At the beginning of January, thanks to funding provided by The National Lottery Community Fund Wales, ACE was able to take on two Community Development Officers – Noward Omar and Sabina Islam – to help us better connect with and support the communities of Butetown and Grangetown. As part of a series of regular blogs from our new team we hear from Noward about her first few weeks in post. You can contact her at noward.omar@acecardiff.org.uk
Beginning in January, I began my role as a Community Development Worker and my experience has been very positive.
In my previous roles, I have built a vast range of connections and relationships with black, Asian and minority ethnic communities across Cardiff. My role with ACE has allowed me to further these relationships and further support people from minoritised communities.
During the initial few weeks, I shadowed colleagues and visited venues in Butetown and Grangetown where activities are held, whereby I found the classes to be a learning curve. Another part of my role consists of liaising and talking to parents before and after activity sessions are held in order to briefly tell them what my role consists of, and later enquire about any questions or queries they may have. From speaking with parents, I have gathered that their children really enjoy the activity sessions and would be grateful if they were to continue.
What I find most exciting about the role is that I have had the opportunity to meet with various types of people from all different backgrounds – allowing me to increase knowledge I already uphold regarding the local community, but also learn things I did not know previously.
By taking part in the TLC session on Thursday in Cardiff and Vale College, I had the opportunity to speak with a few parents about the sessions. A parent expressed that what ACE Cardiff’s clubs provides is different to the service they had previously tried to receive for their child – the child is eager and reminds the parent of the classes to ensure they do not miss out. The parent later stated, “I don’t know how Ace does it, but they keep the child motivated.”
Though I have been in this role a short while, the key skills and information I have gained regarding the local community and what services ACE offers is profound. I have felt more and more motivation to exceed in my role having spoken with parents and learnt what advantages these sessions bring to the community.
I have spoken and visited a number of agencies to brief them about my role in Ace Learning Club and services it offers. Some of them are as follows: Hayaat Women Trust, Homestart Play, United 2 Change, Masjid Tawheed.
Last week, whilst meeting with a parents and toddler group in Grange Pavillion, parents expressed an interest in ACE activities as it would support their children’s homeschooling. Two of the parents will be getting back to me to see how their homeschooling club can interact with ACE.