Carers’ Forum

One of the crucial contribution to the local ethnic minority communities is of forming a Carers Forum that provides group advocacy opportunities to South Asian female carers; especially unpaid carers experiencing barriers related to race and gender.  The forum provides opportunities to share information about the gaps and issues for female carers bringing service providers and carers on one platform to influence policy debate.  Through working closely with South Asian female carers, NKS would enable them to make life changes using their hidden strength and skills to combat isolation and deprivation among them.  Information sharing and programme of activities will give them opportunities to increase their social networks and to care about their health and well-being that will raise their self-esteem and improve quality of life. The social bonding and learning in safe environment will have positive impact on their physical and mental health.  The forum will give them a voice to make their issues heard and influence policies at a strategic level, so that the service providers are more inclusive of their needs.  The whole process will empower them to collectively address issues relevant to them.

The NKS Carers’ Forum meets once a month. The date, time and venue details are arranged in advance and advertised on the website as well as on social media. Topics include: wills and power of attorney; health sessions such as kidney cancer and diabetes and practical sessions such as basic first aid and Elementary Food Hygiene. 

Please contact us for more information or if you would like to join in.

Educational Activities

NKS offers a range of opportunities to local communities for lifelong learning i.e. first aid, digital skills and low fat cooking etc. Please get in touch if you would like more information. The educational activities help women towards their personal development and learn more about various skills that help improve their quality of life. Educational activities also help combat isolation and deprivation along with increased social capital in the community. Increased social networks and improved bonding with the community also help improve mental health and overall well-being.

English Conversation Classes

English Conversation Classes take place at NKS a few times a week. The classes are online and are with qualified volunteer tutors. Currently, we have the following classes: Beginners; Intermediate and Men’s Group. The classes are informal and a great way to build up your confidence and help to improve your everyday spoken and written English.

Please get in touch with us if you would like more information.

Family Support Work

Family Support Work is offered in the form of independent advocacy in the area of health, poor socio-economic circumstances, and for welfare benefits purposes.  The service is well utilised by women and their families. The aim of the service is to provide independent support and advocacy to vulnerable families so that they receive appropriate and relevant services that help improve quality of life for them. Generally, although not exclusively, advocates provide support to people who need assistance to understand their options and assert their views, choices and opinions in relation to services they are receiving. According to the users of the service at NKS, it helps them to access need-sensitive services without barriers that exist; mainly language, diverse cultures and lack of information.  The families using the service have reported increased accessibility to other services in Edinburgh due to the support they receive from bilingual workers. The demand for one to one family support work has never gone down at NKS.  The number of cases dealt with every year has gone up and the gap between supply and demand is widening. 

The service is provided in the form of advice and information and users are encouraged to make informed choices.  In most cases the family support worker advocates on behalf of the person and supports them to access relevant and suitable services. 

NKS support women and their families in regards to: all types of health and welfare benefits; tribunals; appeals; support with schooling and applying for free school meals and clothing grant etc. It is a much needed service that is well-used. Please get in touch if you would like more information or help.

Group Work

There are at least 8 groups running every week under NKS’ umbrella. Group members decide the activities and the topics such as: climate challenge; health information; exercise; healthy cooking; sewing; consultation; training and arts and crafts etc.  The groups run over six days a week; Monday to Saturday.  There is a group for older women and a group just for men.   

If you would like to join any group, please get in touch with us to find out more about it.

Health Advocacy 

NKS offers support to those with long term health conditions to attend their health appointments. Our staff will meet clients at their GP surgery or hospital and advocate on their behalf so that they are fully supported to get the most out of the appointment.

The carers in the South Asian communities are supported to make life changes in several ways and one way is through one to one support to manage their caring role within the cultural and religious boundaries.  One to one support is provided in the area of accessing services, income maximisation, personal needs and development, carers break within acceptable boundaries, building positive relationships within their families, their rights and legal implications for the whole family, support with finding a direction in the way of work, studying, joining English classes or volunteering.

