Greenwich Inclusion Project:
Championing equality,
challenging racism
Our Current Projects
The Greenwich Sanctuary Project
The Greenwich Sanctuary Project (GSP) is a collaboration between Greenwich Islamic Centre, the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the Greenwich Inclusion Project to support the resettlement of Syrian families who have come to the UK through the UNHCR vulnerable persons programme.
GrIP’s role in the project is to connect these families to the local community through a range of volunteering projects such as ESOL classes, walking groups and befriending programmes.
For more information on the GSP please visit our Support for Refugees page.
Greenwich Afghan Resettlement Service
As of May 2023, we have been commissioned by the Royal Borough of Greenwich Council to support the resettlement of Afghan families who have come to the UK through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) in our new Greenwich Afghan Resettlement Service (GARS).
GrIP’s role in the project, headed by our support workers Ariana Masoud and Faridoon Muhibi, is to help these families get settled into Greenwich life, by connecting them to local community. Our volunteers assist in this by offering the families English language training, support and friendship.
For more information on GARS please visit our Support for Refugees page.
Partnered organisations
We also sponsor and work closely with a number of local organisations:
Bengali Women's Group, Men's Wellbeing, Nature Kids Club, Parent Wellbeing Club, Pocket Park, Sharing Voices, Unique Together, Wellbeing for ex-Ghurkha Veterans and Stubs Disability Service.
For more information on any of the organisations listed above, please contact info@griproject.org.uk
Previous Projects
Somali Cultural Event
In 2022, GrIP received funding from the Royal Borough of Greenwich's Black History 365 (BH365) grant programme to deliver a short-term project working with members of the Borough’s Somali Community to create a Somali history and cultural celebration event. Despite having a significant population in Greenwich, community engagement carried out by the Public Health team identified that the Somali population has been largely marginalised and disengaged in civic activity - this is reflected in the limited participation in, and referrals to GrIP’s own services and activities.
As a part of Black History Month, on 29th October in Woolwich, the Somali Cultural Event enabled community members to meet and to celebrate the rich culture and history of Somalia. With music, Somalian food, spoken performances and a series of presentations from academic historians, this event educated and offered an alternative account of Somalian history, one that differs from Eurocentric perspective that is often portrayed.
Additional support and funds was provided by B Young Stars, Capital Homecare, Thames Homecare, Dignity Direct Homecare, Ethnic Minority Advocacy and Disability and Pats Care.
Flow Arts Wellness
In 2022, GrIP facilitated a project in collaboration with Greenwich Council and movement-based wellness platform, Flow Arts Wellness.This programme reached out to people of all ages from visible minority and migrant communities, including refugees and asylum seekers, to address a wide range of mental health challenges such as anxiety, addictions and anger management.
The Flow Arts Wellness coach, André, delivered a therapy model that provided participants with a set of simple tools to regain a sense of self-worth and balance. The tools and techniques, centered around juggling skills, show participants effective steps for learning how to juggle and how disciplined practice can be used as a tool to improve one's health. Once learnt, these skills were developed and adapted by the individual practitioner to meet their self-defined goals and strengthen their personal agency.
Safer Neighbourhoods Panel
In late 2022, the Metropolitan Police, Safer Greenwich and The Safer Neighbourhood Board set up new community engagement and accountability panels across the whole of Greenwich.
GrIP worked to establish one panel, known as Safer Neighbourhood Panels, in each ward in the Borough.
Ward panels provided opportunities for the community to engage with the police and other partners about the things that matter most in the area where they live. By feeding in information from the wider community and reporting back to the community, ward panel members helped increase community engagement with policing.
The members of the panels were drawn from local residents, local schools, local youth groups, local community groups, local tenants’ and residents’ associations, local faith groups and local businesses.
Race Equality Advisory Board
The Race Equality Advisory Board (REAB) was a 2022 project set up by GrIP, building on the Greenwich Race Equality Scorecard report published by the Runnymede Trust in 2019.
The main subjects covered by that report were:
• Criminal justice
• Education
• Employment
• Housing
• Civic participation
• Support for the BME third sector
• Health
Additionally, GrIP added the cost of living and support for Black businesses to the items to be considered by the REAB.The structure and composition of the REAB will later be decided after consultation with a wide range of partners, stakeholders and residents.
Refugees Into Sustainable Employment (RISE)
From 2017 until 2019, Greenwich Inclusion Project partnered with Renaisi to deliver the RISE project – a new service to support refugees in North and East London obtaining sustainable, rewarding employment.
RISE provided English Language for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) courses, as well as social wellbeing activities, confidence building and tailored one-to-one employability support to increase employment prospects. This included CV writing, interview preparation, job search support and help with benefits. RISE also providen-work mentoring for up to six months to ensure a smooth transition into the labour market
Safeguarding Adults Project
Royal Borough of Greenwich Safeguarding Adults Board commissioned GrIP to undertake a community outreach project from 2016 to 17. The aim of this project was to improve understanding of Safeguarding matters and support processes amongst those communities currently underrepresented.
GrIP delivered this work through:
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Data analysis of the racial origins of those referred to Safeguarding services, identifying specific indications of significant under-representation of defined racial groups.
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Delivering a range of briefings to community organisations representing communities of identity; at which information regarding Safeguarding issues is distributed
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Attending community festivals and events to distribute materials to the public and engage people in conversation regarding safeguarding issues
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Distributing safeguarding literature and posters to Community facilities/centres
After carrying out the awareness raising activities for a year, GrIP conducted a community consultation event to identify possible improvements in accessibility of safeguarding support.
As a result, the work was commissioned for a 2nd year, to continue to extend awareness of Safeguarding matters and support available into other marginalised communities and to establish mechanisms and facilities to enable more in depth understanding of safeguarding among key community contacts.