Annual Report.indd

ANNUAL REPORT
Afghan Association Paiwand
2012
Adam, Nazifa | Afzali, Parisa | Ahadi, Faridoon | Ahmadiadeh, Omar Yama | Ahmadzai,
Jamal | Ahmadzai, Mirwais Kahn | Ahmadzai, Shakira | Aimaq, Yilda | Aimaq, Zarmina
| Akbar, Fatana | Al-Thamir, Ali | A BIG | Alam, Imran | Amir, Lina | Amir, Zakia |
Amirebrahimi, Maneli | Amiri, Zaheda | Arghandiwal, Maryam | Aria, Afif | Ashogbon,
Olusegun | Assor, Samuel | Azimi, Soudaba | Azizi, Farida | Azizi, Wahidullah | Baria,
Anil | Basson, Rajandeep Kaur | THANK YOU | Batra, Anil | Bedekar, Shweta |
Bhatt, Megha | Bollesteros, Maribel | Brown, Kirby-Teresa | Browning, Tim | Butt
Sajjad | Caikina, Aleksandra | Chiranoranwanit, Sukit | De Campos-Guida, Eugenioz
| Dost-Mohammed, Farzana | Edo- Ukeh, Brenda | Efimkine, Alexandre | Fox, Tyler |
Goldstein, Alison | Gul, Mohammad | Gulzar, Hosina | Gungabissoon, Pooja-Pryanka
| Hafezi, Sonila | Hameed, Zahira | TO | Harris, Liz | Hashemi, Sajida | Hussain, Saira
| Isar, Shabana | affer, Zayn | Ismat, Tahmina | Jalali, Karima | Jami, Eqlima | Jan,
Akhtar | Javiera | Kabir, Venous | Kader, Aisha | Khaleghi, Reza | Khanna, Mohini |
Khalil, Jawid | Khoshan, Parnion | Khurami, Najiba | Kohistani, Frozan | Kohestani,
Shawkat | Koudou, Millie | Latif, Palwasha | Lafraie, Sumayyah | OUR | Maheswaran,
Dewaki | Majidi, Homa | Majidi, M. Karim | Mall, Svetlana Yuriyevna | Mall, Veedda
| Mansury, Mustafa | Masoodi, G. Farooq | McDermott, Graham Patrick | Mehta,
Raxita-Babubhai | Mhojatoleslami, Sepideh | Mirza, Bita Tahmaseb | Mohsenzada,
Nahida | Mujaddei, Masuma | Mujaddei, Mia Ahmad | Nabi, Abdul | Nabi, Zohal
| Nahendran, Karthyla | Navai, Mazida | AMAZING | Nazari, Ahmad-Younis |
Nazari, Sita | Nazari, Souroosh | Ocloo, Jermaine-Marcas | Opoku-Agyemann, Nana
Kwabena | Patel, Payal | Popal, Jamila | Popal, Sammar opalzai, Safia | Popal, Sammar
| Poursadegh-Sadigh, Parsa | Qadare, Mariam | Qazilbash, Abir | Rajaraman, Savithri
| Rasul, Javid | Rawish, Fariba | Raza, Hammad | Rezai, Fatima | Sayed Abdul Basir |
Sadeq, Aghela | Sadiq, Aqila | Salhie, Yasmine | Sarabi, Yasman | Sarwari, Mohammed
| Sarwari, Sadia | Sattar, Nayaab | VOLUNTEERS |Shams, Laila | Sharifi, Samia |
Sherifi, Marzia | Shirzad-Yama, Roya | Siddiq, Sharifa | Simab, Amal | Slezeviciute,
Aiste | Smith, Edidiong | Smith, Vanessa-Karen | Taher, Lina | Tahmaseb Mirza, Bita |
Tanha, Anwar Kahn | Torkamani, Mehdi | Wafa, Maryam | Walizada, Saeeda | Wassel,
Belquis | Yaqin, Faisal | Zarrien, Razia | Zarrien, Sahel-Ahmad | Zubair, Mohammad |
Cover photo: Picture of an Afghan girl by Leslie Knot. We would
like to thank Leslie for providing us with such a beautiful photo
Education Project
Advocacy Project
Mentoring Project
Mental Health Advocacy
Parenting Consortium
Multilingual Wellbeing
Legal and Administrative Information
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Paiwand Staff
Stag Lane and HarrowWeekend Schools
Children & Youth Service
Supported Accommodation Service
ESOL
Financial Summary
Message from
the Chair
I have had the privilege of being the chair of the Afghan Paiwand
Association for the last three years. It gives me great pleasure as a chair
here on the tenth anniversary of this organisation to say thank you to
the large team of staff, volunteers and trustees who are involved in
providing service to people in need. Without their support, dedication
and hard work this association would not be here today.
As you all may know, the Afghan Paiwand Association was established
in 2002, by a dedicated group of volunteers from the Afghan community in the UK. Its mission was to provide services to Afghans in need
of support. During this period, over ten thousand Afghan refugees
and asylum seekers have been supported, or have received access to
different services. In 2009, Paiwand opened its services to refugees
and asylum seekers of all backgrounds.
I am pleased to report that staff and volunteers work hard to provide and
maintain a high quality service to our beneficiaries. We have successfully achieved the Investor in People Quality Mark. Our supplementary
school at Whitefield is one the five schools in the country achieving a
special distinction award. The Advocacy Project has also successfully
achieved OISC Level Two accreditation. We could not have achieved
any of the above without the hard work of our staff and volunteers.
I am proud to have the support of over 85 dedicated volunteers.
They strive towards providing the 2000 refugees, asylum seekers and
migrants throughout North West London with community advocacy,
education, mental health, sports, music, arts and crafts, mentoring,
and befriending support and service.
