PEP being
commissioned by Brighton and Hove City Council to work in the community
and set up a small team of two community workers and an
interpreter.
They
made contact
with
about 20 women through a combination of
door-knocking, working through the local school and word of mouth. This
enabled them to work with the women to identify their needs and the
best means of coming together. Through close links with other agencies
such as the Friend’s Centre andthe
Healthy Living Centre,
the project was able to offer the women access to ESOL classes and also
help with their ‘Life in the UK’
test. They also undertook first aid training, tailoring,
exercise and swimming classes; the latter with support from the local
Council pool when it agreed to have women-only sessions.
The
initial aim was to gain
the
confidence of the women, then to help them feel confident about working
together as a group, to overcome their isolation. They have
now reached the point where they hold lunchtime meetings in Moulsecoomb
Primary School’s community room. The women cook lunch and
meet with local services including ones with the Police, drugs
awareness workers, an established women’s group from
Southwark, and another with housing officers.
PEP
feels that they have
successfully supported a very isolated and deprived community to better
engage with agencies in the neighbourhood, although there is concern
that without longer term funding activities may not be able to
continue.
For
further information, or if you would
like PEP to help your community, please contact PEP on
01785
224893 or e-mail admin@pep.org.uk
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