hope bereavement support group cic
HOPE Bereavement Support began in 2013 when the visionary and founder, Ansa,
realised that there needed to be a place of safety and inclusion for all mothers
who had sadly lost a baby to miscarriage, stillbirth or at any other stage of
their child’s life. What was sorely needed was an accessible place where
everyone would be able to find comfort and support for their loss; not feel
alone or ostracised. She had a vision where everybody – regardless of age, sex,
religion, ethnicity or any other difference – had the ability to access mental
health and emotional support for their loss. Ansa’s ambition came from a painful
journey; she is the proud mother of 9 rainbow children. Her determination to
succeed grew after she struggled to find a suitable support group after her
losses. During her healing process she became more empowered and went back to
study, changing her career path to become a qualified and registered counsellor
and Training Consultant. There was at that time very limited multi-lingual
counselling services available, and furthermore, it was very expensive and the
clinical models applied did not feel culturally diverse or sensitive to BME
therapeutic needs. HOPE Bereavement Support initially started with three
trustees (the founder, a secretary and a treasurer) as a small constituted
community group in Leeds, setting up bereavement support groups run by
befrienders and volunteers for women and families to meet after suffering the
loss of a child. Over 7 years on, the organisation is now running support
services in Leeds, Bradford and London and specialises in all types of
bereavement. We have a team of over 30 people consisting of qualified
counsellors, coaches, an occupational therapist, clinical supervisors and many
befrienders and volunteers. All staff members are based nationally in different
parts of the UK working together remotely. Our services: Counselling Coaching
Bereavement support groups Mental health and emotional wellbeing resilience
workshops Educational and awareness building workshops Training and consultancy
Research Media We also have service delivery partnership projects with
Touchstone Staff Counselling and Touchstone ‘Blossom’ (Female Genital
Mutilation) counselling: https://touchstonesupport.org.uk/ Our CEO Ansa E Ahmed
has been nominated for the Positive Role Model (Race, Faith and Religion) Award
at the National Diversity Awards 2021 “I was overwhelmed by receiving this
nomination for the award, however, I feel and I believe that my HOPE team and
organisation are well-deserved of this nomination and that this will be the
first of many to come because we are a blackled organisation aiming to fulfil
the short-comings in our national services in providing better health outcomes
for our black communities nationwide. As the founder and CEO of HOPE services I
feel very proud and overwhelmed with how much support, passion and dedication I
have found in the people who have joined my organisation. When speaking and
networking with other third sector and national organisations and their leaders,
I was gratefully humbled for the respect given to our organisation in terms of
what HOPE has to offer in fulfilling the need of our BAME communities access to
mental health services in their own languages, and with our culturally inclusive
person-centred approach towards each individual who accesses our services.
Furthermore, I do not believe there is any other organisation that has achieved
what we have in a short time as a Community Interest Company (CIC). This again
is a testimony to the great BAME leaders from my board of directors, managers,
supervisors and clinical practitioners that for me as a black leader I am proud
to have alongside me as a driving force for HOPE. It feels like a lifetime ago
when my career changed from the corporate field of working in the banking
industry for 15 years of my life, I was able with my initiative and work ethic
dedication to move up the management ladder to a customer service focused area
manager role. So, therefore leading, motivating, coaching others from a
leadership role comes very natural to me in my skill set as a CEO, but what
really drives me is the passion and belief in compassion for all of humanity and
this makes my job as CEO of HOPE very rewarding. From a personal development
aspect I feel a winner as I am not only helping and giving back to my
communities in the services that we provide in HOPE but also that I am helping
my fellow BAME professionals nationwide who choose to join HOPE in their journey
and development in furthering their career as BAME leaders within their
respective fields of works. It has always been my mission statement as an
individual and now as the head of the HOPE organisation that where possible I
want to fight against stigma, shame, prejudice and racism in all its forms
always with a heart full of compassion, love for humanity and kindness for all.
I believe that true leadership is leading by example but also alongside helping
your aspiring leaders. Your vote for me and HOPE would mean so much to us all,
thank you 🙂 ”