I am also happy to report that in the past year, our advocacy service
has dealt with 739 individual cases. The project was able to represent
clients at the welfare benefits tribunals, and undertake Level Two
immigration cases.
Once again, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all who have
helped at the Afghan Paiwand Association. Our volunteers have been so
extremely generous with their time and their efforts. A special thanks
goes to Mr Farid Mall, the Director of Paiwand, who has dedicated
himself wholeheartedly to this organisation.
Let’s work together as a team to make another successful year of
providing quality service to our beneficiaries.
Shah Bibi Shah Nala
CHAIRPERSON
6 | PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T
I am pleased to present this report which summarises a
range of culturally, linguistically, and socially, appropriate
services that Paiwand offers to a diverse community.
Year 2011/12 was highly challenging and also a huge
success for Paiwand. We have successfully obtained
the Investor in People Quality Mark, OICS Level two
qualification, and Special Distinction Quality Mark in
Supplementary Education.
Our services include:
• Information, Advice, Guidance and advocacy service
• OISC Level two Immigration service
• Supplementary and Mother Tongue Schools
• Befriending & Mentoring
• Weekend Schools for underachieving children
• ESOL classes
• Interpretation and translation
• Mental health awareness sessions, advocacy & support
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Outreach services to those experiencing isolation
Community library Service
Youth activities
A women’s club
Summer and Winter football tournaments
Cultural events and festivals
Cultural awareness training for professionals
working with the Afghan Community
Over 2000 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants
throughout North and Northwest London have benefited
from these services. I would like to thank and express
my gratitude to all Paiwand staff, volunteers, board
members, and our funders, for their commitment, time,
invaluable input, and support. Without their contribution we could not achieve any of this.
FARID MALL
DIRECTOR
Tyler Fox
Admin
I’m a new member of the Paiwand team, but have loved every minute of working here
so far. As the administrator, I have the daily privilege of working for, and interacting
with, all of the inspiring Project Managers in the office. Participating in the practical
functioning of each project, and the organisation as a whole, has given me insight into
the incredibly positive contributions Paiwand has made to the local migrant community.
It’s exciting to be part of such a vibrant office environment: clients, students, football
teammates, and various members of the community are in and out at any given time,
which really gives the space a communal feel. I look forward to further immersing
myself in the Paiwand community and contributing what I can to its future endeavours!
Zuheir Suleman (Ali)
Accountant
I have been working for Paiwand since 2007, and it has been an absolute pleasure. As
an accountant, my responsibilities include:
• Running monthly payroll of 3 full time staff, 12 to 15 part time staff and over
30 casual or sessional workers.
• Preparing various statements such as Income & Expenditures, Funds Monitoring reports, Budget & Cash Flow.
• Making sure Final Accounts are prepared on accrual basis with 100% accuracy.
• Working with all Project Managers and the Director in great team spirit!
Mohibullah Walizada
Youth Project Manager
Youth Project at Paiwand runs a variety of activities, trips and workshops to promote
positive social and recreational conduct among refugee communities. In addition, we
provide mentoring support both to groups and one-to-one. We strive towards helping
young people with any issues they may be facing; these include education, stress,
advice on legal issues, and any other problem they need help with.
More than 400 young people have benefited from the project this year. The project
was run with the help of five volunteers and two staff members.
PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T | 7
“Let the beauty you love be what you do. There are a thousand
ways to kneel and kiss the earth.”
Rumi
Emily Beckwith
Education Project Manager
It was a real honour to join Paiwand in November 2011. It was instantly inspiring to see
that there was so much being done and that I was surrounded by such kind, hardworking
people. The Education Project comprises a huge team of teachers, teaching assistants,
office volunteers and mainstream school support staff. All of us give our all to make
sure that local children get that little bit of extra help on a Saturday that could make
a big difference. I love seeing everyone working together on a project that means so
much to us all. I am looking forward to helping the project launch into a new phase of
delivery this year, collaborating more closely with mainstream schools and focussing
even more on the educationally most in need.
Nahzley Anvarian
Mentoring Project Manager
The mentoring project aims to improve the lives of vulnerable Afghan children, aged
11-18 years old, in the London borough of Harrow, by providing emotional support and
guidance. The project is funded by Harrow Council until the end of March 2013, and is a
partnership between four Afghan organisations in north London, with Paiwand acting
as the lead. I started my role in April 2012, and, working from two different offices Paiwand & Afghan Association of London - I recruit volunteer mentors and make sure
they receive appropriate training before being matched with young people. Currently,
twelve volunteers have been recruited for the mentoring post. The service is promoted
to schools and colleges as well as the organisations that deal with young Afghans.
Karen Reid
Advocacy Project Manager
The advocacy service provides advice to refugees and asylum seekers from all cultural
backgrounds. It advocates on their behalf across a number of areas, including welfare
benefits, housing, immigration and debt. I work alongside a team of ten volunteers to
provide outreach surgeries across Barnet, Brent and Harrow. The work undertaken by
the advocacy service includes filling in forms, contacting service providers on behalf
of clients, drafting appeals and tribunal representation. Workshops are also provided
to service users to increase community knowledge of rights and responsibilities within
the United Kingdom.
Hasina Sarwari
Mental Health Project Manager
The Mental Health advocacy project has been running since mid-April, 2012. A lot of
groundwork has been laid in order to establish this service, and to make it accessible
to the Afghan community from three boroughs. My strong team of 8-10 volunteers
have helped the project flourish by networking, publicising, securing office sites in
different areas, and planning and organising community workshops and events. We not
only listen and identify the clients’ needs but also provide emotional support, contact
relevant professionals in relation to their mental health needs, and do frequent followups. The reaction from external organisations, and clients alike towards this service has
been heartening and positive. There is plenty of optimism and good foundation within
the project that will continue to be developed to deliver consistently high standards.
