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Publications and Reports

 The BME Forum Publications and Reports showcase some of our past and present support services delivered by the Forum to support the BME Communities Group in Croydon.  Compiled from data analysis and research each report covers the inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes relationships we have achieved over the years.  

“You Can Change the World With a Haircut”

People of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) heritage have a higher-than-average incidence of, and mortality from hypertension and stroke. Therefore, it is important to identify new settings for engaging people at risk of high blood pressure (BP).

Can You C Me Evaluation Report

The Croydon BME Forum organised a conference entitled ‘Croydon Cancer Conference 2022 – Can You C Me?’

The conference aimed to address racial disparities within cancer support, raise the voices of marginalised communities and emphasise the importance of healthcare equality.

Attendees joined talks with panels of guest speakers and workshops on living with cancer.

Topics included:

■ The impact of cancer on finances

■ Ethnic disparities within cancer

■ Cancer and loss

■ Afro hair and cancer

■ Breast cancer

■ Speakers and workshop hosts were a mixture of healthcare professionals and those with lived experience of cancer.

Croydon BME Forum Annual Report 2021 – 2022

We are pleased to present our 2021-2022 Annual report which highlights our achievements and challenges.
We have continued to work hard in developing and creating new and
sustainable projects as we operate to deliver vital community services to meet the needs of the community.
This report aims to be balanced and open providing useful information on what we have achieved in the past year and our future objectives.

Croydon BME Forum Annual Report 2020 – 2021

In a year when the world faced the ongoing pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Croydon BME Forum are grateful to have had the opportunity to start and continue important projects.
In partnership with the NHS and Mind in Croydon, we launched the Croydon Health and Wellbeing Space. The Young at Heart Group continued to meet weekly and there have been numerous events held at the Wellness Centre. You can read more about these projects and others in our annual report, which is now available to download and read.

 

Croydon BME Forum Annual Report 2019 – 2020

In February 2020 we launched our biggest project to date, ‘the Wellness Centre’, a project that marks the proudest moment in our history so far ‘The Wellness Centre’; a one-stop health and wellbeing service which works responsively and collaboratively with BME communities to ensure its voice is heard and their lives are empowered by identifying their needs and solutions to their problems.

EMHIP Project Report

In February 2020 we launched our biggest project to date, ‘the Wellness Centre’, a project that marks the proudest moment in our history so far ‘The Wellness Centre’; a one-stop health and wellbeing service which works responsively and collaboratively with BME communities to ensure its voice is heard and their lives are empowered by identifying their needs and solutions to their problems.

Beyond the Data

There was a distinct theme around BAME communities not taking up access to services compared with other ethnic groups and in particular early access services such as talking therapies.  As a result, we identified issues for exploration in the development of early intervention services around wellbeing, i.e., before people approach the GP asking for support.

(Click on the Publication to read more). 

Guided by you | Healthwatch Croydon Annual Report 2019-2020

People want health and social care support that works – helping them to stay well, get the best out of services and manage any conditions they face.  There has been research undertaken on why BME communities do not take up services, mostly early intervention services. Healthwatch Croydon hosted meet the Changemakers event on “Adult Mental Health” and over 60 people attended in July 2018.  We heard about issues concerning self-management, primary and acute care.

There was a distinct theme around BAME communities not taking up access to services compared with other ethnic groups and in particular early access services such as talking therapies.  As a result, we identified issues for exploration in the development of early intervention services around wellbeing, i.e., before people approach the GP asking for support. 

(Click on the Publication to read more). 

COVID-19 Survey Report – June 2020 

This report has been produced by Asian Resource Centre of Croydon (ARCC) in partnership with Big Local Broad Green (BLBG). COVID-19 Community Report covers the period between end of January 2020 when global reports about coronavirus became widely reported in the UK media; and the core period of our work in the first 8 weeks of a nationwide lockdown.  (Click on the Report to read more). 

Beyond the data: Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on BAME Groups 

COVID-19 Stakeholders Report – June 2020

This report has been produced by Asian Resource Centre of Croydon (ARCC) in partnership with Big Local Broad Green (BLBG) (Click on the Report to read more).

Change the Method Change the Outcome
Croydon BME Forum and Off the Record – October 2019

Welcome to the Change the Method, Change the Outcome.  The report was produced following a conference formed by the BME Forum Community Development Workers supporting the Croydon community.  The aim of the conference discussed change initiatives around mental health service provisions, stigma and support for our BME communities.

This conference is adopting a positive attitude towards change in order to improve mental health outcomes for Croydon.

(Click on the Report to read more). 

Insights from Croydon’s BME Community Wellness & Services – September 2019

In July 2018, Healthwatch Croydon hosted an event entitled ‘Meet the Changemakers – Adult Mental Health’ of which over 60 people attended. While many areas were discussed across self-management, primary care and acute care, there was a distinct theme around Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities not taking up access to services compared with other ethnic groups and in particular early access services such as talking therapies.

In response to this, Healthwatch Croydon committed to a project to explore this area. In discussion with Croydon’s BME Forum, they identified an issue for exploration in the development of early intervention services around wellbeing, i.e., before people approach the GP asking for support.

Evaluation Report  

Tackling Knife Crime – C.U.T IT OUT Croydon Unites Together – May 2019

We aimed to develop cohesion, collaboration, and community commitment. With the recent surge in knife crime in the capital and the negative media that it has attracted it is clear to see that this is now an epidemic that is not restricted to one area of a community; but is affecting all areas of our society despite class, race, age or gender.

Through developing these lines of communication, we aim to make young people and parents aware of the support systems available within the community if ever a young person felt at risk. (Read more). 

