In May 2004 BBEMI Director and Barnsley Muslim Community Centre voluntary representative Nargis Rahman, approached BBEMI with a view to establish a support group for all Barnsley BME women. During her many years of experience working with BME communities, she saw many cases where BME women could not reach resources or services that were available to them, due to barriers such as language and culture. After initial research, BBEMI concluded that necessary steps should be taken to tackle this problem.

July 2004, saw the formal establishment of the BBEMI Women’s Forum (BWF). Within a very short space of time, BWF successfully attracted more than 80 women from 11 different ethnic minority communities. BWF maintained monthly workshops for the ladies, with the aim of creating a friendly environment in which they could socialise, gain knowledge and have fun.

The workshops BWF have conducted over the past year and half include:

• General Health Awareness, BodyShop at Home Party, Marketing and Finance Presentation, Flower Arranging, Easter Egg Painting, Indian Head Massage, Beauty Therapy, Introduction to Reiki, Sugar Craft, Henna hand painting and Face Painting.

During this time, a more serious series of training sessions were also arranged for BWF members. These included; an IT Taster Course, English Training Course and Women in Leadership Course. One of the highlights of BWF’s success came in December 2005 at the BWF’s Christkindle market stall, where more than 50 pieces of exotic arts and crafts were made or donated by BWF members for sale at the stall.

 

Another of BWF’s major achievements to date was the “BBEMI Women’s Forum Fashion Show,” which took place on Saturday 12 th March 2005 at Barnsley Library. The fashion show was organised as part of the “Barnsley Women’s Fun Week,” in March 2005. The event was the first of its kind to celebrate cultural awareness, diversity and richness through design, craft, art and innovation from around the world in the form of dresses and garments from countries like India, China, Kashmir, Russia, Gambia, Egypt, Kashmir and many more. 35 garments were on show and 11 beautiful ladies and 1 cute boy volunteered as models. The presence of the Mayoress showed encouragement and support from Barnsley Metropolitan Borough. It was a vibrant and sparkling experience to remember.

Through partnership working and networking, BWF is becoming a well known project within South Yorkshire. Feedback received from BME women has been very positive. However, more development work needs to be addressed in order for the BWF to grow.

BBEMI has therefore identified the following targets for BWF:

• Formalise the group so that it has aims, objectives and a constitution.
• Identify funding for a dedicated development worker.
• Identify funding for future development.
• Establish a dedicated committee.

With BBEMI’s assistance, hopefully the above targets will be achieved in the near future.