8 | PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T
Education
Emily Beckwith, Project Manager
Paiwand’s Saturday Schools have continued to provide
extracurricular support for children aged 6 – 16 from
both the Afghan and wider community. Our schools
aim to help children perform better at their mainstream
school, narrow the gap between the attainment levels
of refugee children and those born in the UK and help
children maintain their cultural identity.
‘I can state with confidence that this organisation has got the
capacity and the ability to deliver high quality projects within
the fields of their expertise.. Paiwand has got a thorough
knowledge of their community which has proved extremely
helpful in communicating with our students and their families.’
We would like to express our gratitude to Whitefield School
for the joint achievements of our partnership this year.
Awards
Paiwand’s Saturday School at
This year, Paiwand’s Saturday School at Whitefield
became one of only five in the country to achieve Special
Distinction Status from ContinYou. The award means that
Paiwand has delivered the highest standard of delivery
in the supplementary sector. Congratulations to former
Project Manager, Wallizada Mohibullah, and current Head
Teacher of the School, Fahima Khalil, for all of your work
achieving this award.
Whitefield became one of only
The support of Margaret Kojlo, of Whitefield School,
enabled us to work to our full potential. Margaret recently
awarded Paiwand 5 stars out of 5 for our work as a delivery
partner, commenting that:
five in the country to achieve
Special Distinction Status from
ContinYou
End of Year Results
We were proud to see 198 children graduate from Whitefield
and London Academy schools in July. They achieved the
following results in all subjects, from Reception to GCSE.
PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T | 9
92% of parents surveyed in 2012 gave Paiwand
8-10/10 for quality of study environment.
Science
Maths
Pashto
Islamic Studies
73% of Grades for Islamic
Studies, Dari and Pashto
were A* and A
Dari
1 0 | PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T
Case Study:
Ahmad Rashid
Ahmadzay
Ahmad Rashid is one of our Students of the Year,
achieving an A in GCSE-level Maths, an A* in Dari and
an A* in Islamic Studies. After receiving his award, he
explained how coming to Paiwand had helped him
raise his academic level and connect with friends
from the same culture. He enjoys being able to
speak his home language, whilst being supported
to achieve higher standards in Maths and English
at his mainstream school.
Good luck Ahmad Rashid with your bright future!
PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T | 1 1
“As a refugee myself, I was aware of the troubles and shortcomings. I
just wanted to make things easier for others, especially kids. It’s good
experience too, I always wanted to get into teaching”
Volunteer Teacher
Teachers
We could not have achieved any of this without our team of
committed teachers. Whitefield and London Academy schools
have nearly 60 teachers combined, who all give their time and
skills to the project every weekend.
At the beginning of the year, we asked the teachers what
motivates them to volunteer for Paiwand every Saturday.
What came back was an overwhelming sense of community
spirit and desire to give back to the community. One teacher
commented that:
‘As a refugee myself, I was aware of the troubles and shortcomings. I just wanted to make things easier for others,
especially kids. It’s good experience too, I always wanted to
get into teaching.’
Future Plans
Paiwand will continue to be at the
forefront of supplementary education by partnering with mainstream
schools in shared objectives. 2013
will see the introduction of direct
referral systems from mainstream
schools to Paiwand’s services.
Stronger collaboration with schools
will provide better professional
development for our teachers
and a more streamlined, tailored
level of support for every student.
Our successful partnership with
Whitefield school is just the beginning of this new phase of delivery.
Well done to all of the teachers,
teaching assistants, office volunteers
One of our teachers, Friba Rawish, was awarded a Brent
Champions Award in May for her exceptional contribution
to the project. In addition to teaching Dari, Friba has also
provided project support in the office and helped to re-format
outdated language materials.
and management staff for making
this a great year for the project!
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1 4 | PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T
Harrow & Stag Lane
Weekend Schools
The Schools have been developed in a partnership led by Harrow Borough Ethnic Minority
Achievement with the support of other organisations from the statutory and voluntary sectors.
It is a new and visionary piece of work that currently does not exist in London. The project
fully meets local priorities, Every Child Matters and national Narrowing the Gap objectives.
The Harrow Weekend School and the Stag Lane Weekend
School admit children for KS1 and KS2 by referrals from
local school clusters. They are assessed to identify the
level of their needs and ensure that they are from the
Narrowing the Gap and local strategy disadvantaged
groups. All children and parents are required to sign an
‘attendance and behavior agreement’ upon enrolment.
Children are supported in Maths and English by UK
qualified teachers. Each class is provided with a community teacher assistant.
Summary of impact
of Weekend School on Children’s Attainment
Children are expected to make 3 points progress a year
at KS2 (with 2 points being 1/3 of a National Curriculum
Level). Four points is seen as good progress.
The cohort was 36 children in years 5/6 coming from 2
schools. The children were all ethnic minority children
mainly Somali, on FSM and were selected because they
had been under achieving and many had not made NC
expected progress the previous year. The focus of the
academic side of the school was on writing and Maths
but we also expected a “knock on” effect on reading.
Therefore, to conduct this evaluation we looked at progress
of children attending weekend school in reading, writing,
and maths compared to:
1)
2)
3)
NC expected progress
Progress they had made the previous year
(when they did not attend the weekend school)
Progress of children in their year group who
were not attending the weekend school, to see
if they had narrowed the gap.
“I love stag lane weekend
school I can’t wait to come back
in September.” student
PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T | 1 5
In the end of year survey, 98 % of parents and
children gave Stag Lane weekend school an
excellent for quality and study environment.
