CALM MINDS-UK

Calm Minds-UK is a UK registered charity, which was also incorporated in 2018 as a limited company by guarantee. The charity was started by a group of individuals who were concerned about the increasing incidences of mental health in the community and their respective families, as well other issues affecting migrant families and communities in the United Kingdom.   

The charity operates a community support centre in Newham (East London), from where several services and activities are provided in support of those who are struggling to find a purpose in life.  The charity particularly supports individuals and families from Asia and the African continent, with a focus on improving their income, mental health, and wellbeing. 

We also provide advocacy and support to new arrival in the country who often struggle to find their way out into the host society.  At our centre in Forest Gate, we operate a drop-in and online support services, while working with volunteers, and other people with various professions who promotes our work in the community. 

 Currently, most of the work/activities delivered at the centre include the following.

 1. Open door drop-in support with digital skills and access to online services for the elderly and people with low digital skills. 

2. Weekly volunteer-led mental health and wellbeing support, and discussion forums. 

3. Provision of information, guidance, and referrals to other services 

4. Home visits and befriending for those living lonely in isolation. 

5. Bereavement support programme.

6. Provision of free basic legal advice (volunteer-led) and practical support to people experiencing issues with housing, benefits, and immigration regulations and many others. 

7. Financial health support (Managing borrowing and credits, Know your spending skills & options.

We mainly work with people who are most at risk of suffering mental health breakdown, ex-offenders in the community who are shied and rejected by those close to them, and young adults at risk of drifting into the life of gangs and crime.  Majority of our targeted group in this campaign are refugees and migrants (young people, men and women) some of them living with conditions causing them severe depression, loneliness, and pushing many into isolation.  

 THE NEED OR ISSUE WE ARE FUNDRAISING FOR:

 We are setting up this Crowd Funding campaign to enable us a continuation of our Income Crisis and Well-Being Support Programme for another 12 months. This programme was launched last year, thanks to the limited funding we were helped to raise through the Aviva Crowd Funding campaign which enabled us to raise £5,872. 

The Income Crisis and Well-Being Support Programme which we are seeking to extend was launched successfully in December last year, and we are still supporting many people to access our cost-of-living crisis drop-in support service.  

However, the limited funding we raised is about to run out and the service/support being provided is helping to improve the lives of many people who were pushed into poverty by both the pandemic, and the increased cost of living. Many people on low income are struggling with the current economic challenges, and hence the need to continue with any support available. 

When given the opportunity by our supporters, we will continue with the income crisis drop-in support service and many struggling people will be helped to develop the necessary skills which will enable them to understand their spending priorities and the importance of Financial Health while living on low income. 

The continuation of the programme will give our organisation the capacity to provide the necessary tools while helping a great number of individuals and families who are struggling on low income to develop a positive attitude when faced with the challenge of budgeting their finances on low income. 

Our team of volunteers with finance and budgeting skills will be given the much-needed capacity to continue with their one-to-one and group drop-in service, providing to those in need with basic training and skills in managing finances. 

The team will help the beneficiaries with developing finance and budgeting skills such as the following:

1. Basic income and expenditure documenting

2. Managing borrowing and credits 

3. Know your spending skills

4. Monitoring income/cash flow skills, and 

5. Setting realistic finance goals

The people being targeted on this project are mainly people who living on low income, and those most at risk of suffering mental health breakdown, having suicidal thoughts, risking to alcoholism or those at the age of drifting into the life of crime due to financial hardships.

WHY THE SERVICE IS NEEDED:

At our centre in Forest Gate in East London, we work with a growing number of individuals on several programmes who are seriously in need of improving their budgeting skills.  Majority of them being the elderly, young men and women some of them living with conditions causing them severe depression and anxieties, many being pushed into isolation due to financial hardships. 

Most of those being targeted are from migrant and refugee communities who are struggling to access online services. Their lack of skills to communicate digitally both to the service providers and loved ones for support is living many out of reach to those services and people who could help them out financially. The recent changes in service provision which is switching most of services to digital/online has left most of such users excluded and in need of constant support to manage their lives while living on low income.

We also deal with many single parents who are withdrawn and at risk of suffering mental breakdown due to the lack of budgeting skills.  A challenge which is affecting their lives, and we strongly believe that this funding will enable us to engage them into supervised finance management