Selfless

In support of ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month’, the UK Healthy Living team and Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention Appeal delivered an informative community health seminar on 27th October 2011, raising awareness of the importance of breast cancer screening at the African Caribbean Elderly Organisation, Hackney.

Statistics reveal that 1in 9 women in the UK contract breast cancer, and it is a major cause for mortality in women aged 20-50 years in the UK. A greater understanding of screening and prevention would help identify the cancer at an early stage.

A participant commented:

“If it wasn’t for this (seminar), I don’t think I would have known much about breast cancer. Most people learn about it after they’ve got the disease I guess…”

Poverty, unemployment, mental health problems and a poor diet (linked to poverty) put residents of Hackney at a disproportionately increased risk of cancer. A recent Primary care trust report highlights significant disparity inthe uptake of breast cancer screening throughout  catchment areas covered by GP practices [1]. Prevention and early detection is key and the inability toaccess health information is a barrier to this. Our educational seminars aim toincrease understanding and thus initiate a change in behaviour.

For further information on Selfless’ community health outreach work please contact shafiul.amin@selfless.org.uk

1. City and Hackney Health Improvement Plan: The Annual Report ofThe Director of Public Health 2006 – 2009 Part One. City and HackneyTeaching Primary Care Trust pp.13

‘Coca-Cola Future flames are people with a burning passion‘. Current Selfless Chief Executive, Dr. Na’eem Ahmed, has been shortlisted for the chance to be torchbearer at the London 2012 Olympic games.

“Being shortlisted for this honour reflects  appreciation of the great work taking place at Selfless and the exciting prospect of potential recognition of our efforts on a global stage.  The hard work and hours that our dedicated team put in are bearing fruit and are being rewarded with these recent prestigious accolades” said Dr. Na’eem Ahmed.

The 2011 Coca-Cola Olympic Torch Tour went nationwide this summer searching for Britain’s Future Flames. A special panel of judges, including Dizzee Rascal, The Wanted, You Me At Six and Eliza Doolittle,  will have the hard task of selecting the exceptional people from the shortlist who will take part in the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay next year.

Every year 50,000 people in the UK hear those devastating words ‘you have breast cancer’.  Nearly 10,000 people last year were educated on breast cancer through health workshops.

For ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month’ Selfless’ UK Healthy Living project delivered an educational seminar at the Stepney Community Trust. Tower Hamlets has been shown in the past to have one of the lowest breast cancer screening rates in England. Anecdotally it has been found that Bangladeshi women have been slow to screen themselves due to the ‘breast’ being a taboo, communication barriers and living localised, socially deprived lives.

Our small group workshops aimed to use the ‘stages of change’ theory where ladies are encouraged to move on from pre-contemplation of a new behaviour, through contemplation and towards action. The workshops were delivered in Bengali to give those attending an opportunity to understand the topic fully.

“The workshop alleviated fears and tackled superstition surrounding breast cancer” said Ferduche Miah, Workshop Co-ordinator.

Selfless were proud to be awarded ‘runners up’ in the regional category at the Young Muslim Beacon Awards (YMBA). The awards were held on the evening of 11th October 2011 at the House of Lords. The awards were presented by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP.

Judging nominations were Farooq Murad (Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain), Neil Jameson (Executive Director of London Citizens) and James Cathcart (CEO of the British Youth Council).

The awards ceremony was jointly hosted by the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, Farooq Murad and Lord Sheikh of Cornhill with Chief Guest, The Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP presenting the awards. The ceremony celebrated and acknowledged the outstanding achievements of youth organisations in the presence of leading parliamentarians, diplomats, young Muslims, civic, community and religious leaders from across the country. The nominees were all commended for their valuable contribution to society by the Attorney General, Rt. Hon. Dominic Grieves QC MP.

“For Selfless’ efforts to be recognised alongside these established organisations reflects the sheer dynamism that we have worked with for the last 3 years. We are grateful for this recognition and encouragement from parliamentarians and community leaders. We will continue in our efforts to empower young adults to make a difference to their communities with greater vigour” said Dr. Na’eem Ahmed, Chief Executive of Selfless.

Pictured on screen right to left: Faheem Ahmed, Louise Barr, Dr. Na’eem Ahmed, Yasmin Begum, Shafiul Amin and Imad Ahmed

Every year over 25,000 British pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj and over 100,000 travel to perform Umrah (Lesser Hajj). Unfortunately many pilgrims are unable to complete their pilgrimage due to poor health.

Selfless’ UK Healthy Living project worked with the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre to provide free health advice seminars in both Bengali and English for travelling pilgrims. Seminars covered relevant health topics such as vaccinations, managing diabetes and where to seek medical help should they come into any difficulties.

“The seminars were well received and for the future we hope that our Hajj & Health seminar become incorporated into every Hajj workshop.  It is often through neglecting basic health advice that pilgrims fall ill and are unable to complete their pilgrimage” said Shafiul Amin, Project Manager of UK Healthy Living.

This August has played host to Selfless’ London wide seminars on how to stay healthy during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a month within which Muslims fast from food and water from sunrise to sunset. Staying healthy and sticking to medical advice during this month can be a particularly challenging time for many.

Our seminars sought to advise members of the community on how to make sensible health choices whilst still fasting. Fasting is a spiritual and religious experience for Muslims, and this year we took the step to ensure a health experience came hand in hand with that.

The seminars all took place at various locations across London, at Palmers Green Mosque and Darul Ummah Mosque in East London. Two other seminars were held at Wimbledon Mosque, one of which was specifically for women.  Over 100 people from across London attended the seminars.