Comparison with NC expected progress
Observations
The vast majority made 4
points progress (greater
than NC expectations).
Approximately half went up
a whole NC level (twice the
rate of progress expected
by the NC).
The average points progress
in particular in Maths and
English was outstanding.
Comparison with previous year progress
For children in Year 6, approximately 80% achieved
Level 4 or above in Maths
and English (the clearest
indicator towards achieving
5 A*-C incl Eng and Maths
at GCSE). At the beginning
of the year, if the children
had made NC expected
progress of 3 points, only
25% would have achieved
level 4 in Maths in English.
It is clear that there were dramatic improvements, in particular within the target areas of writing and maths, for the
children attending the weekend schools.
1 6 | PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T
Advocacy Project
Karen Reid, Project Manager
Overview
Over the past year, the advocacy service has dealt
with 739 cases of individual advocacy, which is in
excess of the 532 required to meet the targets set by
our funders over this period. The advocacy service
has continued to provide clients with advice in the
areas of welfare benefits, housing, and immigration.
We have represented clients at the welfare benefits
tribunal and have had clients awarded both Employment and Support Allowance and Disability Living
Allowance as a result. We have also made a successful
appeal against a negative right to reside decision. The
advocacy service is now registered with the Office of
the Immigration Service Commissioner to provide Level
2 advice, and we have taken on a number of more
complex cases as a result, including an application
under the domestic violence rule, and an application
under Article 3 for discretionary leave to remain for
medical reasons.
Evaluation
In February, we commissioned an independent report
by researchers at the University of the East of London
to evaluate the success of the project. The report was
very positive about the work of the advocacy project
to date, and confirmed that the project is meeting the
needs and expectations of clients, as well as its aims
and objectives. The range of advice provided by the
service and the approachability of case workers were
highlighted as specific strengths of the service. The
evaluation also provided us with recommendations
for improving the service, including reducing clients’
dependency on the service and increasing our ability
to share resources within the team. Both of these are
being addressed at present.
Funding
The two year grant we received from Trust for London
ended in March of this year, and unfortunately our
application to renew it was unsuccessful. We have,
however, been successful in securing funding from
Harrow Council to continue the work of the advocacy
service in Harrow, and a grant from Law for Life to
run a joint Public Legal Education Project with them.
This has meant a reduction in the number of staff
hours the advocacy project has from 56 per week to
38, however, due to the hard work of our volunteers
this reduction has had a minimal impact on clients.
Case Study 1
Ms F originally sought asylum in another EEA
country, where she lived for several years
before moving to the UK when she achieved
citizenship. She claimed Income Support while
her children were young and then claimed Job
Seekers Allowance for a short period before an
illness that prevented her from working. She
applied for Employment and Support Allowance, however, her application was refused as
she was not meeting the requirements of EEA
law that would allow her to be entitled to claim
out-of-work benefits in the UK. The advocate
applied for a crisis loan for the client to secure
her some immediate income, and explained
the situation to the housing department so
that her Housing and Council Tax Benefit were
not affected. The advocate then appealed the
Department of Work and Pensions decision,
and continued to chase them for a response
while the client was waiting. After several
months, the Department of Work and Pensions
reversed their decision, and awarded the
client Employment and Support Allowance,
which was backdated to the date when she
first made the claim. The advocate continued
to support her until her claim was in payment
and the arrears had also been paid.
Case Study 2
Mr L came to the advocate with several unpaid
bills and a number of letters from debt collectors. The advocate called all the debt collectors
and asked them to put the claims on hold to
give Mr L time to get his finances in order and
make an offer of repayment. The advocate
then supported Mr L to fill in an Income and
Expenditure form, and assisted him to identify
areas where he might be able to save money.
The advocate then calculated the amount of
money which Mr L had left over at the end of
the month, divided this between the companies to which he owed money, and agreed the
payments with Mr L. The advocate then wrote
to all of the companies to which Mr L owed
money, explained his financial situation and
made an offer of re-payment in accordance
with Mr L’s available finances.
PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T | 1 7
Clients Breakdown by Gender
Clients by Country of Origin
Afghanistan
Iraq
2% 2%
“...I found out my rights, and felt
more confidence when I received
correct information. Everywhere
and everyone, even social worker
gave me different answers
and didn’t tell me [the] proper
answer, except Paiwand.”
(Iranian Client living in Brent)
Iran
Somalia
Uganda
Other
Pakistan
5%
Areas of Advice
Access to Statutory
Services
Administrative
9%
14%
1 8 | PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T
Children and
Youth Service
Mohibullah Walizada, Project Manager
Our aim is to encourage children and young people from the Afghan, refugee, and migrant
communities to participate in positive social and recreational activities. We strive towards
increasing their access and participation in mainstream arts, music, and sports.
The youth project at Paiwand has managed yet again to
attract many young pupils from Afghan and other refugee
and migrant communities and successfully advocate
positive change in youths’ knowledge, confidence and
social interaction. This was achieved with the help of
a dedicated team of volunteers and staff who helped
organise various trips, activities and innovative workshops.
To meet the aforementioned objectives of the project,
the following activities have been undertaken:
Activity 1
North London Global Gathering: This is a partnership
project with Barnet Refugee Service and Barnet Children
Services. This project is designed to provide both support
and activities that can help young people in terms of
confidence building, social interaction and becoming
a positive member of the community. The project is
delivered by a dedicated and professional team of staff
and volunteers. There are over 140 children and youth
registered for the event from a wide range of backgrounds.
