Leeds: Social housing org builds community links through sports

Leeds: Social housing org builds community links through sports


West North West Homes Leeds (WNWHL) has launched a community cohesion project to build links with the Asian community in the Armley area of Leeds.


The Armley Mosque initiative was launched after WNWHL discovered that many of its Asian tenants were not coming forward with their home repair needs and were unsure how to report anti-social behaviour issues or complete service forms.


WNWhl teamed up with the Armley Mosque Committee and developed an approach of using sport, one-to-one dialogue sessions and open days to encourage the tenants, traditionally a hard to reach group, to integrate with the wider community and be more vocal about their housing needs.


Regular surgeries and open days are now held at the mosque to give residents easy access to housing information and advice.


WNWHL has already advised more than 150 extra tenants as a result of the new partnership and is delighted that the Asian community has been so receptive to the initiative.


Community Participation Officer at WNWHL, Glyn Beynon, is behind the scheme and says:
“The project really has been an important piece of work. It’s a new way of approaching cohesion which is making tenants aware of our services while helping integration into the wider community. When we became aware of the communication barriers amongst Armley’s Asian population we realised that we needed to work even harder to reach those tenants. The initiative has proved a fantastic tool for building links between groups of people.”


A number of sporting fixtures have been organised to help open channels of communication between the mosque and the wider community, including a charity cricket match which raised £150 for the British Heart Foundation and paid for new cricket equipment for the mosque.


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Source: Dash24