Shop & Donate Community Online Shop

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AY Group Community Services CIC is a charitable organisation focused on serving and improving the lives of people in our community. When the UK went into Lockdown in March 2020, Shop and Donate was born. From the food donations we receive, we create food parcels which we send on to local elderly and vulnerable residents, NHS staff and other food banks who support thousands of people in need. Shop and Donate is also an online shop, where we sell a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The proceeds from this go into sustaining and improving our growing services! Together with our sister organisation AY Group Community Services CIC we have been very successful in supporting disadvantaged individuals within our community and across London.

Click here to find out more

Click here to view our timetable

Click here for our Loyalty card

Website links: https://ay-group.org https://shopanddonate.org

 

Community Voices North West London Programme

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Tackling health inequalities through facilitating discussions within the community of North West London (NWL) has provided a pathway to re-design and create dialogue that began from multiple approaches that include from a grassroots perspective.  The aim is to hear from communities – local, frontline staff and system leaders of the experiences and to understand the challenges that would inform and develop health initiatives.

Community Voices North West London programme is made up of a collection of individuals from across the Public and Voluntary Community Sectors of which Sobus is part of with representation from Community Organiser, Sharon Tomlin.

Since lockdown Community Voices NWL has progressed and have gained some useful insights from communities across NWL that has led to this approach being recognised nationwide.

For more information, Community Voices North West London can be reached through https://twitter.com/CommVoicesNWL?s=20

BAME Mental Health Research Report

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Sobus recently published a research report looking into BAME Mental Health in Hammersmith & Fulham. This was a culmination of over 2 years work in partnership with Young Hammersmith & Fulham Foundation and BAME led organisations Nubian Life, People Arise Now and others. The research looked at data over a 3 year period from statutory service providers. In addition local survey of voluntary and community sector organisations was also carried out. Some of the findings make grim reading and highlight the urgent need to address these issues which include:

  • The over-representation of BAME individuals under the care of mental health services
  • Lack of appropriate support for BAME individuals facing mental health issues
  • General lack of mental health service providers compared to most other boroughs in London.
  • BAME communities not engaging with mental health services
  • Lack of support for young people facing mental health issues

A BAME Mental Health group supported the research and is also working towards supporting recommendations made in the report. It is hope that this will help transform the service to a more responsive, preventative and community focused model. This does mean a more collaborative and partnership approach between statutory mental health services, local authority and the voluntary and community sector.

To read the full report click here

Ramadan and Covid 19 – Information and Guidance

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Ramadan for 2021 will start in the week commencing 12th April. This is considered the holiest month by Muslims. Apart from fasting the month usually involves communal prayers, social and family gatherings particularly when breaking fast. There may be some restrictions to all these activities in the current COVID 19 pandemic.

Guidance for keeping safe and making the most of this holy month for Muslims under Covid 19 restrictions is available from the following sources

The Muslim Council of Britain has comprehensive guidance on their website through the following link.

https://mcb.org.uk/resources/ramadan/

Some more local places of information and guidance include:

West London Islamic Cultural Centre and Mosque : (Fulham)

https://wlicc.org/

Shepherds Bush Mosque & Muslim Cultural Centre and Mosque (Shepherds Bush)

https://www.shepherdsbushmosque.org/

Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre and Mosque (Ladbroke Grove)

https://almanaar.org.uk/

Free (& Excellent) Wellbeing Toolkit

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This toolkit has been developed by Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership for the benefit of the health and care workforce, including colleagues in the NHS and social care, as well as those in the voluntary sector, those delivering health and care services in the private sector and our unwaged workforce too. Find out more and download the toolkit here.

K&C Libraries Service Updates

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As the country slowly comes out of the lockdown, changes are afoot in our libraries too – please click here for the latest information on library services as we come out of current restrictions.

In the meantime, we continue our programme of online events that includes talks, courses, book clubs and more – there is a lot on in April and we hope you’ll join us!

Don’t forget you can access a whole online libraryof newspapers, journals, comics, books, audiobooks and more at all times, with just your library card.

There is a lot happening on our social media platforms too.

DSC’s Roundup of Helpful Information Regarding Operating in the Current Pandemic

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Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic we have been posting and sharing a wide range of support and advice for the sector. As a result, we have collated this information into an easy-to-navigate page where you will find a roundup of helpful information regarding operating in the current pandemic.

This page includes our most recent Covid-19 funding update pages, as well as specific sector news and more!

Click here to have a browse of the page and explore the useful content.

New Event Venue & Co‐working Space in Shepherds Bush for Charities & Social Enterprises

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I am excited to share that we have recently developed a versatile, well‐equipped event venue and co‐working space for charities, superbly located in Shepherd’s Bush that can be hired at a competitive rate.

The Anti Tribalism Movement is seeking tenants for our spare office facility and use of the ATM’S Culture House. This is a spacious office complex at basement and 1st-floor level.

Find out more here

Vaccination & Testing Guidance for Employers

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There are important employment, equality and data protection laws that need to be considered when deciding what steps your organisation will take to support the Covid-19 testing and vaccination programme. Click here for some excellent guidance produced by Charity Retail Association.

National Audit Office (NAO) Shines a Light on £750m Funding

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The National Audit Office (NAO) has released the report on its investigation of the government’s emergency funding package for the charity sector, which the Chancellor announced nearly a year ago on 8 April 2020.

The 42-page document examines the Department for Culture Media and Sport’s (DCMS) distribution of the money, including how it delivered the package, how charities accessed funding, and the rate of progress.

Click here to read Jay Kennedy’s response to the report.