The aim of all our activities at this centre is for young
people to make new friends, improve their English, learn
about the new community, and enjoy positive activities
in a safe environment. Some of the activities provided
at this centre include sporting activities such as football,
boxing, martial arts delivered by trained volunteers,
creative arts such as t-shirt design and painting, social
interaction activities such as cooking, pool, chess and Wii
games playing in groups, emotional support through 1-2-1
and group mentoring, trips, ice skating, and educational
support through IT and language sessions.
Activity 2
Community trip to Thorp park: This trip was organised
for mainly Afghan youth to participate with their families
and enjoy the day at Thorpe Park. Most of young people
were visiting Thorpe Park for the first time in their lives,
exploring and experiencing the rides. Ninty-six young
people and members of their families joined the one-day
trip which was nothing short of amazing.
Activity 3
Olympic & Wembley Stadium Guided Tours: These two
trips were designed by our Youth Project. The Wembley
trip was organised in partnership with Attic Theatre Co.
as part of a drama project themed on Olympic games.
Young people from the drama group had an opportunity to learn about the development of the Wembley
Stadium, its capacity, and also its contribution to the
local businesses and budgets. The aim of both trips was
to promote Olympic sports, and how they can positively
affects people’s lives. They were encouraged to take part
in various sporting activities provided both by Paiwand
and the local authorities. During the tour to the Olympic
area, the group was given a tour around the Olympic
park and were given details of the progress and history
of the area, and how it has affected the previously poor
area in a positive way.
“It was so nice, I love sports
and this has motivated me to
work hard knowing that I have
chance of being able to attend
such spectacular sporting events
in future.”
Activity 4
London Football Journeys LFJ: This is a partnership project
with four sports clubs. The London Football Journeys
2011 scheme is the first of its kind designed to facilitate
understanding between young people from different
PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T | 1 9
Creative Arts
communities in London, supporting
them to become leaders that could
work on overcoming the cultural
barriers that exist between different
ethnic communities.
During its pilot period in 2011-2012,
the scheme kicked off with four groups
of 12 - 14 year olds from four distinct
communities in London taking part
in a day of football activities; one of
them being Paiwand’s under 14 football
club. The day ended with the four
groups passing their experience on,
and playing “Home & Away” matches
in their respective communities.
These visits provided a platform for
participants to be welcomed and
introduced to a different community
in London. It gave them a chance
to meet leaders from the football world
and other professions, to build skills in
film, photography, communications, and
project management (by documenting
the progress of the project). The visits
also facilitated intercultural learning
and gave young people a voice on
issues that matter to them.
Activity 5
Website Design: Website Design was
a two week family learning partnership project with Community Focus.
The workshop was aimed at young
people and their guardians/parents.
It was designed to bring out their
creativity and improve their technical
skills. It gave participants the chance
to work with latest software packages
in order to design a basic website.
Working together with parents and
children, this project provided a
platform to share ideas and help
young people better communicate
with their parents:
‘’I feel very happy that I am able to
help my father with something.”
Quote from a participant
Activity 6
Ariana Football Academy: The junior
and U16s football teams were affiliated with MCFA, and are playing in
Middlesex County and Harrow Youth
Leagues. The teams consist of 70
players from different backgrounds.
They attend the regular training
sessions and take part in the planned
games. A recent achievement is the
Junior team that successfully reached
the final Cup Games.
Cricket Team brings together over 20
young people to join training sessions
on Saturdays. The team successfully
joined a number of friendly games
and a seven week Cricket Tournament.
Currently, the team is preparing for
an affiliation with County Cricket
Club, and then planning to take part
in bigger tournaments.
Tae Kwon Do sessions are run at
Whitefield School. Over 20 children
and young people from different
backgrounds attend training sessions
every Saturday. The aim of this project
is to boost each young person’s self
confidence, discipline and help them
achieve one grade/belt per year.
Summer Football Tournament was a
nine week, 11-a-side football competition between 14 Afghan Football
teams; over 200 players and 300
supporters participated in an exciting
and very emotional football tournament. Fourteen teams were playing
in two divisions. The four team/two
winner teams from each division took
part in semi-final and final games. The
winners, runners up, and third place
team were presented with trophies
and medals.
All of the above sporting activities are run by a committed group
that includes professional staff and
volunteers.
2 0 | PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T
Activity 7
Music classes: These classes were run
at both our supplementary school
reception classes. They were an
introduction to the fundamental
elements of music, including rhythm
and melody, which are taught through
fun activities, movement-based
exercises and music theory classes.
The sessions are designed to help
improve both students’ educational
needs (singing alphabet & numbers),
and skills such as team-building
(singing in groups), self-confidence
(standing and singing) and finally,
promoting good behaviour.
Activity 8
Drama classes: This project is run in
partnership with Attic Theatre. The
aim of the project is to encourage
young people to participate in drama
classes and to work on improving
their skills and confidence-building.
The group gave an astounding performance during our supplementary
school graduation ceremony, which
was cheered by parents and other
students. During the year 2011-2012,
the drama group went on two trips:
the trip to Wembley Stadium was
aimed at getting them to experience an actual arena where sporting
events are held; the trip to the theatre
performance was to show them what
can be achieved through drama.
to enable parents to spend positive
time with their children. Parents and
Grandparents were encouraged to
tell stories to children who retold the
stories in their own words in English.
They were also supported by
professionals to make illustrations.
Through the duration of the project,
children and parents worked on five
stories, and designed story books in
three different languages.
“My first story... was
told to me by my
grandmother in the
oral tradition. These
stories are tales of lifes
ups and downs with
messages of wisdom
for us all’’ Maliha
Activity 11
One World Music: This project was
aimed at encouraging Afghans and
refugee migrants (aged 12-18) to
participate in a positive extracurricular programme that encouraged
them to learn about different cultures
and traditions, using music as a tool.
