Advice Support Knowledge Information

Engage to Change

Funded by the Sutton Fund the project will support 20 people from a range of BMER communities living in Sutton to undertake an Open College Network course in Health and Social Care. Participants will undertake 10 days training along with submitting a portfolio of their work. Participants will be referred to Job Center Plus and a range of agencies so that they can find long term employment.

ASKI is delighted to have entered into a new partnership with Wandle. The work will support people from Croydon living in Wandle Housing stock  who wish to undertake training to move into employment. ASKI has a history of working and supporting people into employment with a mixture of 1-1 and group work. ASKI is an accredited OCN Centre and we will be able to provide people with not only high quality training but also a recognised qualification that employers will welcome. This is ASKI’s first contract with a Housing provider and our experience of working with employers and charities in Croydon and surrounding Boroughs will allow us to be able to signpost people to additional support they may require to enter the job market.  

Exploring the lives of Caribbean Elders from 1960 to present day

All About Me!

‘’All About Me” will be an innovative user led project initiated by older Croydon residents with a Caribbean background. They aim to produce a short film showing how the local heritage is a blend of social economic and political influences by reflecting upon their memories from arriving in Croydon in the 1960’s up to the present day. These people have lived through a period of significant change for the Borough becoming such an integral part of the fabric of modern Croydon that the impact of their Caribbean origins is often overlooked. A film, and a small exhibition related to its making, will showcase their personal stories comparing the experiences of these 1960’s immigrants with their lives today. Many of those who arrived in the UK between the late 1940s and early 1960s did not intend to stay permanently. At the time, political independence from Britain seemed within reach for Caribbean territories, yet life under colonialism left many people feeling torn between two worlds. Once in Britain, hostility and prejudice – at all levels of Society – thrust many migrants into a daily struggle for their rights as citizens.The passage of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act in 1962 made social exclusion a political reality. Widely viewed as racially motivated, the Act introduced new restrictions on immigration from British colonies based on one’s ‘prospects of employment’. Those who had once entered Britain legally as ostensibly equal members of British society were now under the scrutiny of the state as unwanted strangers.

 In homes, workplaces, and public spaces adversity became a catalyst for new expressions of community and identity. Looking back we can see/with hindsight it is clear/anecdotal evidence from our interviews shows that a large proportion of Caribbean people who arrived in the UK before 1960 did not come with the intention of making this their permanent home. The 1950’s were a time when the Caribbean Territories were inching towards independence from British colonial rule, but economic migrants were, in theory, able to enter the UK to live and work as equal members of British society. In reality, people were faced with hostility and prejudice, which made daily life a struggle. The 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act, which was widely seen as being racially motivated, underlined this social exclusion by placing restrictions on immigration based on an individual’s “prospects of employment” thus making changing former “British Caribbean” people into unwanted strangers. Somehow/ unexpectedly/ with amazing resilience the migrants used this adversity as a catalyst to find new ways of expressing their identity, and that of their community, at home, in their workplaces and in public spaces. The accounts that follow have been deliberately left in the contributors own words and not edited I believe it is essential that people use their own words to tell their stories.

J Jeffers Director ASKI 

ASKI Exibition Booklet 

All About Me Short Film October 2018

ASKI COMPILATION from Signature Pictures on Vimeo.

City Bridge Trust

ASKI has been funded by the City Bridge Trust for three years starting 2018 to deliver a range of dance/movement classes for older men and women. ASKI uses dance as a tool to reduce social isolation. The project will work with people from all communities and will aim to engage more men in dance. The project will be led by J Jeffers who holds a both a Degree and Diploma in dance that specialises in teaching dance to older people. ASKI will aim to target some of the work to people living with dementia. Everybody   and ‘every body’ has the capability to move. We dance to celebrate, to mourn and to give thanks.

‘’I am always surprised when people say I can’t dance, or I don’t dance, dance has the ability to lift our spirits and make even the darkest day bright’’ J Jeffers 

Tai Chi with A.S.K.I.

ASKI was establised in 2014 to deliver a project for people 55+ to increase the life chances and career opportunities of men and women from BMER disadvantaged communities in Croydon by the provision of a range of  educational and vocational opportunities supporting them to engage, grow, learn and prepare for employment. In the context of equality it is difficult to set a definite age range to define “older people”, as the point at which age related inequality issues occur varies for different aspects of people’s lives. A key remit of the project was to reduce isolation by the provision of a range of User Led opportunities people could take part in ranging from discussion groups, external talks from key organisations in the Borough as well as the opportunity for ASKI to deliver sessions with to agencies in the Borough that often have difficulties engaging with older BME Individuals. 

Opportunity Knocks

A Lottery Reaching Communities funded Employability programme which works with long term unemployed 50+

Target Groups

ASKI will target people 50+ who are isolated and need a range of support including increasing confidence levels, gaining qualifications, increasing community cohesion amongst the age group, finding employment, volunteering Opportunities and signposting 

Project Outcomes

1) Isolation and related problems will be reduced as BMER older people feel increasingly valued and respected in their wider local community

2) BMER older people  will gain confidence and new skills that will increase their ability to take up new educational or employment opportunities

3) Local services will be more effective as local providers gain a better understanding of barriers faced by BMER older people

4) BMER older people will have a greater input on the issues and strategies that affect them

 Project Completed 2017

A six week project to explore the history of the suffragette movement the project used conversations, demonstrations, arts and crafts to explore how the vote was won and the important for all women to use their vote and where possible become more involved in civic life.

Croydon Relief In Need

ASKI is  funded By Croydon  Relief in Need  to provide a range of activities for older men and women in the Borough. ASKI identified that there was a growing number of older people who were isolated and inactive. The project works outside of the tradditional 9-5 providing activites early evenings and Saturday's. The project works with approximately 95 people and provides a range of 1-1 group work as well as signpsoting to other external agencies.  

LeatherSellers Charity

ASKI provides a range of social activites for people they range from trips to places of interest , educational visits along with activites that teach new skills which include hat making, sewing, volunttering opporttines for people over the age of 50. A small grant from the LeatherSellers charity will contribute towards ASKI offering these services to more people living in the Borough of Croydon.