UK SHARED PROSPERITY FUND PROJECT
The project seeks to build capacity and resilience among grassroots by intensively focusing on South Asian communities in Edinburgh, facing escalating socio-economic deprivation and health inequalities due to COVID-19, and support vulnerable individuals one to one via experienced bilingual community workers, known and trusted by communities; to empower and help identify recovery pathways leading to improved life chances. We also intend to promote eco-friendly lifestyle by providing conservation activities in the community to support net zero transition in the city with our over eight years’ experience in this area. In addition, a vision for a long-term legacy will be created by training a minimum of ten community equality champions in years two and three respectively.
The project work intends to address poverty, health inequalities and intersectional issues for families to improve wellbeing holistically. Hardships and inequalities experienced during COVID-19 and issues informed by our surveys (in 2020 & 2022) will be referred to; entailing enhancing and learning new skills, training community champions, building capacity, promoting healthier lifestyle and providing emotional support to families negatively impacted by the pandemic.
A baseline of needs and skills will be established via a survey study. To promote and contribute towards 20 minutes neighbourhood, isolated ethnic minority families will be connected with to access their local community services.
To empower people with information/knowledge, participation in training and courses will be encouraged and colleges will be liaised with along with sessional work offered to relevant facilitators. People experiencing stress and socioeconomic deprivation will receive tailored support entailing cultural/religious barriers within the family system, exclusion/racism, inaccessibility to local services, and isolation leading to traumatic experiences in life.