Through this project, young people
had the chance to experience how
to work with experienced musicians,
play various traditional instruments,
learn about music production, and
learn new musical skill. During the
sessions, the young people also had
the chance to listen to performances
by tutors, different types of music,
and to learn about where the music
derived from. During the sessions,
they were taught how to compose
music, and were given the chance
to experiment with various instruments from different parts of the
world. The end result of the project
was the production of a CD that
incorporated the collaborative work
of young people and musicians. The
project was a huge success, and the
youngsters were especially thrilled at
having their work produced on CD.
Activity 9
Fashion Project was part of a family
learning project, in partnership with
Community Focus. The two-week
project was an interactive workshop
where young people and their parents
were shown how to express their own
ideas through fashion. The project
consisted of workshops on how o
customise t-shirts, make accessories
and experiment with different embellishment techniques, such as beading,
hand stitching and ribbon work.
Activity 10
Picture My Story: This is a family learning
project in partnership with Community Focus. The aim of the project was
The graph highlights targeted number and actual numbers of beneficiaries achieved
PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T | 2 1
Activity 12
Chasing Mirrors: We are in year three of a three-year
partnership with the National Portrait Gallery. This
project is aimed at engaging young people in expressing
feelings through arts, which were then displayed at the
National Portrait Gallery. This project helped introduce
young people to a different level of arts, and gave them
the opportunity to experience having their art work in
the public view. It was exhilorating to see the happy
faces of the participants at the end the project, as they
watched others admiring their work. The project provided
the participants with a chance to collaborate with highprofile professional artists, develop artistic and creative
skills, and explore issues of identity and representation of
self image; all of which were the themes for the project.
Activity 13
Close-up Project: This was part of the family learning
project in partnership with Community Focus. It was
also aimed at getting young people to express their
creativity through film. The project consisted of using a
video camera and recording interviews with friends and
family members. They then had to create a documentary
about a given topic and have it screened. There were 19
participants that took this project to heart and produced
amazing work.
Activity 14
Decade Project: This was part of the family learning
project in partnership with Community Focus. The aim of
this project was to enable parents and children to spend
positive time together through creative activities. The
group decided to work on a project to celebrate Afghan
Association Paiwand’s 10 year anniversary! Through this
project, it was decided to design a limited edition 2012
Paiwand diary. This project included photography and
design workshops for young people and families to get
involved and help design the diary. The photography
and hand-written words were printed and included in
the diary/planner.
Activity 15
Mentoring and befriending at Whitefield, London Academy
and Copland Schools: Our mentors have been working
very closely with the mainstream schools to provide
mentoring to young people identified and referred by
the school. The aim of the project is to build mentees’
capability to progress independently, and ultimately
develop resources so they can find their own solution
to removing barriers. Our teachers have been working
hard to provide both one-to-one and group mentoring
sessions to mainly Afghan young people. This has had a
profound effect on both the behaviour of the mentees,
and also his/her educational performance, evidenced
by the feedback from the mainstream school teachers.
Football Journeys
Drama Trip
Fashion Project
Arts - Painting
2 2 | PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T
Mental Health Advocacy
Hasina Sarwari, Project Manager
The Mental Health Advocacy project aims to reduce the
Thus far, the outcomes of this project have been executed
trauma and mental distress of 100 Afghan refugees and
by recruiting ten volunteers, and creating a comprehensive
migrants per year, within the boroughs of Brent, Ealing and
training programme for the team. Publication materials,
Harrow collectively, by providing one-to-one advocacy.
brochures and flyers have been produced to address each
This project also strives to raise awareness of the Mental
aspect of the project or workshop topic, and have been
Health issues of 1,000 members of the
distributed to a wide
Afghan community per year. This will “I really enjoyed learning new mental health organibe achieved through organising ten
sation network within
specific events each year, writing articles information and look forward the specified boroughs.
in local media, as well as refugee/cultural
This has lead to referrals
needs awareness-raising workshops for to attending similar wellbeing being made that have
30 mental health professionals per year.
enabled a client case
workshops in the future”
load to be established.
Ultimately, these actions will encourage
effective partnership and referrals from
In addition, Mental
a broad range of services, including statutory and third
Health awareness-raising workshops have been planned
sector charity organisations, as well as the NHS teams.
and delivered to the Afghan community with success.
Mentoring
Nahzley Anvarian, Project Manager
The Afghan Mentoring Project was started in April 2012,
to work with young Afghan children aged 11-18 years
old in Harrow. The project is a partnership between four
Afghan organisations, with Paiwand acting as the lead.
Aim
The aim of the project is to:
•
Improve the lives of young Afghan children by
providing emotional and practical support within
their own community
• Support the children in making the right decision
towards their own stated goals
• Support the children who have been expelled from
school back into education
• Work with children who are in a gang, or in danger
of joining one
• Encourage the community members to get involved
with their own community, and to volunteer for
the project
Achivements to date:
• The project has made excellent links with local
communities, schools and colleges as well as social
services in Harrow. In the meantime, the project is
always looking for new ways to extend and promote
the service.
• The Project Coordinator has arranged group sessions
with young Afghan children to promote the project
among them. There are already places secured for
the Mentoring Project at a few colleges in Harrow,
to attend their Fresher’s Fairs, held at the beginning
of the 2012-13 school year.
• The project has recruited around twelve volunteers
who will receive training from Harrow Children’s
Services in September. The volunteers are from different
backgrounds, and they bring a range of skills and
experiences to the project, including those working
as psychologists, university graduates, teachers and
a child support tribunal judge.
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Supported
Accommodation Service
The Paiwand Supported Accommodation
Service is a social enterprise that has been
developed by Afghan Association Paiwand.
their self-esteem, and enable them to acquire the practical skills for
independent living.
