Mojatu Magazine Berkshire B038

Each passing quarter brings to light great women who have continued to be the change they seek. Their contagious smiles continue to energise, inspire and positively push our communities to remain committed to addressing issues that get in the way of achieving their Health & Wellbeing thereby not maximising their individual potential, their families and of the wider community. This edition begins with our cover girl and committed community champion— Zainab Koroma as she reflects on her community engagement work journey to where she now is focusing on SELF-CARE, a phenomenon that every woman should undertake.

Meet our dedicated Mayor and great community ambassador, Rachel Eden who in March of this year celebrated International Women’s Day with the communities and encouraged women to connect more and continue supporting each other in order to make the greatest impact in our communities.

Read more about Gender-Based Violence, an issue that our communities continue to address through working with men because together we are stronger as seen in the learning acquired from the ‘Stand By Her’ seminar delivered in the summer. Mental Health remains one of the areas we continue to innovatively address. Read more about how Joseph Wafula, Ryan Obure and Yvonne continue to use their artistic skill to not only educate and raise mental health awareness but also address stigma in our communities.

As we continue to reflect on how Covid-19 has affected us all and now living with it, read from the Community United on What Long Covid is and how to manage it. Continue browsing through the pages and geting to know more about how we engage, inspire, empower and collaborate in realising our Health & wellbeing agenda.

Managing Editor: Cecily Mwaniki

ZAINAB KOROMA

The

https://rb.gy/feyzsj

EMPOWERING & DARING JOURNEY OF LOVE & HOPE

Zainab is a leader, a mother of two beautiful adult children, a grandmother to MayJay and for 34 years, a wife to an amazing fighter for equality, inclusion, and social justice - Victor Koroma. Originally from Sierra Leone, Zainab has been living in the UK for over 30 years and has since settled in Reading, where she calls, “my home from home”.

Zainab has over 30 years of experience in community engagement and development, and has served in various roles in the voluntary sector. She is the founder member and Chair of the thriving Reading Refugee Support Group and played an instrumental part in developing and managing the activities of the organisation for over 9 years. She also served as a Senior Services Manager for 11 years at British Red Cross, Thames Valley area and had strategic oversight for the development, design, and delivery of services to vulnerable groups including refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants. During this time, Zainab conducted needs assessments the outcomes of which led to the development of a Red Cross Resource Centre in Milton Keynes, which serves the needs of some of the most vulnerable in Milton Keynes to date. She continues to passionately support and advocate for the rights of refugees.

As someone who is passionate about issues affecting Black and minority communities, Zainab has served in key voluntary roles where she was able to influence strategies that impacted on members of these communities. As Chair of Reading City of Sanctuary, she led the organisation to host the national AGM in 2017 during which Reading was awarded City of Sanctuary Status.

Zainab is a strong advocate for women’s issues including ending FGM, a practice which is widespread in Sierra Leone. She is currently an advisory member to Women with Vision (WwV) community group, and the Rose Centre FGM steering group in Reading. Both provide advocacy and support to survivors, raise awareness on the harmful practice, and are committed to the campaign ‘end FGM in a generation’. Recently, she contributed to the development and design of a Gender and Advocacy training manual for Care International.

Here is what Zainab had to say when asked how she got into all this very empowering and selfless work: ‘’I have taken pride in ensuring I give my time to engaging and participating to contribute to the well-being of my community, including my Church. I developed the passion for community engagement when I was studying for my undergraduate degree in the early 1980s and had to complete my field study in a small community, where they appeared to lack the knowledge on how to put resources available to the community into good use for their collective benefit.” According to her, the gist of the problem was that

By Jamie Morris

“the community had the resources to look after itself but believed that they needed to raise money for their children’s education and sold their harvests. However, children were dying of malnutrition while their harvests lay in heaps waiting to be transported to market.” She went on saying that “spending time with them to rethink this approach through a series of meetings and activities, gave me the incentive to do my best to be part of the team in my various communities with a view to sharing knowledge and learn from each other for our collective growth’’.

The last 9 years has seen Zainab impacted by the effects of a very rare benign brain tumor called an acoustic neuroma and she has made a conscious effort to take a step back to focus on self-care, for her wellbeing and for those around her especially family and friends.

However, “I am a very hopeful person and believe that though hope can be risky, it is also persevering, the belief that anything is possible, and it is the best gift we can give to ourselves, family members & friends and our communities.”

