Youth Welfare
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This project is planned exclusively for the disadvantaged young population from all ethnicity backgrounds in Aston. Youth who are struggling to find jobs due to poor skills, housing conditions, family situations and financial crisis that led them into any form of disadvantage, troubled youth and underachieving high-school and college graduates are the primary targets for this project. Activities will include two workshops every month for 12 months.
The beneficiaries will be trained for numeracy and communication skills, IT skills, mentoring, basic accounting, writing CV and cover letters, presentation skills, job searching skills, interview skills including volunteering and internships in partner organisations.
Enhancing Employability of Young People
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This project is planned exclusively with the disadvantaged young population from all ethnicity backgrounds in mind. Youth who are struggling to find jobs due to poor skills, housing conditions, family situations and financial crisis that led them into any form of disadvantage. Troubled youth and underachieving high school and college graduates are also primary targets for this project.
Activities will include two workshops every month. The beneficiaries will be trained for numeracy and communication skills, IT skills, mentoring, basic accounting, writing a CV and cover letters, presentation skills, job searching skills, interview skills including volunteering and internships in partner organisations. This will elevate their self-confidence and give purpose to their future career prospects.
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Grow Your Isolation Away
This project, ‘Grow Your Isolation Away’ will bring socially and economically isolated Bangladeshi women with poor life & social skills in Aston area together in a community gardening initiative based on the principle of mutual learning. We want to engage adults suffering from depression and isolation and engage them in volunteer-led monthly exchange sessions on vegetable gardening and how to utilize backyard garden space for selfsufficiency that will save costs and improve their vocational skills and in the process help build a greener community.
Bright Future
The aim of the project is to make a positive and tangible contribution to the mental well-being of individuals in the community where the project will be taken place. More precisely, the aims of the project are to:
• Help those who are disadvantaged to a healthier and brighter future
• Enable every beneficiary to become independent in their daily life in as many ways possible
• Remove people who are socially isolated, segregated from their communities and suffering from
loneliness, away from their normal lives and day-to-day activities to a healthier, stress-free environment.
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Success for Everyone
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The project’s primary aim is to provide English language development to people who possess very elementary ability in English, English but who require further teaching and practice to become fluent and communicate effectively. In the long term, our aim is to give enough confidence to them in their future job interviews.
The first stage of our course will consist of 30 hours of English as a second or foreign language (ESOL) classes, with the 10 sessions lasting 2 hours each being led by qualified language teachers. This will give the participants the essential English language skills and confidence needed to enable them to communicate effectively.
Here We Grow!
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The project we are presenting here has a special focus on children with Bangladeshi or Indian background in their families and will guide them in an amusing way through the essentials of vegetable growing, basic botanic skills (aligned with the educational and nature-preservation vision of the Trust), the natural origins of food, the responsibility of growing their own live beings and the reward of cooking traditional dishes with the outcomes of their crops and effort.
Preserving the Cultural History of Bangladeshi Food
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New Hope Birmingham has received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project, ‘Preserving the Cultural History of Bangladeshi Food’, in Birmingham. The project will enable younger and elder members of the community to join heritage workshops, which will introduce the long and proud history of Bangladeshi cuisine and the culture of cooking Bangladeshi food. The volunteers will record oral history interviews and document the materials and methods behind traditional dishes. They will also help translate and transcribe interviews and write a book based on their research. Staff and volunteers will have the opportunity to undertake training on oral history interviewing and archive skills.​​​​
Youth & Employment
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The main purpose of this project is to enhance the employability skills of unemployed and economically inactive young people of Bangladeshi origin including the BAME community in Aston. According to the latest Department of Work and Pensions statistics, a total of 6,635 18-24-year-olds in Birmingham are claiming either job seekers allowance or universal credit - an unemployment rate of about 9.6 % which is significantly above the core city average of 5.9%.
This project is planned exclusively with the disadvantaged young population, under 25, from all ethnic backgrounds in mind. Youth who are struggling to find jobs due to poor skills, housing conditions, family situations and financial crisis that led them into any form of disadvantage. Activities will include two workshops every month, for 12 months. The beneficiaries will be trained for numeracy and communication skills, IT skills, mentoring, basic accounting, writing a CV and cover letters, presentation skills, job searching skills, interview skills including volunteering and internships in partner organizations. This will elevate their self-confidence and give purpose to their future career prospects.
Growing Together with community gardening
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This project, ‘Growing Together’ will bring socially and economically isolated Bangladeshi women with poor life & social skills in Aston area together in a community gardening initiative based on the principle of mutual learning. We want to engage adults suffering from depression and isolation and engage them in volunteer-led monthly exchange sessions on vegetable gardening and how to utilize backyard garden space for self-sufficiency that will save costs and improve their vocational skills and in the process help build a greener community.
aRCHIVE OF PAST PROJECTS AND OVERVIEW
Digital intervention to support wellbeing
​​ A United Way Project
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The project proposes to provide online activities such as games, fun activities, online shopping, and physical exercise training to our beneficiaries. We will reach our potential beneficiaries via telephone calls, local radio announcements and through referral schemes. The staff will provide administrative support to the organisation and the beneficiaries. The online personal trainer will attend online training sessions with the beneficiaries.
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We aim to select 20 beneficiaries aged between 50 to 70 in Aston and surrounding areas, who are suffering from loneliness due to the current crisis. This project will create a digital platform for our beneficiaries through regular virtual meetings. In this three-month long project, there are nine sessions of mental health discussion and advise supervised by a qualified mental health therapist, and nine sessions of yoga classes coached by professional trainer. Total eighteen sessions will be provided virtually to our beneficiaries, who are in self isolation and struggling to cope the mental pressure triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Following are some of the outcomes of this project:
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• The use of digital technologies and online social media will help our beneficiaries to keep in touch with their family, friends and loved ones. This will help them to stay connected, enjoy the virtual companion and well informed of the current situation without being overwhelmed by the current crisis.
• Our beneficiaries will participate in yoga sessions which will reduce their immobility as well as boost their confidence and overall health condition.
• Participants will have mental stimulation, reduce their spiritual dullness, and enjoy remote companionship via regular video calls, group discussions, online group exercise, and mental health advise.
• Our participants will be more capable of joining the digital world and learn to stay connected, during the pandemic time as well as in their daily life afterwards.
Creative English Learning
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The "Creative English" is funded by FaithAction and it seeks to inspire learners through a drama-based method to teach English to those with few or no language skills. Using scenarios inspired by real life, Creative English enables learners to understand and practise the language they need in everyday situations while having fun. This project does not use accredited trainers and is instead volunteer led.
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Register here: Apply
Creative Arts & English
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Creative Arts & English is a language training programme run by a team of enthusiastic volunteers and an expert mentor who want to work with disadvantaged people, particularly Bangladeshis struggling with basic English proficiency creating barriers to employment and social interaction. The uniqueness of this programme is the use ot arts and crafts as a medium of teaching English in a fun learning environment that is engaging and casual.
We have successfully delivered the Creative Arts & English project. Due to high demand for this workshop, we are in the process of securing funding and hope to reignite this in the New Year.
Enterprise Hub
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The Enterprise Hub, funded by Comic Relief, promotes self-employment among youth and encourage women of BAME communities to shift their attitudes and work outside home. We support 44 participants to develop and test their business ideas, eventually mentoring them on how to start a feasible enterprise and essential skills and knowledge required to grow a business. Such initiative is very crucial to alleviate poverty and counter unemployment in today's difficult economy that in particular has affected people who are not highly qualified.
Religious tolerance & acceptance
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​This project is aimed at promoting religious tolerance and acceptance of cultural diversity between minority groups and white majority inhabitants of Washwood Heath area in Birmingham. We are working with local places of worship to raise awareness and engaging community members to build a network of individuals to organise monthly dialogues.
