About
Iranian Association helps the ethnic minorities to fully participate in this society by providing opportunities to learn, to receive advice, to take part in cultural activities, to participate in volunteering and to live healthier. The main aim of the association is to provide information and advice, offer education and training, organise cultural activities, provide volunteering opportunities and promote healthy living. Iranian Association deals with around 20,000 enquiries annually; it is accredited by a range of quality frameworks such as Matrix, Investor in People and Community Legal Service and also complies with PQASSO. Currently the association runs a range of services as shown below.
LIFE IN THE UK TEST: The service is offered to the UK residents who want to apply for Citizenship or Settlement. The clients with varied ethnic backgrounds have been visiting Iranian Association from different parts of London to take the test.
ADVICE SERVICE: IA has been providing information and advice on citizenship/immigration and welfare to help the migrants and refugees integrate into the society. The service has been working closely with other agencies such as local authorities, job centres and solicitors.
EDUCATION : The centre is accredited by a number of awarding bodies such as City and Guilds, OCR and British Computer Society. Currently the clients can benefit from flexible training including online and computer based courses to develop their skills in IT, Literacy, Numeracy and Job search. The service has enabled the clients to interact with the wider society more effectively. The portfolio of the centre has included a wide range of accredited, non-accredited and NVQ courses such as IT, Media, ESOL, Literacy, Numeracy, Job Search, Arts, Oral History and Health and Hygiene.
CULTURE AND ARTS: Culture has had a special place among the Iranians who live in Britain; Iranian Association has been organising activities and events to promote art and culture. The association has been running workshops on dance, drama, poetry, literature and calligraphy for adults and young people. Iranian Association has also been disseminating information about the cultural events. Furthermore, the association has been working closely with the cultural institutions such as British Museum and Gunnersbury Museum to improve the participation of the Iranians and ethnic minorities in the artistic and cultural activities.
WOMEN’S PROJECT: The project helps the Farsi speaking women gain increased confidence, knowledge and capacity to cope with day-to-day life by receiving face-to-face and telephone advice, information and support on welfare, education, volunteering and accessing services. The service has enabled the women to reduce their isolation and increase their knowledge and confidence to cope with life by attending workshops on issues such as healthy lifestyles, family matters, parenting and UK Education and employment opportunities.
OLDER PEOPLE HEALTHY LIFE STYLES: The service has been supporting the older people to be more active and live a healthier life through a number of activities. The project has organised exercise sessions to improve the health and physical fitness of the older people. Workshops have also been run to talk about a wide range of health issues. The project has also organised outings to enable the older people to be more active, walk and socialise to improve their wellbeing.
COUNSELLING: This project provides refugees and asylum seekers with mental health support in the form of counselling. The clients have benefited from the service that was delivered in their mother tongue. The Counsellor has provided one-to-one and group counselling sessions to enable the refugees to reduce stress, deal with traumas and have a positive mood.