This project aims to relieve the housing
shortage for unaccompanied children aged
between 16 – 18 (up to 21) years seeking
asylum in the UK. Well over 1,000 of these
young people are referred to Harrow,
Hillingdon, Camden, Barnet, Brent and
Ealing local authorities. Hillingdon Borough
Council is especially important, as it alone
deals with around 1,000 minors each year.
The overall aim of this service is to provide supported accommodation
and associated services to unaccompanied refugee minors in North
West London. We do our best to:
• Provide safe accommodation that encouages mutual respect and care
• Offer information about healthy living and household budgeting
• Enable them to acquire the practical skills for independent living
• Provide employment training
• Enable them to effectively integrate into UK society
• Provide an environment which is anti-discriminatory and that
values diversity
Paiwand’s housing project has continued
to provide accommodation and life skills
support for young people from both the
Afghan and other refugee communities.
Young people residing in our accommodation were enjoying a stimulating and positive environment that encourages young people to
develop resilience and independence. They attended a large number of
sports, arts and craft activities, as will as trips to Brighton and Thorpe.
The project works in close partnership with
the Local Authorities and other agencies to
provide an effective service to young people.
All of our services are delivered in accordance with the Children (Leaving Care) Act
2000, the Children Act 2004 and all relevant
government and statutory regulations and
guidance; and also in accordance with
the Housing Act 1989, Care Standards Act
2000, Health and Safety Act 1974, and Fire
Precaution Act 1971.
A dedicated and experienced team of key
workers with a diverse range of experiences, skills and abilities worked hard to
help develop young people’s capacity to
engage in productive relationships, develop
ESOL Classes
Most of Afghan refugees and asylum seeker, unlike some other refugees, cannot speak English when they first arrive to the UK. Many
of them cannot afford to pay towards ESOL classes. Our classes are designed for young people and adults over 16 years of age, in
pre elementary Level 1 and 2. Free classes are held at Whitefield School and ran by committed, and highly professional, volunteers.
2 4 | PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T
Parenting Consortium
Paiwand is a founding member of the Parenting
Consortium led by Community Barnet, the partnership
developed the Strengthening Families Strengthening
Communities (SFSC) programme.
Cultural/Spiritual: About how family and culture influence the values, beliefs and behaviour of them and
their children. Parents are encouraged use the positive
aspects of their past to achieve positive lifestyles.
The programme is an inclusive 13 week parenting
project that integrates various prevention and
intervention strategies aimed at reducing violence
against self, family and the community. It is open to
all those involved in bringing up children between
the ages of 3-18 years.
Rites of Passage: Information and activities that build
on the family, cultural and ethnic values to help their
children make a successful transition from childhood
to adulthood.
The SFSC course promotes protective factors associated with good parenting such as developing close
parent-child relationships, promoting self discipline
and self esteem, as well strategies for anger management to ensure better outcomes for children.
The SFSC parenting programme is structured into
5 component areas, integrated into the curriculum.
Enhancing relationships: This component focuses
on three areas: Enhancing parent-child relationship,
developmental information, and violence prevention
techniques. Parents are equipped with positive communication strategies that enable them to respond to the
children’s attitudes and behaviours.
Positive Discipline & Community Involvement: Courses
are delivered by our trained sessional staff. Over 25
parents have successfully completed these courses.
Multilingual Wellbeing
Multilingual Wellbeing Services is a consortium
of Black Minority Ethnic and refugee community
organisations in Barnet with an expertise in mental
health and wellbeing.
The consortium was set up in June 2010 as a separate
legal entity and registered as a Company Limited by
Guarantee. Afghan Association Paiwand is a founding
member. Other partners are: Barnet Refugee Service,
Chinese Mental Health Association, Farsophone
Association, and Somali Family Support Group. The
consortium was set up in response to the needs
identified by the individual partner organisations and
the Community Development Workers in Barnet, in
close collaboration with NHS Barnet.
The overall aim of this services is to improve the mental
health of BMER communities in Barnet. We do this by
increasing knowledge and confidence in accessing
support among wider BMER communities. We support
BMER mental health service users to advocate for others
suffering from mental distress in their community. We
also provide counselling services in a range of different
community languages. The consortium approach enables
us to bring a range of communities together that would
not normally come into contact with eachother.
The project has successfully secured funding from Big
Lottery Fund which will cover the salaries of the Full
Time Service Manager, Full Time Mental Health Advocate,
a part time Administrative Worker, and Counsellors.
PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T | 2 5
Financial Summary
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31ST MARCH 2012
Unrestricted
Funds
£
Designated
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Total
2011/12
£
Voluntary Income
-
-
295,466
295,466
Activities for Generating Funds
66,282
-
-
66,282
Investment Income
10.13
-
-
10.13
Incoming Resources from Charitable Activities
28,734
-
-
28,734
Other Incoming Resources
2,641
-
-
2,641
TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES
97,667
-
295,466
393,133
Fundraising Trading Costs
1,630
-
503
2,133
Investment Costs( Interest on Loan)
1,611
-
-
1,611
Charitable Activities
76,613
-
306,680
383,293
Governance Costs
1,220
-
100
1,320
Support Costs
15,233
-
14,803
30,036
TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED
96,307
-
322,085
418,392
NET INCOMING/(OUTGOING) RESOURCES
1,360
-
-26,619
-25,259
Total Funds Brought Forward
51,985
-
44,719
96,704
Transfer Between Funds
-66
-
66
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD
53,279
-
18,166
INCOMING RESOURCES
Incoming Resources from Generated Funds
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Costs of Generating Funds
71,445
The above accounts have been extracted from the accounts prepared by Alexander and were approved by the
Board of Trustees at Paiwand on 27 July 2012. The full report will be submitted to the Charities Commission and
to Companies House in due course. Full report is available on request and can be obtained from Paiwand Office.
