Manchester Bme Network CIC

The Manchester BME Network CIC is an organisation providing support, information, connections and capacity building for voluntary, community and other not for profits groups working with Black, Asian and Minoritised Communities in Manchester and beyond. All our work is either commissioned or grant aided and our primary objectives and approach is to engage and involve BAME communities in the work be it research, consultation or frontline delivery. We highly respect the time our members give to our work and whenever possible we value their time. Our primary objectives are to empower and enable our communities to access services and influence policy and general developments so that the needs of their communities are better understood and better met. This year our projects have included: South Asian Network - a group of South Asian groups, Activists and Community Connectors who first came together during the Pandemic to work with Public Health and Manchester City Council to ensure health information & messages were circulated in a timely and appropriate manner. The Whatsapp Group continues to be used by 24 active members who regularly post all sorts of community information, Public health messages, events, jobs etc that are then circulated on to the members own networks. This is something MBMEN manage on a voluntary basis. Rafiki Food Project - originally set up in 2020 during the Lockdown to offer culturally appropriate Ethnic Food to organisations and foodbanks in order to allow diverse communities to access food often not being supplied by the other foodbanks. It evolved into a partnership with FareShare GM and has continued to be funded through various fundraising initiatives. This support has allowed over 30 BAME groups to become members of Fareshare. membership picking up food, attending capacity support sessions, net-working and learning from each other. MCC Infrastructure Support Fund - MBMEN applied for a small pot of funding to continue work started with Rafiki Food Project. This funding has allowed us to continue providing, mentoring and capacity support sessions to further aid the group to grow and access new opportunities in food networks. Lord Mayor’s Fund - gifted from the outgoing Lord Mayor of Manchester. It was used to fund a community Iftar during Ramadan. It helped us to provide a warm South Asian meal for all 89 attendees plus helped to support marketing, room hire, catering etc. Leftover food was packed up and provided to a local mosque who distribute food to families in need. Household Support Fund - Small Grants Fund continued to support Rafiki Food Network Two tranches of £25k in September 2024 and January 2025. These were distributed by MBMEN as small grants of up to £2k. The funding provided 13 community organisations with funding to help purchase ethnic food for 435 families & 3714 individuals across the city. Uncertain Futures project at Manchester Art Gallery - engagement, steering & advice from MBMEN Senior Associate, Atiha Chaudry, and MBMEN Associate, Rohina Gafoor. Pakistani Mapping - MBMEN was commissioned by Community Health Equity Manchester to carry out some research into the multifaceted needs of Pakistani Communities in Manchester. The work included mapping the geographical spread of Pakistani Communities in the City, Identifying & Interviewing a small cross section of the community (taking into account age, gender, language, area of origin etc) and exploring & identifying cultural support networks. This research was collated into a comprehensive report which was presented to the CHEM Board earlier this year. A copy of the report can made available on request from the MBMEN office. office@manchesterbmenetwork.co.uk Tackling Inequalities Network - MBMEN colleagues provided strategic support & event facilitation to GM Moving. Once the network was established, we also provided operational help to distribute small grants. Runneymede / Amnesty International Special Roundtable - involved organisation and facilitation of event to collate insights from Manchester community representatives to feed into the Committee of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination with approx 15 attendees from diverse identities. GMMH project – Culturally appropriate mental health services research – MBMEN was commissioned by Greater Manchester Mental Health Service to undertake some research into the barriers faced by racially minoritised residents in accessing mental health services and their experiences of the support provided. A final report was produced from interviewing clients who had lived experience of accessing mental health services in Greater Manchester. Women’s Pelvic Health Event in partnership with Salford University – MBMEN team of Community Connectors attended an awareness training session provided by Salford University to help them understand more about Pelvic Health in women with an emphasis on problems encountered in older women. In return, Salford University were able to gain valuable insight into barriers that ethnic communities face in trying access help. Following the session, MBMEN & Salford Uni held a Community Event for around 30 women to raise more awareness and to gain more valuable lived experience. A valuable piece of work in which we hope to work together again in the future. We continued to share relevant information via social media and email throughout the year with our mailing list of over 300+.