by Abdul Siddique The response to our recent training event ‘Building community cohesion in to practice: strategies for front line professionals’ has left me overwhelmed and humbled. I am happy to see that individuals on our frontline i.e. community development workers, coordinator’s, teachers, social workers (to name a few) are increasingly concerned that their appears to be a gap between the policy rhetoric on community cohesion and the reality on the ground. Therefore it came as a no surprise to…
Continue ReadingLeading on community cohesion issues across Lancashire
by Abdul Siddique we are delighted to be collaborating with Lancashire Equalities Organisation to ensure that our work adds value to the community cohesion agenda across Lancashire. LEO aims to advocate on behalf of the BAME and other marginal Voluntary and Community faith Sector organisations across Lancashire to strengthen community cohesion, EDI and participation by increasing its influence in policy arenas, Developing capacity and facilitating knowledge, sharing best practice across the sector. Flowhesion will add value in these arenas through advice,…
Continue ReadingCollaborating with victim focus on CSE programmes
by Abdul Siddique The Flowhesion Foundation is thrilled to be working in collaboration with Dr Jessica Eaton, director of victim focus to develop and tailor CPD, training and literature material to raise awareness of Child sexual exploitation amongst members of BAME communities. The menace of CSE has long been documented in Britain but has come to the fore of late due to media coverage and dramatisations of high profile cases. There are however gaps in the provision of tailored CSE training programmes…
Continue ReadingCollaboration to Improve the health of the Bolton Family
by Charlotte Hetherington We are pleased to collaborate with Bolton CCG on their quest to better understand the complex health needs and issues affecting BAME communities in Bolton. Our partnership is fluid, dynamic and evolving and we will be announcing key developments in this arena. Our executive director stated ‘Innovative Research is a core strand for the Foundation and we are pleased that the CCG has recognised the skills, expertise and experience we bring to the table. We hope that our collaboration…
Continue ReadingPost-Brexit – Three key points to facilitate Co/Flowhesion
by Abdul siddique “The risk to community cohesion nationally is great. The vote has shown that people and places which are prosperous, or feel they have a chance of becoming so, have said yes. Whereas those which feel they have less chance have said no.” Prof. Michael Parkinson University of Liverpool Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Director of the Heseltine Institute. Hate crimes have surged by 42 per cent in England and Wales since the Brexit result. Following the United Kingdom…
Continue ReadingIn pursuit of the golden thread that binds humanity together
by Abdul Hafeez siddique Here at the Flowhesion Foundation we work tirelessly thinking about innovative ways to bring communities together.I have always been inspired by the wise words of the Prophet Muhammed (Pbuh) when he first entered the city of Madinah ‘Oh People! spread peace, join the ties of kingship, feed one another, Pray to your Lord at night when others are resting, you will surely enter heaven peacefully’. The conversations and interactions i have had around peaceful interactions have…
Continue ReadingThe Right Values?
by Yaseer Ahmed-Clore Leadership Programme Fellow- Read his full research paper here As we develop to actualise meaningful business collaborations, and in some way fill the gap left by a reduction in the size of the public sector, there is a risk that we fall foul and neglect or lose sight of the sincerity of our intentions. Our actions may not be in line with our words, and the question to the social sector as a whole is whether we…
Continue Reading6 reasons why time banks are awesome
by Junaid Bobat What is a time bank? This week I have been thinking long and hard about the use of time banks as a tool for building community cohesion and social capital. In its simplest form a time bank is a mutual work trading system in which hours are the currency. With time banking, a person with one skill set can bank and trade hours of work for equal hours of work in another skill set instead of paying…
Continue ReadingCommunities are made up of individuals, silly!
By Abdul Siddique The Problem For many years our approach to encouraging community integration has been based largely on an assumptionist and imperialist model .This I believe to be a system that conveniently lumps communities under the widest possible category in order to easily manage and negotiate with them. It negates the organic, complex and evolving natures of the very individuals that constitute the delicate fabric of our community. This approach has exacerbated the deep-rooted divisions within and between…
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