Birmingham tenants day out
Our ladies’ only day trip was planned by two support workers; Selina and Hodan, and was a trip to Merry Hill, a large shopping mall in Dudley, near Birmingham, with over 250 shops, a separate retail park and food court which the ladies were shown around and explored for themselves.
The journey to Merry Hill was interesting. At first the ladies were confined to their own group but as the journey went on they became very open and relaxed with one another as well as the support workers. It was a mixture of people from different cultures and languages but they all tried their best to communicate in English. The ladies took advantage of the journey ride to Merry Hill to speak to their support workers; one tenant spoke about how she appreciated the location of the house she is in but would like a room change, whilst another decided to show her support worker her family photos and opened up about her life in her country. The journey to Dudley from Birmingham also showed the tenants different areas and scenery which they enjoyed.
On arrival to Merry Hill, and after exploring the shops and different places the tenants came up with suggestions on activities they would be interested in. For example ladies-only swimming sessions, active day trips including all tenants and even gym memberships. One of the tenants expressed that she was a professional cyclist in her own country and would like to pursue this passion in the UK. This was very important information for the support workers in terms of future activities and memberships that can be found for the tenants.
By the time they were ready for lunch, the atmosphere was very pleasant and the tenants compromised with their choice of where to eat due to needing to find a place where it would cater to everyone’s requirements. Lunch was very enjoyable with lively activity and plenty of food (buffet style) along with friendly conversations. Lunch was really enjoyable for both the tenants and the support works as it was a chance for the tenants to see the support workers in a not so professional environment. This meant that it became a relaxed atmosphere and the ladies opened up with stimulating discussions ranging from employment, training/education to conversations about their own countries and cultures and educating each other with them even finding similarities between each other. The ladies also spoke about different ways of learning English and advised each other accordingly.
In the end both the tenants and the support workers learned from this experience as the ladies made some new friends and the support workers gained valuable knowledge from the tenants.
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Pictured from clockwise: Mandana, Sahel, Yasmin and Suad (all ACH tenants) enjoy a good chat over lunch on a day out organised by ACH Birmingham Support Team staff members Hodan and Selina (both not in the picture but were present!)
