Sahara Project - Preston

For Further Information Contact:

Sahara Project
48 Fishwick Parade
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 4XQ

01772 702090
01772 700780

Introduction

Sahara is a voluntary organisation providing a free and confidential service, in a comfortable and caring environment. They adopt an holistic approach and seek to understand women's needs and aim to provide a culturally sensitive service. Members of staff speak English, Gujerati, Urdu and Punjabi, and have access to Bengali interpreters. All our staff are women, and their overall aim is to help other women.

Teaching and Learning

Personal Skills and volunteering - CAP have delivered several courses in partnership with Sahara based on exploring the use of personal skills for volunteering within the community. The course is designed to enable women attending the Sahara Project to find out more about their own skills and how they might be used within a voluntary context.

This course enables the women to build their confidence, gain accreditation and identify their own goals to move forward in training, education or employment. The course supports women who are in the early stages of volunteering and enable them to recognise how skills gained from voluntary work can be used to increase their employability.

Time is spent on specific cultural and religious influences and pressures on women as the majority of the group are from Indian and Pakistani Muslim background.
Sahara also offers general support in helping women to identify their training needs to enable them to achieve their potential. Their training and development officer helps to identify personal development needs, and assists in the preparation of individual action plans.

Sahara also run short courses in:

• Sewing/Pattern Cutting
• Henna painting
• Flower arranging
• English language support

Project Activities

Sahara offers the following services and more….

• Advice, information and counselling Support
• Acting on behalf of women with statutory and voluntary organisations
• Help with form filling, interpreting and translating
• Help with preparing job applications, interview preparation and finding work
• Help to identify your training and educational needs

Becoming a Sahara Volunteer

Women are encouraged to come and share their skills and experience for the benefit of others in the community. No qualification are needed as training will be provided.

Social activities

There is a women's group that meet regularly at Sahara and organises a variety of celebrations, leisure activities parties and trips.

REAP was formerly known as the Community Access Programme (CAP)