Somali Hayaan Project (Moving to a Better Place)
Abdi Gure Telephone 020 8426 0929 or email:a.gure@mindinharrow.org.uk
The Hayaan Project launched in October 2010 and is the new evolution of the Somali Mental Health Advocacy Project, which was a research based project funded by the Kings Fund for three years.
The term ‘Hayaan’ in Somali is a nomadic term to mean ‘Moving on to a better place’. The project offers an innovative approach to build up an infrastructure within the community by recruiting and training a team of 'peer educators' from the local Somali communities to help increase awareness of and access to mental health support to the wider Somali community living in Harrow.
The Hayaan Project aims to
• Help reduce the sense of isolation experienced by Somalis with mental health difficulties
• Help increase well being and self-confidence of Somali mental health service users
• Provide advocacy and interpreting support to Somali mental health service users to help them understand and access mental health and other social welfare services
Who is it for?
The project is open to members from the Somali community living in Harrow. You must be 18 years and over and affected by mental health issues or supporting someone (Carer) who is affected by mental health issues.
What’s on offer?
If you or someone you know is affected by emotional distress/mental health issues and you/ they are experiencing problems in accessing services or you/they don’t know what sort of help they can access you should contact us to attend our Group sessions or Advocacy:
Group Sessions:
You can attend our free sessions facilitated by an Advocate and Peer Educators, which we run every month at the Healthy Living Centre on Thursdays between 12-2.30pm. Refreshments are provided. The free sessions include ‘Information Meetings’ and ‘Support Sessions’.
Information Meetings: At these meetings we invite professionals to talk about relevant issues impacting the community to ensure that people are kept up to date with services they can access, and to have an opportunity to meet the professionals who can support them e.g. housing, jobcentre plus, Health professionals etc.
Support Sessions: These sessions are open to members of the community to act as place where important issues are discussed and people offer mutual support.
Dates for Meetings:
THURSDAYS AT 12.00PM – 2.30PM
Months 2012 Support Sessions Information Meetings
JANUARY None 19th
FEBRUARY 2nd 16th
MARCH 1st 15th & 29th
APRIL 12th 26th
MAY 10th 24th
JUNE 7th 21st
JULY 5th 19th
AUGUST 2nd 19th
SEPTEMBER 6th 16th & 30th
OCTOBER 4th 20th
NOVEMBER 4th & 29th 15th
DECEMBER None 13th
Dates are provided for the full year 2012, but subject to some changes for Ramadan and Eid holidays.
Advocacy
Advocacy is taking action to help people say what they want, ensure their rights, present their interests and obtain services they need.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis and are having difficulty in accessing appropriate services please contact Abdi Gure 020-8515-7850.
Volunteers Needed
We recruit and train volunteers to take on the role as peer educators. Peer Educators support Somali mental health service users and their families by:
• Arranging regular support meetings/lunch
• Arranging regular information sessions (e.g mental health, GP’s, housing)
• Sharing the Somali cultural perspective with these service providers
• Acting as an interpreter and helping service users to talk with service providers and share their point of view
• Helping service users understand which services can help them
If this is something which appeals to you then contact Abdi Gure on
020-8515-7850.
How to access the service
We accept self referrals, which means if you are interested in getting involved or attending workshops or getting an advocate please contact Abdi Gure on 020-8515-7850, a.gure@mindinharrow.org.uk
How the Hayaan Project is funded
The project has two grant sources continuing into 2012:
• Dept of Health Volunteer Fund, a government fund and
• Trust for London, a charitable trust
The workshop sessions are being run in collaboration with the Harrow Equalities Centre in support of the Somali Carers Forum.
