Archives for January 2017

Charity of the Month – January

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Humber all Nations Alliance (HANA)

Who are HANA?

HANA is a UK registered charity which aims to promote the well-being of black and minority ethnic (BME) communities throughout Humber and Hull. HANA aims to do this by providing BME communities with a voice, advocating on their behalf and by representing their interests in a range of influential or decision making contexts. As an umbrella organisation, HANA is composed of 50 BME constituted community groups, which represents most of the ethnicities, cultures and faiths in Hull and of the Humber region in general. HANA’s staff team and volunteers are able to speak more than 20 languages, which is an asset to community work and partnership development in a multicultural context.

Over the past few years, The Rank Foundation have supported HANA under the Foundation’s Hull Community Development Project, and provided the charity with a number of Time to Shine interns. HANA have recently appointed Brigitta Laszlo as new Chief Officer and have recruited a new intern, Badar.

HANA’s Projects

HANA provides BME communities with a number of services, including a hate crime reporting centre, mental health services addressing cultural sensitivity, employability training and school awareness workshops. In addition, HANA’s Eastern European Project, in partnership with the Humberside Police and The Rank Foundation, addresses the issues of Eastern European migrant communities. The Eastern European Project has helped forge relationships between the Eastern European communities and the Humberside Police, helping members of the community to understand that the Police play a supportive role in this country and that unlike other places, they should not ‘fear’ the Police, but rely in this institution when they face problems.

HANA is also one of the leading organisations in the delivery of cultural and community activities involving BME communities in Hull and Humber. HANA runs Ethnic Fashion Shows and a Football World Cup to increase cultural expressions and reinforce community cohesion. The Ethnic Fashion Shows are now well established in the City of Hull and attracts the attendance of hundreds of people, which helps the charity to promote and enhance community cohesion among people of all ethnic origins and backgrounds.

Contact details

If you would like to find out more information about HANA, they can be contacted through their website here.

Shapeshifter Productions

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About

ShapeShifter Productions is a not-for-profit art organisation, aiming to provide the community with high quality art and encourage people to get involved. Due to their fantastic work, The Rank Foundation supported the organisation with their Smiling Sessions programme.

The Smiling Sessions

The Smiling Sessions project was spread over 20 weeks, delivering 39 sessions at 8 different care homes and care services. The project reached approximately 180 elderly people, often facing social isolation with complex needs, long term health problems and disabilities. During the Smiling Sessions, elderly people were assisted to sing songs by the project coordinators and members of staff from the care homes (see photos of Smiling Sessions).

The sessions made a significant impact on the participant’s quality of life, as group singing stimulates memories, creates a sense of belonging and enhances social, emotional and cognitive well-being, whilst connecting and interacting people. The support staff assisting the sessions noted a vast improvement since the residents started attending, in particular, increased self-esteem, improved social cohesiveness between the residents within the schemes and improved concentration and memory. The staff also noted that shy, disinterested residents gradually light up, start to smile, tap their toe and start singing!

The project clearly facilitated communication between in-house residents and staff at the care homes; enabling social contact within a different environment, in which elderly people were seen in a fresh light. This has not only generated a new respect and understanding, but strengthened the internal community of the housing schemes, where people tend to feel very isolated.

Another event, which particularly brought staff and residents together, was the Tea Dance. Eversheds International Law Firm contacted Shapeshifter Productions in 2015, having identified the organisation as a charity they wanted to support. As a result, a Tea Dance was organised, with Eversheds supplying volunteers to bake cakes, decorate the hall and befriend attendees. The event was really well attended, with over 50 participants present in good spirits, feeling very happy and uplifted.

For more Information

For further information on Shapeshifter Productions, please visit their website here

Aiming Higher – Supporting Families of Disabled Children

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About Aiming Higher

Aiming Higher is a UK registered charity based in Blackpool, which supports families of disabled children to attend social activities by ensuring easy access to buildings, hosting family events at suitable locations and subsidising the cost of activities. The Rank Foundation supported Aiming Higher to update the equipment in their Ball Pool Room and Sensory Centre, which became worn and needed replacing (see photos of families using the updated rooms).

Latoya Sykes, Charity Administrator at Aiming Higher, described how The Rank Foundation’s support benefited the local disabled community:

”I would like to take this opportunity to thank The Rank Foundation again for their amazing contribution towards the new facilities in our building at Aiming Higher. We had a fabulous opening ceremony that was presided over by the High Sheriff of Lancashire, who came to open the new Ball Pool Room and Sensory Centre.  The completion of the rooms came at an amazing time, as we have recently been further supported by Children in Need. This made it possible for more children to be able to access these new facilities we have. Thank you again for your contribution, it really has had an amazing impact on the local disabled community.”

 

For more Information

If you would like further information on Aiming Higher, please visit their website here.