The aim of the sessions was to provide advice on what foods are good to eat during the month and its benefits, and what to avoid during the month and possible negative health consequences. We attempted to give people alternative options with regards to what meals and snacks they can enjoy, as part of a healthy diet. Our speakers touched upon the dangers of overeating, gave advice on good diabetic control during this month and the importance of ensuring compliance with medication.

The presentation also highlighted the importance of enjoying a balanced diet, one which includes all food groups. We emphasised this concept of knowing one’s portion sizes. A balanced diet includes carbohydrates and fruits, protein, vegetables and fat in differing amounts. An average meal should include two fist sizes of carbohydrate and fruits, a palm sized portion of protein, maximum amount of vegetables and just a thumb-tip equivalence of fat. The UK Healthy Living Seminars aim to simplify medical advice as we believe that better understanding of health and disease processes will increase compliance. Our feedback shows that nearly 30% thought that simply using a fist to help judge portion sizes were a vital and easy learning point for them in creating a more balanced diet.

By targeting seminars at places of worship we managed to reach out of many members of the community who are notoriously difficult to engage with in terms of health advice. We have found a lack of awareness on the disastrous health consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle within the community. Many people can unintentionally put aside their health needs for the month. For some families, Ramadan can become a month of overeating, an opportunity to eat unhealthy snacks and foods. We hoped to educate that alternative healthier choices need not be impossible to prepare and eat.

We found that many women in the community are health-conscious, one attendee described that “every woman should attend such seminars,” as in many households women play a large role in the diet of the family. Another attendee expressed that “the workshop was tailored to the audience which was good, [and] it identified with their needs.”

Simultaneously, a pressing need for more detailed information on health to be available also surfaced. A woman described that what she has got is “life experience” which has helped her cater for the needs of her family in terms of diet and healthy lifestyle, but what she really needs is detailed, thorough and proven advice on how to embark on a healthier way of life. Selfless will be working on all the feedback received to ensure we make this advice on health more accessible for everyone in the wider community.

Ferduche Begum Miah is currently a third year medical student at Barts and the London medical school and co-ordinator of the London-wide ‘Health in Ramadan’ series.

Selfless would like to thank Dr Taha Ansari, Faheem Ahmed and Shafiul Amin (medical students, King’s College London) and Nihad Khan (medical student, University College London).

If you are interested in tackling health issues in your community please email imad.ahmed@selfless.org.uk

Job Title: Administrator

Salary: up to £5,000 (£3,000 basic + discretionary £2,000 bonus)

Contract: immediate start to 12/2012

Hours are flexible and work from own home (ideal for university undergraduate)

Accountable To: Trustees, Selfless

Apply by sending CV to info@selfless.org.uk

Close of applications: 5pm on Friday 30^th September 2011

Outline of the Post:

The charity is seeking to appoint an Administrator to help facilitate the current work of Selfless and its future expansion. Depending on the successful applicant’s experience, the post may include taking on the role of Company Secretary for the charity.

The job demands an individual who is highly organised, self-motivated and able to prioritise and cope effectively with a demanding workload, as well as being able to work well in a team. They will also be able to support and promote the ethos of Selfless.

Main duties and responsibilities:

1. Dealing professionally and appropriately with incoming communication including emails, mail and phone calls

2. Administering excellent external communication including creating newsletters, updating website content, mail-outs, ebulletins, fundraising appeals, twitter, facebook etc.

3. Overseeing the creation and management of the Selfless volunteer database, ensuring that information is up-to-date, that the system is meeting the needs of the charity and is being used effectively

4. Overseeing the logistics (diarising, room bookings, refreshments, minuting etc) of key charity meetings including Trustees, Council of Reference, key management and staff meetings

7. Ensuring that Selfless policies and procedures are brought to the attention of staff, volunteers and other relevant parties; and work with the Board of Trustees to ensure that they are up to date and in line with legal requirements

8. Ensuring that risk assessments are being properly carried out and reviewed annually by project leaders

9. Manage the diary – including booking necessary travel arrangements and ensuring relevant papers and reports for both external and internal meetings.

10. Provide administrative support to the charity’s key management team

11. Manage the holiday booking system of staff and key volunteers within the charity, where necessary helping to ensure that adequate cover is in place

12. Provide some administrative support to Selfless projects including Small Acts of Kindness, Elective Aid, Healthy Living projects.

13. Ensuring the smooth running of all individual giving schemes into Selfless, including maintenance of database records, communication with donors and publicity for the schemes.

14. Overseeing the initial recruitment and integration of new volunteers and providing ongoing administrative support.

General responsibilities

1. Undertaking other duties as may reasonably be requested by the Selfless senior management team

2. Participate in Selfless events and activities

3. To carry out all work in accordance with Selfless’ philosophy, ethos, policies and procedures.

4. To attend staff meetings and engage in all staff support, development and supervision systems.

Company Secretary Responsibilities

1. To act as Company Secretary, ensuring that senior management and Board are aware of appropriate regulations and recommendations with respect to legislation and good practice

2. To diarise, administer (including room bookings, sending out papers etc.) and take minutes of Selfless’ AGM, Council of Reference and Trustee meetings

3. Maintain the charity’s register of interests

4. To maintain custody of official records relating to the Charity including minutes and documents from Board meetings

5. To ensure the completion of returns to statutory authorities, including the Charity Commission and Companies House

6. To ensure compliance with the Memorandum and Articles of Association, Charity law, Company law and other relevant legislation

This past May Selfless successfully set up the Selfless Resource Centre (SRC) in Sylhet, Bangladesh. The purpose of the SRC is to provide a free library and learning environment for children and young adults in Bangladesh, where they will be given extra help with their reading and literacy skills, for both English and Bengali. Sessions will be held several times a week and run by teachers from local schools. Selfless would like to acknowledge the contributions of the diaspora community for helping make this vision a reality.