Vision 2030 COVID-19 Vaccination Support Grants – grants awarded:
Halesowen Asian Elderly Association
This is a small, self-run group operating in Blackheath for over 15 years that offers day-to-day activities for older people in the community. These activities support beneficiaries with things like their wellbeing, confidence-building, new skills and practical topics like fire safety, computer skills and keep-fit sessions.
Sandwell Parents for Disabled Children
Building on previous grant award, SPDC are running a programme of small, informal meet up opportunities for parent carers in a range of local venues (across the borough) to encourage those parent carers who are feeling anxious to take small steps to returning to face to face opportunities. Parental conversations will see if there are any specific requests – for example, maybe introducing an activity into sessions such as craft or exercise if this would be appropriate. It is also apparent that male parent carers are underrepresented and the plan is to run some sessions specifically for them. Finally, as part of the programme information will be provided about the booster vaccine and availability at clinics etc. at all of the sessions, together with a specific information session where a health professional will come in and talk to parents about the booster and any concerns they may have.
Springfield Young at Heart
A group that affords the opportunity to meet together and socialise for older people in Rowley Regis. Group activities were suspended for the duration of the pandemic, but are now keen to be re-started and to re-engage with those in the community through a programme of mood-boosting activities that help to build confidence of people to get back out and about. Also includes on-going information about infection control and ‘staying well’.
Citizens Advice Sandwell & Walsall
Raising awareness of the Covid booster vaccination programme across all six towns in Sandwell – providing information packs that include guidance from the likes of Public Health, details of local support services, Government guidance and infection control tips, together with providing hand sanitiser and a reusable face covering. Anticipate reaching 1,000 people with the packs.
To support the dissemination of relevant vaccine information and health messages to beneficiary groups and families, using sport as a delivery medium; bringing people together to engage in physical activity, but also to receive relevant health messages and information across a range of issues, including Covid vaccinations and boosters.
Smethwick Youth and Community Centre
Building on the previous grant (see below) to focus support activities on 1-1 support (including translation capabilities), helping beneficiaries continue to book vaccine appointments, signposting to vaccination centres and continuing to support people to take-up their vaccine offer – including information, guidance and support using a variety of materials and services.
A week-long 7-a-side football tournament to help re-engage young people (12-18) post-pandemic and to give them important information about vaccines and general health and wellbeing management. To include input from local health professionals and live guest speakers, delivered in a young person-friendly way.
Cape Community Day Care Centre
To deliver their ‘Stay Safe’ project – preventative hygiene sessions and a hygiene pack for beneficiary groups, together with support information. ‘Well-being’ project – following on from the initial vaccine support delivery, this is an extension of the regular befriending ‘phone calls to ensure people remain connected and informed.
Shree Pashupatinath Mandir (Shani Dham) is a Hindu faith Temple based in Blackheath. Shree Mandir will use the funding to raise awareness amongst their local communities to overcome common barrier which include lack of confidence in the vaccine, potential risk of taking vaccine, access barrier, socio demographic context, lack of communication from trusted provider and community leaders. Their aim is to reach all ages especially younger population between 18-50and over 65 years old of BAME communities, and hard-to reach groups to encourage immunisation decisions through shaping perceptions about immunisations, belief in vaccine efficacy, visit different community centres/place of worship to raise awareness about Covid-19 vaccinations providing information about associated risk of not having vaccine and create workshops and multilingual leaflets for people who visit these centres. These languages will include Hindi/Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Nepali.
Smethwick Youth & Community Centre
The Smethwick Youth & Community Centre (SYCC) is a multi-agency and cross sector resource centre based in the heart of Smethwick. SYCC will use the funding to support its current clients through Telephone Support-Face-to-face Support, small group Sessions and will train our staff and volunteers and equip them with a common Frequently Asked Questions framework to enable them to converse with the clients and dispel any myths about the vaccination.
African French Speaking Community Support
AFSCS is a front line voluntary organisation which principally operates in the Soho/Victoria area of Smethwick. Its beneficiaries are mainly from French speaking countries of Africa living in Sandwell. Their programme intends to raise awareness among reluctant to be vigilant and encourage their first jab. Families, couple and community leaders who have received the two doses will be invited to give their testimonies during music performances as many people will be connected to watch these live music performances. The project intends to deliver 5 concerts streamed live on their You Tube channel and Facebook page. Using music to bring together musicians, health professionals, community leaders, people who have received the two doses, those who have been reluctant can join the sessions to hear positive stories.
SOHO F&N is a community led group based in Smethwick helping people to help themselves in saving money, reducing isolation, health and well-being, dealing with every day life and increasing their networks. They will use the funding to purchase a smart TV to link to a laptop to purchase a display Sandwell MBC’s and national government social media streams in regards to the subjects stated above including the process of doing the lateral flow test. This will be done in conjunction with their newly funded drop-in sessions starting in July 2021 to increase people’s awareness to take up the vaccine, defuse vaccine hesitancy and myth busting fake vaccine news.
