Black and minority ethnic elders work

We want to make sure that our work meets the needs of the diverse communities that live in Islington, and that older people’s needs are not ignored or neglected because of barriers such as language or religion or cultural differences. As an organisation we strive to make sure that we put our policy of equal opportunities into practice in all elements of our work.

Black and Minority Ethnic Elders work – including Open Access – this has several strands: capacity-building and support for ethnic community groups; Advice in Asian languages (specifying which); Advice for people of any ethnicity; ethnic minorities welcome at Centres (eg a weekly mutual support group of older Asian people at Sotheby Mews, Afro-Caribbean group at SM, Turkish group at SM, and link to Centres); strategic work to identify and remove barriers to ethnic minorities using statutory services; helping ethnic minorities speak out (link to V&C); supporting volunteering by ethnic minorities (link to volunteering).

Services offered include:

Advice & Information Appointments in Asian Languages

The project provides an Advice and Information appointment service in Hindi, Urdu, & Punjabi languages to South Asian older people and carers of older people in Islington.

A wide range of issues can be covered, including welfare benefits, housing, health, disability, community care, family, personal concerns and carers support. The service aims to local Asian older people to access their full entitlement to benefits and services. Follow up case work may be offered if appropriate and possible.

Appointments can be held at our office in Manor Garden Centre (London N7), or on Thursdays at Sotheby Mews Day Centre (London N5). To make an appointment, please contact Shahida Qureshi, the Project Manager, on 0207 281 6018.

Asian Older Peoples Group

This service is for South Asian older people in Islington to benefit from social interaction and form new friendships.

Our members find these sessions of great comfort, support and look forward to attending. Culturally sensitive activities and services are provided to enable Asian elders to benefit from a day care provision as well as to integrate with local older people. Those who are isolated, or have been through difficult times, use this group as a respite break for them and their carers. Transport to and from the centre is available to people with limited mobility or other disabilities.

We accept referrals from individuals, family friends, GPs, Social Services, OT’s and local groups.

Our regular activities include:

  • leisure, health, and educational activities
  • gentle Keep Fit exercise session
  • day outings and visits to places of interest
  • cultural events celebrations
  • encouraging and supporting members to take part in consultations/ discussions relevant to older people’s issues to feed in to local decision making processes

The Asian Older People’s Group meets every Thursday from 10.30am - 3.30pm at Sotheby Mews Day Centre, Sotheby Rd N5 2UT. For further information please contact Shahida Qureshi on 0207 281 6018 or Sotheby Mews Day Centre on 0207 226 1421.

Work with BME Groups

The BME Elders Project facilitates an outreach, advice and practical support service to help develop and support the work of BME groups, with the aim of benefiting their work with older people in their communities in particular.

Services on offer include:

  • raising awareness of and assisting contact with local and national services
  • assisting groups to access training opportunities
  • locating sources of and assisting funding opportunities
  • raising awareness of older peoples issues and needs and services available to them
  • enabling groups to arrange their own health sessions for older people
  • advice and support assistance with gaining, keeping and supporting older volunteers
  • supporting older women’s issues and rights
  • offering a resource base for staff to access information materials from our library
  • helping organisations feed into local decision making processes, respond to relevant local government and local health initiatives, and put their views forward.

For more information about the services available to Islington’s Black and Ethnic Minority Groups, please contact Shahida Qureshi, BME Elders Project Manager
0207 281 6018, email shahida.qureshi@acislington.org.uk

Open Access Project

Making statutory services more accessible to black and minority ethnic communities

This project aims to find out why people from black and minority ethnic communities do not access statutory services as much as the general population. Rather than dealing with individual cases, the project aims to find common problems faced by BME groups in using and getting the most from services, and then to work with community groups and the services themselves to develop solutions so that the root issue is addressed.

Examples of the types of problems that could be tackled within this project include confusing wording in letters, aspects of how the services are delivered which make them unattractive to people from these groups, or a lack of awareness among certain groups about services or misconceptions about them.

Over the next 2 ½ years we will be identifying and addressing these issues through a variety of means. This will include workshops and discussions with community groups and BME individuals, analysis of trends from problems brought to Age Concern and other organisations and working with statutory services to review how some services are provided and who they are reaching.

How you can get involved:

  • Look out for discussion events happening near you and sign up to share your views. Details of all events will be posted on this site.
  • If you think there is an issue about certain services which is preventing older people from black and minority ethnic groups from using them, or which is stopping them getting the maximum benefit from them, contact Pilgrim Tucker. We can raise it to the attention of the relevant agency, set up discussion groups to explore the issue further and hopefully develop a better way of doing things.
  • If you are a services provider and have identified a gap or problem in your services, for instance realising that people from certain groups are not participating, contact us and we may be able to help link you with a group of BME users to work with you jointly to better understand the problem and resolve the matter.

In summer 2007, the Open Access project completed a report analysing and making recommendations around how benefits could be made more accessible to people from BME communities. The report is available here.

Contact Pilgrim Tucker: pilgrim.tucker@acislington.org.uk

Voice and choice

This project is for open for ALL people aged 55+ in Islington, and works to get the voice of older people heard in our area. If you are a person aged 55+ in Islington, please get in touch with us - and ask your friends and neighbours to contact us too.

We offer Friendly Get-Togethers with free food and drink and a chance for a chat. This is a chance for you to meet like minded people and feel more supported. These Get-Togethers are for you to find out more about:

  1. Your Rights and local services for example local health services
  2. Raising your concerns, and sorting out problems
  3. Making complaints where necessary
  4. Getting more confident, speaking out about what you think,and being assertive
  5. If you speak another language we offer classes to improve your English to help you raise your views more easily.

Travel expenses can be paid - including taxi costs if you have a disability.

If you would like an interpreter so you can come to one ofour meetings, this can also be arranged

We can give you the “Have your Say! Guide” with lots of useful contacts on how to suggest improvements and sort out problems with services in Islington. We also have a “Would you like some help? Guide” for older refugees, their families and friends and for all older people in Islington.

Contact: admin@acisligton.org.uk

* The project is suspended pending finding more funding.

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