Mwamba’s Conversation Cafes – a gateway to provide culturally appropriate support
Fiona Fraser, Mwamba
Since 2021, Corra’s Henry Duncan Grants has included ring-fenced funding committed to Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic-led organisations. This blog is part of a series that shares community stories from Henry Duncan Grants ring-fenced funded projects from 2021, where the funding theme was community-based mental health and wellbeing support.
A huge thank you to Fiona Fraser, Founder and CEO of Mwamba, for taking time to write this blog.
Mwamba’s Conversation Cafes – a gateway to provide culturally appropriate support
Mwamba is a charity based in Edinburgh. We started up during the pandemic providing support to our community with things such as food deliveries, however, we have continued to adapt and build upon the services we offer since then. We work with women from African and Ethnic Minority backgrounds via our Conversation Cafes and community kitchen. We also offer mental health workshops, wellbeing classes and trauma-informed one-to-one support.
Our Conversation Cafes help to raise awareness of our work and act as an excellent gateway for those who require further support services. We increasingly liaise with and help women navigate statutory services.
Listening
“I was desperate and afraid of what I would do and had no one to turn to who would understand me. I felt trapped… It was a great relief to talk to someone who understands my culture, my shame and upset. I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. I had nothing to be ashamed of and it came from someone who knew what people were like back home and the demands put on us.” Mrs, A
“Mrs A” came to us via a referral from another agency. She was estranged from her husband, had a young child, with no friends or family in Scotland, and was living in unsuitable temporary accommodation. She had recently lost her mother and sister and told us she couldn’t explain how bad she was feeling.
“I feel I am being listened to when talking about sensitive issues. I am now in a much better place”
We offered Mrs A one-to-one sessions with a volunteer to support her practical needs around housing. We applied for a school place for her child and she was also signposted to get support with immigration. She attended our mental health workshop and comes to the conversation cafe and community kitchen regularly. She was supported around making positive outcomes around her marriage and is planning to go to college.
Supporting Communities
Our partnership working with organisations such as Leith Network, Heart of Haven, Passion4fusion and West Lothian African Women’s Network and referrals via community businesses such as hairdressers and shop owners has allowed us to have an effective process for signposting.
Some feedback from our referral network: “Individuals have spoken openly about their feelings of inadequacy which they attributed to a lack of access to culturally appropriate support. Clients we referred to Mwamba did not have the tools to be able to confidently talk about their trauma/mental health struggles. However, when referrals were made, all clients have mentioned how they felt valued and supported.”
Mwamba have highlighted three key calls to action for funders and wider civil society.
Fiona says more on this in the video below.
Meeting the ever-growing demands in our communities – Our impact and success in the community demonstrates a growing demand and the most significant challenge is meeting this. We hope to offer additional weekday conversation cafes and increase our community kitchen to twice monthly.
Fund capacity building – With only one paid member of staff, it is very difficult to provide the support required. Currently, the availability of funding for salaries and running costs are extremely difficult to obtain.
Sharing stories to push for system change – Organisations such as ours need to reach the policy makers so that we can actually tell them our stories. Call them to task and say: this is your manifesto, this is what you said you were going to do. Where is the accountability, who are you accountable to? And if this is what you are doing, how is it that you have never come to speak to us. We are the community.
“We were described as ‘hard to reach’ and yet we were available everywhere. Why are we so hard to reach? …come talk to us. We’re ready to learn from yourselves what we need to be doing. And you need to learn from us what needs to be done.”
Find out more about Mwamba by visiting their Twitter and Facebook:
Interview with Mwamba Founder and CEO Fiona Fraser:
More from Henry Duncan Grants ring-fenced funded projects:
Scottish Ethnic Minority Deaf Charity – Healthy Deaf Minds Project