Sandwell African Caribbean Mental Health Foundation
SACMHF is a charity which provides a range of culturally sensitive services predominantly for Black African, Caribbean, Dual heritage people based in West Bromwich will use their funding to deliver 4 community vaccination awareness sessions in partnership with 2 local Black led churches. The sessions will be delivered face to face in a local community venue. The sessions will be informative and led by a panel who are clinical staff who have experience of being part of the vaccination programme. The awareness sessions will aim to educate people on the importance of taking the vaccine, raise awareness of the current vaccination programme, dispel myths about the vaccine, answer any questions and concerns people may have and to increase vaccine uptake.
West Bromwich Town Business Improvement District covers over 500 businesses in West Bromwich Town. Ambassadors patrol the BID area 6 days per week and are a main point of contact for information, help and assistance. They work in partnership with Sandwell Council and West Bromwich Police/PCSOs to report any town centre issues including anti-Social behaviour. The BID will use the funding to install 120 lamppost sleeves across the BID area in West Bromwich promoting the uptake of the vaccine with relevant and factual information and in several languages.
Ideal for All is a user-led charity and social enterprise working to make life better for disabled, elderly and vulnerable people and their carers. They will utilise the funding to include additional practical support to promote take-up of vaccinations through engagement activity with our membership/service users which will include proactive calls, online events, information mailouts/email shots promoting the vaccine, sharing positive role-modelling stories. They will also cascade sound IAG around vaccines across their digital platforms and existing sessions ‘myth busting’ and sharing positive news stories from real people and key organisations e.g. Patron Dave Heeley, Healthy Sandwell. Alongside this they will signpost to the right information/resources at the right time e.g. Public Health and Primary Health Care when people need personalised support and mailout to existing Community Offer users in partnership with the lead organisations across 6 towns, guiding people towards practical support e.g. help with appointments/bookings.
Sandwell Young Carers is a registered charity set up in 1994 to identify and support children and young people whose lives are affected as a result of providing care to an ill and/or disabled family member. The charity will be working with known and hidden young carers and young adult carers and their families to ensure they are aware of and feel able to receive the vaccine – including how and why to access it and the long-term positive impact for them and the cared for.
The Bangladeshi Islamic Centre (BIC) is a formally constituted, community led, independent charitable organisation, committed to the alleviation of disadvantage, inequality and deprivation through a targeted range of services to the communities of Sandwell and with a particular focus upon the Bangladeshi community. BIC will use their funding to host a pop-up clinic for vaccinations at our centre as well as holding three focus groups with different people to discuss the Covi9-19 impact and the positive effects vaccination will have. Since lock down has started, they have been helping and have supported clients that have been severely affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Friar Park Millennium Centre provide activities for young people in Wednesbury, and also activities for others e.g. leisure facilities for retired/vulnerable people. The centre will utilise the funding to deliver informative leaflets through the doors of local residence that live in Friar Park and surrounding areas. The vaccination uptake leaflets will be distributed to residence living in the area, reaching approximately people of all ages living in the household. Leaflets and information will also be available to groups on site at the community centre nursery, dance, cheerleaders, sport group and homework club, reaching parents, grandparents and carers as well as displaying the leaflets in other local community venues such as shops.
North Smethwick Development Trust
NSDT – Brasshouse provides opportunities for local people to engage and celebrate their creativity. They will use funding to continue target support to the Black, Asian and minority ethnic members of the community to take up the vaccine who may be vaccine hesitant. Their support is mainly to support the administrative function of identifying eligible individuals within the community or as a result of people calling the centre to see if there are spare vaccines or those who have been referred either through other GP services or the 119 service.
West Bromwich African Caribbean Resource Centre
WBACRC provides services primarily for the African-Caribbean community across the Borough. They will use their funding to set up a forum of Trusted leaders from their community and give people the facts around the COVID 19 Vaccination, They will use Sandwell Public Health Covid Vaccination toolkit to give people the facts about the vaccine so that they can give positive messages to people who use theirs services and in the wider community and alongside this offer one to one telephone support to 300 people from our community to those who are identified as vaccine hesitant• They will also engage with the community via their social media platforms and YouTube channel.
OSCAR Sandwell is a registered charity that was established in 1988 to promote the well being of sufferers of Sickle Cell Anaemia and Thalassaemia. OSCAR will provide ongoing information to their client base made up of the Black African and Black Caribbean community and Asian community who are affected by genetic blood disorders Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia (SC&T) disorders who have been deemed clinically vulnerable and high risk and have been long term shielding since lockdown.
Cape Community Day Care Centre
Based in Cape Hill, CCDCC are to hold an online Vaccine Information seminar for the Black and BAMe community, which will be hosted by BAMe medical professionals. Their telephone befriending scheme will also be directly supporting callers, having conversations about the practicalities/implications for vaccine take-up together with a volunteer team providing practical support around people attending vaccination appointments etc.
