Sahan Society Centre

Sahan Society Centre, based in Hayes town within the London Borough of Hillingdon, was incepted in 2006 at the back drop of the closure of the Hillingdon Race Equality Council (HREC), a centre in the Hayes locality and run by the local authority to advise, support and assist service users on equality and race-related issues. The centre had come to a close following a decision made by the local authority to transfer its services to the local authority’s civic centre during the early part of 2006. Prior to its closure, the HREC had carried out a local research on the usefulness of the services offered to its members and service users. It had transpired that the majority of those seeking the centre’s assistance (78%) were of Somali heritage based in the Hayes area amongst other BME communities. This reflected the growing Somali population in the area and the need for targeted assistance and support to be offered to the growing community. The local community, particularly young women and mothers, were unable to understand and utilize the services offered to assist them with their health and child care amongst other needs and found it difficult to communicate these needs due to language barriers and issues of trust. Upon the HREC’s closure, and following on from the research that was carried out in the local community, a discussion was held by the members of the community to create and support the establishment of a local centre aimed at assisting the needs of the local Somali community which had led to the inception of the Sahan Society Centre. Sahan Society Centre continues to support and assist a total of 300 members of the local community. The number of members actively using the centre’s services has grown year on year, starting from 50 in 2006 through to 256 in 2012. The centre is also having an increased number of memberships and participation from older and younger men in the community. Our Ethos as a charity serving the needs of the vulnerable members of our local community are: To promote the participation, integration and cohesion of our members in their communities. To enhance the health and well being of Somali and other BME vulnerable mothers and children through education and leisure. To bridge the gap between Somali and other BME mothers and service providers, assist them with their needs and voice their concerns appropriately on their behalf.