This project had ended in July 2015.
Bangladeshi Urban and Rural Heritage: Stories and Games
The project was funded by Heritage Lottery Fund and explored Bangladeshi Heritage through storytelling from the older generation and reliving and playing childhood games with the wider community of Birmingham.
The project hosted a series of community events across inner-city areas of Birmingham where Bangladeshi and other ethnic minority groups occupy a significant proportion of the population and engage the youth and older generation in traditional Bengali games such as Carrom, Ludo, Latim, Golli and Satchada to capture the exchange of stories of how family life was like for early settlers.
The stories, games and activities were documented in a documentary to provide a unique insight into the culture and heritage of the Bangladeshi community and archived at the Library of Birmingham and shared with Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage at the University of Birmingham.
Social Club
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The Social Club, funded by Awards for All, runs a biweekly social group aimed at the Bangladeshi community focusing on discussion of healthy lifestyle. In particular the club raises awareness of diabetes, prevention of obesity and how to stay fit to avoid cardiovascular disease. Sessional workers address specific harmful eating habits of Bangladeshis that include chain-smoking and chewing of betel leaf and areca nut.
Project ended in March 2015.
Playing Karom Board, a popular Bangladeshi Heritage Game with Andrew Michell, Minister of State and MP at his constituency office at Sutton Coldfield Birmingham
​Project ArtInspire​
The 'ArtInspire Project', funded by BBC Children in Need is aimed at building self-esteem of children and young people and inspire them to actively engage in arts and cultural activities. We will be organising Museum & Art Gallery tours in due course.
Let's get computing!
This project works with the elderly community in Aston who are interested in learning more about digital technology. We run workshops on a biweekly basis to help older people get more comfortable and familiar with digital technology. New Hope intends to enthuse members of this community to learn more about computers and the internet thorugh our biweekly meetings.
These computing sessions show the elderly community how to use digital technology for banking, shopping, researching family history, online games, using social media to stay in touch with family and friends and to use online maps and email friends.
Saving the Mind!
With the help of West & Central Local Community Safety Partnership Fund, New Hope has commenced a project with the goal to succour Bangladeshi and other ethnic minority members in tackling mental health difficulties such as Stress, Depression, Anxiety and Self-Esteem.
This project is beneficial to ethnic minority groups who are unable to receive the help required because of cultural & language barriers. The beneficiaries have a weekly slot at the Bangladeshi centre, where they can see a professional therapist; get regular help/advice and receive yoga and fitness training.
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Unite the Generations
The intergenerational "Unite the generations" social activity and learning program is to inspire the older generation through intergenerational activities on how to use computers and how having access to the internet can change their lives and reduce the isolation and loneliness. This project also gives the elderly an opportunity to share their knowledge and contribute to the younger generation through each session. It also offers good opportunities for seniors to learn how to visually communicate with loved ones who live far away by using Skype or other video chat programs.
We are focusing on the need of elderly people from Bangladeshi communities, predominantly living in Aston with the help of Heart of England Community Foundation.
Positive Steps
With the help of George Fentham Trust, we are looking to start a project that will succor Bangladeshi and other ethnic minority members in tackling mental health difficulties such as Stress, Depression, Anxiety and Self-Esteem. This project is beneficial to ethnic minority groups who are unable to receive the help required because of cultural & language barriers. The beneficiaries will have a weekly slot at the Bangladeshi center, where they can see a professional therapist; get regular help/advice and receive yoga and fitness training.
Bright Future
The aim of the project is to make a positive and tangible contribution to the mental well-being of individuals in the community where the project will be taken place. More precisely, the aims of the project are to:
• Help those who are disadvantaged to a healthier and brighter future
• Enable every beneficiary to become independent in their daily life in as many ways possible
• Remove people who are socially isolated, segregated from their communities and suffering from
loneliness, away from their normal lives and day-to-day activities to a healthier, stress-free environment.
Coronavirus Resilience Fund