House of Hope is a registered Charity and Not-for-Profit Company Limited by Guarantee operate UK and Abroad. We run project to provide support to the Leicester community. We provide FREE advice and support on employment, welfare benefits, education, housing as well as family matters. We normally signpost our service users to qualified and professional service providers, moreover our directors have attained experience and skills in those areas.
Currently we help in food support to different groups of people in need, by connecting them with the Leicester South Food Bank. With our assistance, people have been receiving food parcels weekly. On top of that, we work in collaboration with the local Job Centre to offer advice and support to clients in finding jobs by assisting in form filling, preparing curriculum vitae (CV) and interview preparation, and with the Voluntary Action Leicestershire (VAL) which has been assisting in volunteering.
We want people from the community we work with feel more included, empowered and valued. We want to help people who live in poverty become assured of their basic needs. We want to support them access job opportunities and live a happy life as well. We also want to see new arrivals become integrated and understand the system in the new country so they can achieve in their new life by taking further training and
employment and become successful. We also want to help and see young people who are victims of drug abuse and criminal acts understand the consequences of their actions and make right decisions of accessing education and decent jobs. Moreover, we want to see the BAME community treated fairly and given opportunities it deserves, so it can grab learning and employment opportunities. All in all, we want to see the community we want to support live the most healthy and successful life and contribute to the wider community. Our work has been charitable, and we do not charge any clients. We connect the local communities with local service providers, free of charge.
– Deprivation: Leicester is among the most deprived places in the UK. 44% of people live in the 20% most deprived areas in England. Many people cannot afford their basic needs. However, only a fraction of them depends on food bank, and many others do not even know how and where to get help from.
– Ethnicity
We work with the Minority Ethnic communities which, from time-to-time face discrimination, hate crime, racism, and inequality. As a result, these vulnerable communities suffer from unemployment and poverty. Some young people from these communities are not fairly treated in education and employment. This leads to frustration and sometimes forces these young people into drugs and crimes.
– Asylum seekers and refugees
Newly arrived communities need integration, tranquillity, and awareness. They do not understand the new system in a new country. They may also suffer language barrier and anxiety as well as hate crimes and discrimination. Strength and opportunities in our community: The communities we work with, like other communities in the UK, can achieve and participate much better if given enough resources and support.
With the young people given right counselling and opportunities, asylum seekers and refugees supported to integrate and cope with the new system and eventually access decent education and employment, people in deprivation receive right advice and supported to stand up with their own, our community can achieve to the maximum and even perform wonders. The Ethnic Minorities, for instance, are full of quality people who can go out and grab opportunities if allowed to do so. Unfortunately, due to inequality and discrimination these groups fail to contribute enough and as a result become frustrated. However, with
right resources and full involvement, these communities have many individuals who can achieve better outcome for themselves and the country. Strengths-based approaches concentrate on the inherent strengths of individuals, families, groups and the whole community, deploying personal strengths to aid recovery and empowerment. This could be a long-term process and will need huge efforts, but it should start from
somewhere. If their problems left ignored and unsolved, members of these marginalised communities of Leicester will continue to experience life hardship and misery.