Sandwell Parents for Disabled Children
SPDC is a voluntary organisation founded in 2003 by a group of parents and carers of disabled children frustrated at the lack of play, leisure and sporting opportunities available for them and their families. A key area of our work is providing information and support to parent carers. SPDC will contact parent carers individually as well as utilising regular email communications and regular Zoom meetings to promote vaccine uptake and raise awareness of how parent carers are able to access the vaccine.
SAFS provides a range of quality health and social care services in Sandwell and also manage the Windmill Community Centre. Alongside their welfare telephone calls SAFS will be using their funding to ensure additional calls and information can be provided to their clients to give advice and guidance around the vaccination. Alongside this SAFS will deliver translated leaflets and information as well as using social media platforms.
The Yemeni Community Association (YCA) is a community-based organisation that seeks to represent and meet the particular needs of Yemeni and other Arabic speaking communities in Sandwell. YCA will co-produce a video and posters/letters material in Arabic that will help ensure that the vaccination take up in the Arabic speaking community is positive. The video will highlight the message of the importance of the vaccination programme to help protect the community from COVID and help to get the community back to some form of normality. It will also tackle the issue of some of the myths surrounding the vaccination as well as any mistrust or concerns the community has.
NACRO work with a broad range of young people and adults across education, resettlement and rehabilitation, health and wellbeing, and housing services in Sandwell. NACRO will engage with 120 local hard to reach learners, the majority of these come from families who have expressed concerns about the vaccination program, and many are deciding not to take it based on peer misinformation. Their vaccination support activity would be delivered as part of our study programme but also offered to the families and guardians of our learners and to the local community.
Sandwell Visually Impaired CIO
SVI is managed and run by blind and visually impaired (VI) people who give information and support to anyone in Sandwell with an interest in visual impairment. Sandwell Visually Impaired will undertake an initial tracking and monitoring activity to contact all of our members by phone, or other preferred methods of contact – to see how far they are in the vaccination process. They will also produce English spoken word recordings of leaflets, Covid information and the vaccine details and side‑effects sheet that is given out following a vaccination. They will also link in with local community and faith groups to see what need there is for alternative spoken language audio production.
HSBTS will produce a video in Mirpuri, Urdu& English to be shared locally on our social media, community based private chat groups, and community wide groups. They will also produce posters/letters material in Urdu & English that will support the vaccination take up in the local community and also organise a vaccine awareness competition for children online.
African French Speaking Community Support
AFSCS bring together people from French speaking countries of Africa living in Sandwell. The charity provides services accessible to the wider community regardless of people’s race, origin, religion, disability, sex or political orientation. AFSCS will deliver a vast campaign called “Be Wise about Covid-19 Vaccination”. This campaign is designed to provide the right information about the importance of receiving the Covid-19 Vaccination and increase its take up among BME groups, especially people from the French speaking community living in Sandwell and the Black country. The activity will take place online, over the telephone and through outreach consisting of drop in leaflets in English, and leaflets translated in Urdu, Punjabi and French
European’s Welfare Association is a non-for profit community interest organisation focused on supporting migrants in areas of education, welfare, art and culture.
Their main beneficiaries are newly arrived European nationals, who may be experiencing some level of social exclusion, unemployment, depravation and inequality. European Welfare Association will address the misinformation about vaccines through social media posts, advertising and producing a video clip in Polish to help give people the most accurate information to help them make an informed decision.
Ileys Community organisation helps refugees, asylum seekers and newly arrived migrants to settle in to the community. The funding will support the development of a network of somalian professionals to steer and develop suitable messages and resources for the community. They will hold awareness and advice sessions and translate information relating to COVID-19 Vaccinations produced by PHE and the local authority.
4 Community Trust supports the advancement of children and children with special educational needs and their parents in Sandwell. The funding will provide a telephone service, social media marketing campaign about the vaccine and help support parents of children with special education needs raise concerns about the medical treatment of their children.
YMCA are a Community-focused non for profit organisation with recreational programs & services in Sandwell. Their funding will target social media campaign’s to support the uptake of the vaccine in Sandwell. They will also provide calls to community members to talk and offer advice. There will be pop up information stands at Wester Gateway to distribute information to the local community and an offer to support individuals in the community to access their vaccination appointment.
Brushstrokes is a unique project offering a support and advice service to the most marginalised communities living in Sandwell, primarily asylum seekers, refugees. The funding will support the newly arrived communities with information about Covid, especially those on asylum support, EU nationals, rough sleepers and the Romanian Roma community. Information will be spread by mailshots and social media and will be in community languages where necessary.
Sandwell Deaf Community Association
SDCA is a charity led by deaf people and one that delivers specialist services across Sandwell/Black Country to deaf, deafened, hard of hearing people and people with a dual sensory loss. SDCA will use the funding to ensure information about the COVID-19 Vaccine is accessible to the Sandwell Deaf Community there will be drop in support, translation of local authority information for the Sandwell Council Website and visual videos from the Local Authority and Public Health. Also there will be videos and material created for social media relating to the vaccine.