Home Visits

NKS has no funding for this but we sometimes visit our clients at home if they are very ill, infirm or elderly so that we keep that link with them and assess what their needs are. Our staff will draw up a care plan for them and then support them in various ways. Please get in touch if you would like more information.

Home visits are made by NKS to those families who are isolated and not so visible in local communities as well as to families where a member of the family has health and welfare issues. The workers assess individual/family needs and offer services to meet those needs. The families are referred to other service providers too according to the needs of the families.  Feedback obtained from the users reveal that this initial step to build their confidence and trust in services and community groups is very helpful.  The visit breaks the ice and begins a dialogue with the outside world.  

Informal Computer Classes

These classes will restart soon. The classes are led by experienced tutors who plan their lessons according to the women that they are teaching. There are a few women in each class and the learning is at their own pace. Please contact us for more information or if you would like to join in the next lot of classes.

NKS Nursery

NKS provides childcare to pre-school children in the NKS Nursery which is open five days a week from Monday to Friday from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm. The nursery is a multicultural childcare facility for children aged between 3 months and 5 years of age. The religious and cultural needs of children are met in our Nursery. The NKS Nursery is registered with the Care Inspectorate and inspection takes place as required. Please contact us for more information.

The learning for children begins very early in life.  It is important to create a stimulating environment around them for their positive development, and for this appropriate services for children are crucial.  The projects such as NKS Nursery with its services specifically for South Asian children to support their positive development make a unique contribution to the wider society by helping to improve the quality of life for these children.

The deprivation and isolation among South Asians has a serious effect on children from these families that result in a lack of opportunities for the children to participate in developmental play activities.  NKS seeks to redress the issues affecting the children by encouraging them to develop positive self-image through play activities.  The project aims to provide these children with a comfortable and non-threatening environment.  This could build strong foundations and help children when they go to school and further enable them to integrate in to the wider society more easily and confidently.

NKS After School/Homework Club (ASHC)

The ASHC aims to provide learning support to children. Activities include: help with homework and projects; maths tuition and English tuition. Taekwondo takes place on Wednesdays. Please contact us for more information and for days/timings.

The primary aim of the After School/Homework Club is to support and nurture each child’s individuality and personality development by catering to their individual needs.   The club aims to provide learning support to those disadvantaged children who have very little help at home due to the low literacy level of parents/guardians.   

Following are the objectives of the club:

• Helping children to develop their bilingual skills by providing sessions on their first language as well as the English language.
• Helping children with their school work under the supervision of club workers.
• Providing online educational programmes during the afterschool club hours.
• Encouraging outdoor activities by providing various sports activities.
• Encouraging healthier lifestyle by introducing them to healthy eating.
• Encouraging independence, self-confidence through various learning activities.
• Creating better communication channels between parents and child through interactive sessions.

The ASHC is proving to be extremely helpful for the children who attend various organised activities.   The ASHC runs as needed by parents and additional support is offered to disadvantaged children who don’t have it at home due to low literacy level of parents/guardians at home.

As reported by children and their parents, the activities offered in the last twelve months have had positive outcomes in the form of combating negative impact of isolation among mothers on children, learning more about healthier lifestyle, healthy cookery, and positive mental and physical health.   

The children are also offered additional studies support in the form of tuitions, online educational programme in maths, English and Science.  Individual needs for children are identified and volunteers attached to them to address their needs.

Training

NKS runs various training and courses for women in group settings such as: basic first aid; Elementary Food Hygiene; Food Nutrition; Volunteering etc. From time to time we obtain funding to put volunteers through SVQs. Training and courses help women to increase their employability chances.  If you are looking to enhance your skills or get back to work then please get in touch if you would like more information.

Work Placements

NKS offers work placement opportunities for students and those seeking to gain more experience before applying for work. We would like to be able to help the next generation of workers. Please get in touch with us if you are interested in this.

Volunteering

Volunteering is a great way to gain much needed work experience and give something back to the community.  NKS offers volunteering opportunities for: office work; group work and childcare (PVG needed for this). Please get in touch with us if you would like more information.

Currently, we have informal computer classes running here and offer childcare students work placement in our nursery.