Amina Carers Befriending Project
A story by Amina - The Muslim women's resource centre
Amina Carers Befriending project supports carers with short breaks opportunities to enjoy a life
outside of their caring role and to ensure that they are supported to sustain that caring role. We do
this by combination of face to face befriending and group activities for example lunch club, forest
walks, and visits weekly to the hydro pool.
What Amina Carers Befriending Project did
* Recruited 12 volunteers by providing a two day training programme in Befriending
Advertised through social media, websites, local women conferences, and student open
days.
* The Carers Befriending Project is in Partnership with Dundee carers Centre and all BME
referrals come from the BME Development worker at the Centre. Assessments are carried
out by the centre and Amina Delivers a short break through the Carers Befriending Project.
* 27 sessions to the hydro pool - A weekly sessions for two hours early morning that carers
and cared for attended regularly. This was a relaxation pool and carers took an opportunity
to have some personal time to them selfs .
* 9 lunch clubs – A local restraunt that provides authentic Indian cuisine for BME carers, who
socialised and spoke to other carers over lunch. The lunch club had three focused group
through the year to monitor the progress of the project and making sure the needs of the
carers were met. Carers took the opportunity to relieve their anxieties and stresses by
meeting women that they had acquainted with over the years through the project; a support group had been established through this lunch club. Women have tears and happiness and sharing stories and ideas of what works well for them in their caring roles.
* 33 Sessions of Arts and Crafts in the local Library - Every Thursday morning carers would attend and have different arts groups like skill share(outdoors indoors), delivering arts and crafts sessions. Carers took the opportunity to use this time to distress them and found it very therapeutic to be engrossed in making something creative.
* 6 Face to Face weekly Befriending sessions – A weekly session for two hours of volunteers meeting carers in their homes and having a conversation with the carers. Carers felt that this gave them an opportunity to take their mind of things for a while and feel their life is a bit normal for those two hours with the circumstances they are living with.
* 17 Personalised Befriending Sessions – Smaller groups of carers would meet fortnightly and monthly to be supported by a befriending volunteer who would pick them up and take them out of various activities that have been chosen by carers like a visit to the Dolby garden Centre, Botanic Gardens, Local Woodland Walks for a coffee or light lunch.
* 18 seated physical exercise sessions - A trained volunteer in Physical Seated exercise delivered sessions to older carers who had less mobility and health issues. Carers enthusiastically took part and enjoyed the 30 minute session.
* 3 programmes on training in partnership with Dundee Carers Centre in using the healthy hearts toolkit. - Amina Trained a Volunteer in using Healthy Hearts Toolkit to deliver sessions in partnership with Dundee carers Centre. Carers attended and found the training educational as it was delivered in their first language.
* 1 Eid party – (Annual Celebration in the Muslim Calendar) Carers attended a day with wearing beautiful eastern clothes and enjoying afternoon on celebrating a happy festival. During the 3 years of the project the carers have formed a friendship and this event is a ‘BME Carers Eid Party’.
* Through the partnership with Dundee Carers Centre activities like the regular walking groups, trip to Edinburgh Mela and Carers Pamper Day will be regularly delivered at the Dundee Carers Centre and clients are encouraged to participate in these activities. Amina has not been a lead in delivering these activities this year with the project coming to an end.
* Recruited 12 volunteers by providing a two day training programme in Befriending
Advertised through social media, websites, local women conferences, and student open
days.
* The Carers Befriending Project is in Partnership with Dundee carers Centre and all BME
referrals come from the BME Development worker at the Centre. Assessments are carried
out by the centre and Amina Delivers a short break through the Carers Befriending Project.
* 27 sessions to the hydro pool - A weekly sessions for two hours early morning that carers
and cared for attended regularly. This was a relaxation pool and carers took an opportunity
to have some personal time to them selfs .
* 9 lunch clubs – A local restraunt that provides authentic Indian cuisine for BME carers, who
socialised and spoke to other carers over lunch. The lunch club had three focused group
through the year to monitor the progress of the project and making sure the needs of the
carers were met. Carers took the opportunity to relieve their anxieties and stresses by
meeting women that they had acquainted with over the years through the project; a support group had been established through this lunch club. Women have tears and happiness and sharing stories and ideas of what works well for them in their caring roles.
* 33 Sessions of Arts and Crafts in the local Library - Every Thursday morning carers would attend and have different arts groups like skill share(outdoors indoors), delivering arts and crafts sessions. Carers took the opportunity to use this time to distress them and found it very therapeutic to be engrossed in making something creative.
* 6 Face to Face weekly Befriending sessions – A weekly session for two hours of volunteers meeting carers in their homes and having a conversation with the carers. Carers felt that this gave them an opportunity to take their mind of things for a while and feel their life is a bit normal for those two hours with the circumstances they are living with.
