The GM Mental Wellbeing Grants programme, funded by Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership and delivered by GMCVO, aims to support people from communities of identity or experience, based in Greater Manchester, that may struggle to achieve higher levels of mental wellbeing.
This case study looks at one of the grant recipients, The Eagles Wing, who received a grant in 2023 as part of year 4 of the programme.
Who are they?
The Eagles Wing was established in 2006 to offer friendship and support to local asylum seekers and refugees in Bury. They are a mutual support group of friends made up of local people, asylum seekers and refugees.
What do they do?
The group is based on befriending and support for asylum seekers and refugees and with no paid staff, the Eagles Wing rely on volunteers to organise the groups. They meet at least twice a week with volunteers providing support to members of the group to find solutions to their problems. They offer friendship, advice, wellbeing activities and a safe warm welcoming space. Practical support ranges from translating conversations within the group setting, helping with understanding and completing forms, navigating phone calls with doctors or schools, or helping to find the right service to find the solutions. They work in partnership with Bury College ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) staff, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit and the Red Cross for expert advice to find the right support for members, some of whom are homeless or/and living on very limited asylum benefits or universal credit with no extended family to rely on.
What is their project?
The Eagles Wing received £1,000 to offer a friendly support group on two mornings every week for five months. This grant enabled the group to offer access to beginners English for newly arrived refugees and a therapeutic art and sewing group. Both have a welcoming and friendly space for people to meet each other, get help with problems, learn to settle into the local area and escape the loneliness and isolation.
"Come as strangers, stay as friends"
In the sewing group members of the group learn a new skill such as crochet, quilting and basket making while connecting to others and developing friendships between established refugees and newly arrived asylum seekers and migrants. The group becomes a skills swap too, with those who are experienced in techniques sharing skills with others in the group.
Keeping the sewing group separate from the practical support allows members to have a space to learn a new skill, switch off and relax whilst connecting with other members of the group, all of which helps to improve their mental wellbeing.
What impact has the project had?
"The sewing group is a haven from what's going on in the outside world"
English for newly arrived refugees is essential to help them communicate and cope with the difficulty of establishing a new home. Being able to continue the sewing group is helping to welcome new people to the group and the local area, make friendships, learn a new skill and provide a break to connect in a fun way with others. The Eagles Wing have been able to continue to provide a safe place where those who are isolated and depressed, or traumatised to feel safe and befriended, gain confidence and learn new skills to cope with their new life.
Find out more about the project in this short video:
