Health and Wellbeing are important for us all. The Five Ways to Well Being are a nationally accepted framework to help people thrive, but the Asylum System as it currently operates, has none of this.
A large part of the services at ALM focus on well being and include:
- Breakfast (tea/toast) and a midday meal, tea/coffee (currently Monday to Thursday)
- A place where people can relax and rest
- Encouragement to asylum seekers and refugees to become volunteers and to engage with their new community.
- Games afternoon – Monday from 1pm
- Table tennis – available on request and when the ‘Big Chas’ room is not in use
- Trips and visits to other places – monthly visits to Crosby Beach with St Peters Church, days out with Action Asylum
- Social events to encourage integration and friendship – Refugee Week, Christmas, trips and visits to other venues
- ALM Choir – Thursdays 1pm-3pm
- Women’s Group – Thursdays 10:30 to 12:30
- Bike Repair – Tuesday 10am-3pm
- Bike Club – trips out – Tuesday 12:30pm – 3:00pm
- Gardening and allotments – Wednesdays 12:30pm
- Action Asylum projects actively place Asylum Seekers in volunteering roles with non-asylum organisations including beach/park cleans, tree planting, creative writing projects, indoor climbing and arts projects. We now work in 6 other cities with this programme. The Wellbeing and Action Asylum projects run side by side.
Input from other agencies including the NHS Community Inclusion Team giving access to GPs and dentists. Access to other healthcare: Covid Vaccination, Sight Tests, Blood Pressure and AF Testing can be sourced through the centre. We regularly host NHS Teams such as the Liver Bus, Axcess Sexual Health, the Living Well Bus and TB Testing. Periodically we host a DentAid bus for those in severe dental pain.
We work closely with MRSN and others delivering health related projects.