* 17 Personalised Befriending Sessions – Smaller groups of carers would meet fortnightly and monthly to be supported by a befriending volunteer who would pick them up and take them out of various activities that have been chosen by carers like a visit to the Dolby garden Centre, Botanic Gardens, Local Woodland Walks for a coffee or light lunch.
* 18 seated physical exercise sessions - A trained volunteer in Physical Seated exercise delivered sessions to older carers who had less mobility and health issues. Carers enthusiastically took part and enjoyed the 30 minute session.
* 3 programmes on training in partnership with Dundee Carers Centre in using the healthy hearts toolkit. - Amina Trained a Volunteer in using Healthy Hearts Toolkit to deliver sessions in partnership with Dundee carers Centre. Carers attended and found the training educational as it was delivered in their first language.
* 1 Eid party – (Annual Celebration in the Muslim Calendar) Carers attended a day with wearing beautiful eastern clothes and enjoying afternoon on celebrating a happy festival. During the 3 years of the project the carers have formed a friendship and this event is a ‘BME Carers Eid Party’.
* Through the partnership with Dundee Carers Centre activities like the regular walking groups, trip to Edinburgh Mela and Carers Pamper Day will be regularly delivered at the Dundee Carers Centre and clients are encouraged to participate in these activities. Amina has not been a lead in delivering these activities this year with the project coming to an end
health issues in the past and now his at an advance stage of blood cancer. This year his health
condition has been worse with regular admission in hospital.
Since her referral she has been attending regular group activities since her husband’s health
conditions have become worse she has been feeling very low and depressed and uses the hydro
pool to get away and spend a hourly weekly session to herself on something she finds relaxing.
“I don’t feel right coming out when he is not well and if I don’t come here I just feel more
depressed, I will not book in advance and just turn up when I think it’s ok for me to leave him
with my daughter or son. The doctors have said there’s nothing we can do for him and just have
to leave it for God”.
Ms Z was referred to Amina carers befriending project in November 2010 and cares for her son
who has cerebral palsy she is a widow at the age of 62 and has her own health conditions she had
developed a brain tumor which has affected her mobility and balance. She has recurrent stomach
problems and her health conditions have gone much worse and apparent.
Ms Z gets a personalized Befriending Support, this service allows her to have some time to herself
when her son is in respite, due to her health condition she is restricted with herself in being out
alone as she has lost allot of confidence in herself with her mobility and concentration. Ms Z has a
one to one befriending support weekly in her home and is taken out when her son is in respite.
“I thought that I would have a break when my son is away for a week in respite instead I always
felt lonelier and thought about my health conditions and what would happen to him when I was
no longer alive. The personalized Befriending programme gave me support, to be picked up by my
Befriender and taken out for the day it was like a dream service and I would have a day out and do something that I wanted and felt spoilt for choice as I would be excited to make a decision on what I wanted to do for the day. I have really been struggling with my health this year.” Ms Z took part in the short film that was produced for the Befriending project. With two or three carers the personalized group befriending programme visits places that have been chosen by carers like the Dolby Garden Centre, Broughty Ferry Castle, Botanic Gardens, lunch or coffee outings, small walk paths in Dundee.
partially sighted and has a learning disability. Mrs S cares for her daughter with a learning
disability too. Both ladies have attended regular lunch clubs and hydro pool sessions.
Through regular contact Mrs S and Ms N became a support for each other and talked about heir
caring roles. Both felt less isolated and were very enthusiastic in seeing each other regularly at the
various groups supported by the carers befriending project. This developed into a parent and
carer group that was facilitated by the Dundee Carers Centre development worker.
Ms N says “I feel Mrs S understands me in what I feel as she as a daughter that she cares for
too”.
Mrs S says “ I am much older than Ms N and so is my daughter who I care for and I could relate to
Ms N feelings as I had the same anxieties when my daughter was younger and wish I had
someone to talk to and glad I’m here for Ms N”.
What Amina - The Muslim women's resource centre has learned
1. We have identified that carers neglect their own health because they are so busy supportingsomeone else, we have learnt ways in supporting carers to keep good health.
2. We have monitored the project regularly through different befriending support and listened to
what the carers have said to make the service more personalized for each carer.
3. BME carers often face many barriers in accessing services even when they are identified as carers
this is sometimes due to difficulty in communication. We have addressed this by having a pool of
volunteers from different age and diverse cultures.
4. BME carers don’t identify themselves as carers and feel it’s a duty on them to look after their
loved ones even when they are struggling, support is not something that is a priority to find
make their life easier. Throughout the project we have encouraged carers in identifying the
support they need and looking after their own health.