Community Development

Of course, at the centre of our spiral are always the local communities – the grass roots.
We believe that strong, active communities, based upon the values of social justice, respect and equality, are an essential prerequisite to health. Therefore our projects cast their nets much wider than simply focusing on health issues.

We pay attention to the everyday lives of local residents. In real life there are no clear boundaries between a run down estate and depression, damp housing and asthma, or the need for language support and worrying about a sick child.
To read a PDF version of our Community Development leaflet, please click here.

The Community Development Team works in the London Borough of Hackney. We aim to engage local residents, many of whom feel marginalised by mainstream society, in the public arena. We listen to local people, identify common concerns and agendas, provide training and support - and help build community-led initiatives which actively promote health and wellbeing.

The Refugee Outreach Schools Project works in four Hackney primary schools and provides support and health information to refugee parents (Turkish/Kurdish, Congolese and Somali), making it easier for them to manage their and their families’ health. This is done through group meetings, Health Guide information sessions, talks on health issues, coffee mornings and one-to-one advice sessions, facilitated in their own language.







Tower Hamlets African and Caribbean Mental Health Organisation (THACMHO) is an independent organisation, supported by SAfH. It promotes the all-round health and wellbeing of African and Caribbean people living or working in Tower Hamlets through educational and community-awareness programmes. You can access their website here.

“So much service provision is about setting agendas and hitting targets. Sometimes we don’t have an agenda at all! We’ll just go to a community and start to construct one from scratch – with them. They’ll say these are the issues and we’ll say, well, how can we help you to generate change. The work involves and is owned by local people.”
JW – Project Manager

For more information please contact Pauline Facey at paulinef@safh.org.uk