Croydon Safeguarding Children Board February 2019

The London Borough of Croydon is the southernmost borough of London. Approximately 93,435 children under the age of 18 years live in Croydon. This is 25% of the total population in the area, with approximately 23% of children living in low-income families. Children from minority ethnic groups account for 58% of all children, compared with 21% in the country. The largest minority ethnic groups of children in the area are African and Caribbean. 10,261 people in Croydon live in areas considered to be within the 10% most deprived in the country.

Evaluation Report 
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH – May 2019

This document is an interim report based on the London Community Foundation’s (LCF) Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) funded programme led, in Croydon, by the Croydon BME Forum. The Youth Summit event was an aspect of this overall funded programme being delivered in Croydon against this funding programme, and as such, is an integral component of the overall Community Connectors programme.

The Youth Summit event was organized by Croydon BME Forum, with support from Croydon Council, 20 young people and community organisations and a network of professional services who support young people. The event took place on 21st July 2018 at the BRIT Performing Arts School, Selhurst. The Youth Summit was conceived as necessary to engage with young people on issues and concerns around the carrying of knives and violent criminal activities and would also inform and influence the on-going work carried out by the larger ongoing Community Connectors programme.

Director of Public Health – Annual Report – 2018

INTRODUCTION BY Rachel Flowers DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH 

Within Croydon we are starting to embrace a prevention model, working with communities at a locality level to reduce the likelihood or impact of a range of issues. Over the last few years evidence from across the world and all communities, has been demonstrating the importance of the first 1000 days – the period from conception to when the child reaches the age of two.

These first 1000 days for a child are fundamentally important because they lay the foundations for the rest of their lives. A healthy start in life gives each child an equal chance to thrive and grow into an adult who makes a positive contribution to the community.

Social Isolation Report – 2018

This report aims to raise awareness of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) older people’s views on the challenges they face in socialising in Croydon and the actions to be taken to help them connect more with their community and improve their health and emotional wellbeing. In recent years, a volume of research from national charities, academics and policy makers has provided growing evidence of the connection between loneliness, social isolation and poor health outcomes, including links with higher blood pressure, depression and a higher risk of developing dementia.

Diabetes Awareness Report  – 2017

At least 30,000 people in Croydon are living with Diabetes, which is classed as an incurable condition where the body’s method for balancing blood sugar levels has broken down or is impaired. With diet, exercise and medicines, a near normal life is possible and, in some cases, Type 2 Diabetes can be corrected.

BAME domestic abuse project – BCWA & BME forum

Domestic abuse can affect an individual’s mental wellbeing and over time can have a wearing effect on someone’s mental health (Sane UK- 2008). For this research project, Bromley & Croydon’s Women’s aid collaborated with Croydon BME Forum to investigate the barriers that BAME women in Croydon face in accessing and accepting support for domestic abuse and the affects this has on one’s mental health.

Bromley & Croydon’s Women’s Aid as an organisation aims to protect women and children and provide the best possible services to empower and support them, provide a place of safety offering women-sensitive services, recognise and meet the needs of children and increase the awareness of the causes and extent of Domestic abuse. Bromley & Croydon’s Women’s Aid seek to achieve these aims by ensuring that the needs of women and children are kept at the heart of everything they do and that their services are opened with direct access in the community, for the community.

Every BME Child Matters

Since 2002 there have been major changes in the way that public services for children and young people are planned and delivered. These changes will directly affect all agencies working with children and young people, including voluntary and community groups.

BTEG has produced this guide for voluntary and community groups working with BME children and young people. This paper explains the major changes being made to services for children and young people and looks at how BME groups can respond to these changes.

Crisis House and Crisis café report

In August 2017, the two Community Development Workers based at Croydon BME Forum took the initiative of visiting three crisis houses in Barnet, Haringey, and Tower Hamlets. The Crisis houses are managed by Look Ahead, https://www.lookahead.org.uk/ who specialise in recovery-focused services for people with mental health needs. We also visited the Dragon Café’, near Borough market in London.

The aims of the visits were:  

• Find out about how the crisis houses operated and the support provided to people with mental health needs.

• Share the information with mental health commissioners in Croydon, in support of the creation of a crisis house in Croydon. This would help reduce the number of admissions and the length of stay in acute hospitals of BME service users.

Achieving Better Outcomes in The Criminal Justice Sector For BAME Communities in Croydon

Achieving Better Outcomes in the Criminal Justice Sector for BAME Communities in Croydon 2012 

How has the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Voluntary Sector Experienced Local Commissioning?

  • The Council and local infrastructure organisations must work together to enhance mutual understanding of needs and implement local delivery structures that enable effective communication with BAME community groups.
  • The VCSSO should develop specific initiatives in partnership with the Council, private sector providers and independent funders to engage and further develop existing BAME‐led service provision to offenders and their families to deliver criminal justice related outcomes.
  • Local commissioning cycles must reflect the ambitions of the BAME‐led groups. To do these commissioners must engage with them on a regular basis and hold bi‐lateral meetings to pin down what works in reducing disproportionality and which contract design would best suit the expertise and capacity of BAME service providers.

Mind The Gap – A report on BME mental health service provision in Croydon

This report aims to provide an insight into the experience of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) service users accessing mental health services within the Borough of Croydon.i

Opening Hours

Head Office 

Mon-Fri: 9am – 5pm

Wellness Centre

Mon-Fri: 10am – 5pm 

Health & Wellbeing Space

Mon-Sat: 10am – 4:45pm

Sun: 11am: – 4pm 

Contact Info

Head Office 
56a Mitcham Road
Croydon CR0 3RG

Location
Opposite Kwik Fit and BP Petrol Station Corner of Albion Street

Travel information
Buses: 264 – 1 Min to Head Office
Nearest Train or Tram Stop: West Croydon

TEL: 020 8684 3719 

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