Jane Robinson talks to the members of Beeston Action For Families about the work they do in the community and the launch of their film Loud and Proud in Beeston.
Tell me a little bit about how Beeston Action For Families was formed
Kausar Iqbal: Seven or eight years ago, my brothers used to go to the People in Action support group for people with learning disabilities and it was there that I met Lynn.
Lynn Bailey: My daughter has learning disabilities and there was nothing in the area for her to do. I was involved in People in Action and wanted to set up a local group for families in Beeston. We put in a bid for some funding and received £2,000 from Health for All. We hired the St John’s Ambulance building and started running the group ourselves. I met Naseem because she lives in my street.
Naseem Akram: I have a son who’s disabled and was looking for social things for him to be doing apart from school. His school was out of the area so my main aim was for him to meet more people locally.
How old are your children now?
Kausar: My brothers are 28 and 30.
Naseem: My son’s 23.
Lynn: My daughter’s 25. They were all children when we started and that’s really why we set up the group. There was nothing for children at the time and they were too young to access adult services. Age doesn’t matter now really.
How do people find out about you?
Kausar: We haven’t got a venue at the moment and that’s what we’re working towards. Most of our work is done from our own homes or via email. We have about seven families involved in our work now.
Naseem: It’s not just about the disabled person though, it’s about the whole unit, the whole family. I think that makes what we do unique.
What kind of things do BAFF do?
Kausar: One of our early sessions was walks on a Sunday a few years ago, we found it was a really good way of bonding. I was really worried about managing my brothers on my own as both of them have behaviour issues but with the support of the group, my confidence has come on leaps and bounds as well as the confidence of my brothers.
Lynn: We’ve developed together haven’t we. We’ve been away on residentials together, we go on day trips, most recently to Whitby. It’s fantastic. Last year we set up the library group because we realised even though most of the group are now in their twenties and thirties they had refound an interest in learning to read and write again. Vine run the group for us which gives the group its independence.
How many people are involved?
Lynn: At the moment we have about twenty five people involved in the group. We’d love to include more but at the moment funding means we have to limit the size to be able to cover the things we want to do.
Kausar: We’d love to be able to get a venue because at the moment all our work is done from home which is difficult when you are already a carer and you have a family to look after too. We also all work as Community Health Educators.
Naseem: We’ve recently worked in partnership with Leeds Primary Care Trust on the Inside/Out Project. BAFF has produced an information booklet on different aspects of health which we launched in September. We believe that both the mind and body should be healthy and that’s where the name Inside/Out Project came from.
Where do you get your funding from?
Lynn: We get it from all over.
Naseem: Beg, steal and borrow!
Lynn: Everywhere. As we’re carers we received £300 from Social Services, that money enabled us to pay for the minibus for trips out and to have a Christmas/Eid celebration. We recently were awarded £9,900 from Awards for All to allow us to lead a procession at Beeston Community Festival to raise the groups’s profile. We devised costumes, made music and have produced a film of the parade.
Can you tell me more about your film?
Kausar: It’s about our empowerment. Our loved ones being empowered and showing the community that we have got voices and that we’re proud of who we are. We thought the best way was to open the Beeston Festival in June.
Naseem: We started quite a few weeks before. We’d put a celebration song together and written the words, we bought our own material and made costumes. The day really made an impact. You couldn’t miss Beeston Action for Families and it gave the local community a real picture of who we are.
Lynn: We followed what the group wanted to do and all chose together.
Jan Wells: The music was put together professionally by Inder Goldfinger. He has composed soundtracks for the BBC, Channel 4 and last year’s Hollywood feature film A Mighty Heart.
How are you going to promote the film?
Jan: It’s ten minutes long and we launched it in November at the Hamara Centre. It was a fantastic day - we had a brilliant response from local people, councillors and of course our group. We want to make sure as many people as possible see it and we have money in the budget to make copies of the film and distribute it.
How has BAFF evolved since it began?
Naseem: Our families are in their twenties now and they’ve got a lot more independence. A few years ago everything seemed very scary, we felt very held back. Now bit by bit we’re going for our goals.
Lynn: Not only have the people with learning disabilities got more confidence and self esteem but also us as carers have done the same thing. Our families have grown up around the group and they’re not strangers anymore and support each other. We’ve also had a lot of support from voluntary groups around us. Without the support of organisations like the Hamara Centre, People in Action, Vine and Health for All we couldn’t have done what we’ve done.
Kausar: I used to feel like I couldn’t communicate with anyone. Now with confidence I’ve found from being involved in the group I feel I can do anything. We do a lot of work with different groups. At the moment I’m working with the University and facilitating a group with service users and carers.
Are there other groups in Leeds doing what you’re doing?
Kausar: Not that we know of. There’s a group in Durham, Mix It that came down for our launch. They are a group of people with and without learning disabilities and they’ve really inspired the work we do. What do you think you’ve achieved?
Kausar: The fact that we’ve been able to go into the community and show people that we’re not scared and we’ve got nothing to hide, we’ve a lot more to show and we hope that other people will see us and use us as role models. We feel extremely proud of what we’ve done and what we’ve achieved with everyone’s support.
Lynn: We’re also able to go out and voice our opinion and speak and tell people that just because you’re a carer or a person with a learning disability you don’t have to shut yourself in the house, get out there and do things and let people know that we’re here.
Kausar: The group fulfills everyone’s needs. Everyone involved absorbs what’s happening and makes the project work.
Where do you see BAFF’s future?
Kausar: We want to make a change in our community and with our loved ones and leave a mark.
Naseem: We’re going to be together a long, long time and we’ll be there to support each other and we’ll be there to signpost other people that are not just in the group but in the community.
Project profile
Beeston Action For Families (BAFF), is a group of parents and carers of people with learning disabilities. On 21st November, with funding from Awards for All, they launched a film about their organisation Loud and Proud in Beeston which includes the role they played in leading the Beeston festival in June this year.
Film-maker and Project Co-ordinator, Jan Wells working with BAFF to co-ordinate the film project and to produce the film said:
“It is important to recognise the positive contribution of people with learning disabilities to our communities. We hope to distribute the film to other organisations supporting people with learning disabilities in Leeds. It is important to raise the profile of BAFF as a voluntary organisation promoting cultural diversity in the learning disabled community”.
Originally published in Voluntary Action Leads: January 09.