Shabibi Shah, Chairperson
2 6 | PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T
Legal and Administrative Information
Charity Number
Company No:
Start Of Financial Period
End Of Financial Period
1139972
6632483
1 April 2011
31St March 2012
Trustees And Dirctors At 31St March 2012:
Ms Shahbibi Shah (Chair Person)
Mr. Charles O’Toole (Vice Chair)
Mrs Suraya Sediq (Treasurer)
Miss Samira Lahfa
Mrs Elaheh Mahsoori
The existing trustees appoint any new trustees following
the provisions laid out in the organisation’s governing
instrument.
Legal Status: Incorporated Charity; Company Limited
by Guarantee
Governing Instrument: Constitution adopted 14th
August 2002, revised 21st June 2004, 6th June 2006
and 10th October 2010. The charity was incorporated
on 27 June 2008.
Objects: Our objectives are set to reflect our community aims. Each year, our trustees review our objectives
and activities to ensure they continue to reflect our
aims. In carrying out this review, the trustees have
considered the Charity Commission’s general guidance
on public benefit. Paiwand’s objectives are aimed at
benefitting refugees, migrants and displaced persons
including, but not limited to, Afghans residing in the
United Kingdom and the European Union: (1) The
relief of poverty and suffering through the provision
of services and advice in the areas of social welfare,
benefit entitlement, healthcare, interpretation and
translation, education and employment, primarily, but
not exclusively, in Greater London. (2) The advancement
of education and personal development through the
provision of information; Supplementary and language
classes; and vocational courses as well as the provision
of advice about such courses. (3) The relief of suffering
caused by bereavement, war, political and religious
prosecution, sexual discrimination and natural disaster.
Primary Bankers
HSBC Bank Plc
PO Box 27, 101-103 Station Road
Edgware, Middlesex HA8 7JJ
Independent Auditors
Alexander & Associates
Certified Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors
16 Lytton Road, New Barnet, Herts EN5 5BY
Our Mission
Paiwand is a multicultural organisation which aims
towards improving and enhancing the quality of life
of the Afghan, refugee and migrant communities in
London and throughout the UK.
Through our ‘needs led’ services and quality delivery
Paiwand champions and promotes equality and social
inclusion for all Afghan, refugee and migrant communities, whilst upholding their cultural identity and
endorsing integration into wider society.
Our Values
Paiwand upholds a set of values, beliefs and principles
that guide all activities and projects. Our staff, volunteers
and management committee members embrace these
values, reinforcing our staff ’s commitment to working
together and achieving common goals.
Our values, beliefs and principles are as follows:
• Give utmost priority to understanding and
addressing the needs of the people and
communities that we serve;
• Provide proficient and effective services that
promote the multicultural values of both the
refugee/migrant and mainstream communities;
• Maintain professionalism and continuously
strive to improve and enhance the quality of
our services and achieve client satisfaction;
• Adhere to all policies and procedures stipulated
in Paiwand’s policies guideline;
• Respect the privacy and confidentiality of
clients, volunteers and staff ;
• Adhere to equal opportunities and recognise
and respect cultural diversity;
• Address and support genuine concerns of
staff and volunteers;
• Involve all staff and volunteers in decisionmaking to enhance the quality and diversity
of the organisation and promote our ‘working
together’ ethos;
We ensure the provision of a quality, needs-met, culturally aware and innovative service, that reaches women,
men, children and young people in London and the UK.
Our Vision
‘Paiwand will be a platform to augment and advocate for
equality, for the Afghan, refugee and migrant communities, and to envisage their successful integration into
society as a whole ‘.
Finance statement and Funding:
A summary of our independently examined accounts for
year ending 31st March 2012 can be found on page 25.
PA I WA N D A N N U A L R E P O R T | 2 7
The Board of Trustees are satisfied with the performance
of the charity during the year and its position at 31
March 2012. The Board considers the charity to be in a
position to continue its activities during the upcoming
year, and notes that the charity’s assets are adequate
to fulfil its obligations.
It is the policy of the charity that reserves to cover three
months operating costs plus potential redundancy
liabilities. The minimum reserves will be two months
operating costs.
Afghan Association Paiwand relies on grant aid from
the donors identified in the current accounts whose
support is valued, as well as voluntary contributions
of beneficiaries, e.g. students at our Supplementary
and Mother Tongue Schools; also Paiwand started its
social enterprise activities by providing services to local
schools and other stakeholders. There have been no
other fundraising activities.
Current Funding
We have received the following funding to achieve our
aims during the past year:
Big Lottery Fund remains our main grant provider and
covered the salaries of the Association’s Director, part
time Community Advocate and its Administration &
Financial workersS. It also covers office rent and part
of other running costs.
Trust for London covers the salary of Community Advocate
and overheads for the advocacy project in Barnet.
Harrow Council covers the cost of children’s education
and family learning related to Harrow Weekend School.
We have also been awarded a small grant to undertake
a community needs-analysis.
BBC Children in Need covers the salary of the Youth
Project Manager and activities for children and young
people.
Jack Petchey Foundation is an award scheme for young
people active participation in arts, sports and educational activities.
Positive Activities Fund/Barnet covers the cost of Arts
& Crafts activities for young people in Barnet.
John Loy’s Charity covers the salary of the part time
Education Project Manager and the cost related to the
education activities for children attending Supplementary School.
Afghan Association Paiwand
10th floor
Hyde House, The Hyde
Colindale
NW9 6LH
Tel: 020 8905 8770
E: [email protected]