Case Studies

Life Stories

“I got married and came to the UK a year ago. I  studied up to BA, Physical education in Pakistan. I heard from my cousin that I could attend FWA and learn to speak, read and write English. My in laws encouraged me to go to FWA. After having my baby a month ago, I was told to do something for myself and go and learn, whilst my mother in law looks after my baby for 2 sessions every week. This centre is local to me as it takes 5 minutes to come here and I come with my cousin who also attends the 2 classes I attend, the pre-employability skills and the creative English programme. It is a nice centre, good to be amongst like minded people and I am learning in every session. I need to learn English and try to understand the different ascents.


A friend introduced me to FWA. I live in Coppice. I had always heard of FWA but had never attended their centre. FWA is out of my community hence why I started to come here so that no one knew me or could gossip about me. I work part time for OPAG in the school holidays and in a local madrassa. I can talk. At home I don’t have time for myself. I am a people’s person and can still feel isolated.
It’s been a couple of months since I started attending the tea/toast Hub and the walking sessions. I try to come twice a week. We have a good turnout and the breakfast helps. The first time I came, I got such a warm welcome that I have been coming ever since. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming each week. If you make me uncomfortable I won’t come back. I am taking the time out for myself, making new friends, enjoying the company of others. At FWA I actually drink a hot drink whilst at home I am doing other chores and my drink goes cold. I enjoy the sessions especially when we have guest speakers e.g NHS, Dementia awareness, diabetes awareness, breast cancer awareness, the menopause.


I used to come to FWA before lockdown and then stopped. I returned a year ago. We talk a lot, joke laugh and don’t take anything seriously. No one gets insulted by what we say or take us seriously. I am a joker, I joke and no one gets insulted. I come to fresh my mind. Eat, drink and enjoy life. We have to be thankful to god and stop complaining. I’m happy in myself. We are getting older and we need to empower the younger generation not to make the same mistakes we had made. I am a free spirit. Make your children your friends. Talk to them about anything so that they don’t need to hide or lie to you.


Testimonials

“I look forward each week to attending the sewing session. I have participated in many sewing sessions. I must admit, since I have been coming here, I have improved my sewing skills. The bilingual tutor and the volunteers supported me to understand the measuring techniques. Now I can make my own traditional clothes and do not have to pay to get my clothes sewn. I feel better because of the other activities attended and the people I have met here. My confidence and knowledge has been improved. I have improved my social skills and made new friends and encouraged other women who live by themselves to join the activities at F.W.A. I get personal satisfaction when I support other women in the group. It makes me feel good that I am giving something back to the community.”


“The activities and attending the club gave me the confidence I needed and made me feel like a person again and not just a housekeeper. Before attending the group I had stopped going out and avoided conversations with people. Now I feel I am more able to mix with and enjoyed every aspect of it. There is no other women organisation in our area which provides this kind of service. We are great full to F.W.A who provide this opportunity to us to improve our health and wellbeing.”


“On arriving in the U.K., I felt everything was different. There were many new things I had to adapt to. One thing that really took me a long time to adapt to was speaking the language. I remember clearly my first day in class. I had to struggle to learn English because I couldn’t even introduce myself the first day of my English class. I was struggling to fill in my own personal details on a membership form. I spent many hours per day, even though it was stressful, because I wanted to take advantage of this special chance to study English and be able to communicate with my G.P and Nurses when I went for my antenatal check-ups. I felt depressed because I couldn’t understand what people were saying even though I studied hard. Nonetheless, I will still keep trying and never give up. I want to thank F.W.A and the funders who have arranged for these classes. This was my second year attending and I can tell you that I have improved a lot. Although even now it is still easy for me to get lost if I don’t know what topic people are talking about. To adapt to this new language, I had to tell myself I could do it. I really believe I can go onto the next level. I thank my teacher and everyone who have encouraged me with learning the language and carry on with further education.”


“I have enjoyed the course immensely. I have poured my mind and heart into it and I am almost sad that the class has come to an end because I will miss my teacher and the group. My English is getting better and I am confident to speak to my G.P and nurses. To enhance my English skills I communicate in the English language with my children at home. I am confident to ask questions and give answers openly. I never used to attend school meetings, assemblies and plays because I never understood what was being said. Now I go to most weekly assemblies and enjoy watching my children perform in plays each term because I understand what is being said. Thanks to these classes I have built confidence and can go out of my home independently. I look forward to more classes in the future.”


“My name is Tabassum and I am a full time homemaker (sounds like a posh profession). I have 5 children, all girls, aged between 6 to 20 years old. When my youngest went on to full-time education, 18 months ago, she told me to do some courses for myself. It was then that I came to F.W.A. I started on the History of Britain course led by 2 community volunteers. It was from there that my learning journey began. From that course I ended up doing more courses at F.W.A and eventually became a volunteer. I have completed various courses e.g. Citizenship, Mental Health Awareness Level 1, English Functional Skills, Advanced Community Interpreting and Peer Parent Mentoring. I have helped to develop, finalise and implement the Business Plan. This has enabled me to understand finances and gain better understanding of administration of the organisation. This has helped me gain better insight and understanding of how F.W.A runs and funds itself. We have discussed fundraising and marketing strategies with Voluntary Action Oldham and I went away with a great deal of new information. As volunteers we are now going to manage a project which helps vulnerable women living with depression and isolation to come out of their comfort zone and gain some confidence. I have enjoyed attending all my courses and having my thoughts and views highly appreciated. F.W.A is a blessing in disguise for our community and our women. It is a stepping stone for our women to be pointed out in the right direction, especially women who do not speak fluent English.”

Our Mission (Purpose)

To empower disadvantaged women, young people and children in Oldham in order to improve their quality of life.

To provide and assist in the provision of education, training and recreational activities for women, young people and children in the Borough of Oldham.