In the midst of all this, Zainab still finds time to smile and share her natural gift of love to the world especially her much loved community hence remaining one of esteemed community champions.

UTULIVU CONFERENCE

Utulivu Women’s Group held its annual conference on Sunday 10th July at the Hilton hotel Reading. Utulivu Women’s Group focuses on promoting health and wellbeing and positively integrating women into the wider community. The conference also availed participants the opportunity to celebrate their achievements as individuals and in general as a community. Participant took the opportunity to discuss issues they face as a community in improving their wellbeing.

The aim of the conference was to discuss and strategise with the members on issues affecting them. These issues include Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), genderbased violence, support service provision among other promotional campaigns. In the area of FGM the group works towards not only ending the practice but providing support to FGM survivors on how to cope with the effects within their communities through counselling and signposting. Utulivu also partakes in the stride

By Raveena Hargun

towards tackling gender-based violence by offering supporting and safeguarding services, awareness raising and training to tackle such acts of violence against women. The group also supports individuals and communities through one-to-one and community focused support with activities aimed at improving people’s mental health and wellbeing. On the other hand, Utulivu provides training on healthy family relationship, career progression, health, and wealth creation, raising awareness on the impact of drugs, alcohol, and knife crime among others.

Some of the feedback received on the day included the need for men to be included in FGM dialogue so as to increase their level of participation and contribution. With such, the level of stigma, stereotype and victimisation will decline and would therefore add the level of confidence and support to survivors. Another feedback derived from the conference was to allow people talk about their culture and roots and embrace them. According to the participants, nurturing culture,

heritage, and tradition will help children understand their roots and Identity.

The conference also implored participants to promote the concept of volunteerism among the youth by visiting the community centre on Oxford Road. Creating a fanbased teen conference was among the deliberation so as to encourage and attract young people for more education on community - based participatory activities.

Utulivu offers several other ways of counselling services through online where professionals address issues of domestic violence abuse within the BAME and the African diaspora community as well as signposting. The conference expressed the need to garner more funds to support refugees who are in dire need, and also to start a food bank in ACRE. The feedback was well received and was seen as a way forward for the centre to understand what the people want and how they will work towards providing their needs. Most of the participants expressed delight in the way the AGM was held.

MAYOR OF READING CELEBRATES IWD - #BreakTheBias -

The Mayor of Reading Rachel Eden joined the Utulivu Women’s Group of Reading to celebrate International Women’s Day. Reflecting on the theme “Break the bias”, she posited that women face daunting challenges in their lives saying these biases just do not go away hence the need to fight them.

Although she finds it very tiring to break these biases as a woman and Mayor, she said that she will not shy away from them. She noted the importance of her title saying, “it is a huge position and a privilege to take up such responsibility”.

Mayor Rachel: “For the campaign #BreakTheBias” to be meaningful, there should be women in leadership that support each other because there is so much to fight for in our communities hence the importance of celebrating the day.” For her, she does not only see it but experiences it every day. She cited the example of being addressed as the ‘Mayoress’, which means the mayor’s wife — an unconscious bias in action.

By Raveena Hargun

The Lord mayor encouraged the women of Reading to be tenacious in their fight against such biases. Despite the challenges she faces as a woman and Mayor, Rachel said that she is determined not to shy away from her title which is a huge position and privilege. She used the occasion to register her appreciation for the support she receives from the women of Reading. “We have a responsibility to support each other and help other women and we should be proud as women to celebrate this day and share stories with each other”, she noted.

The mayor and her deputy expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to serve the people of Reading and assured them of their support. She encouraged more women to come forward and share their stories with each other and assured them of her unflinching support.

Mayor Rachel is a great champion and advocate for health and wellbeing of women of Reading and their families. She is supportive to organisations that deal with sensitive matters such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Dying matters among others, hence her partnership with ACRE.

BOLLYWOOD FIRST EVER BUSKER BROUGHT READING COMMUNITY TOGETHER

The first ever UK Bollywood busker recently hit over a billion views across the UK and internationally including India. The 24-year-old Vish who is a singer and musician living in Oxford, had attracted admiration and praises from his followers through social media platforms and distribution channels.

Vish has performed across the UK in places like Reading, Oxford, London, Birmingham, Bradford, and Manchester among other places. He even performs at wedding ceremonies and other events.

He has sung Bollywood movie hits and other song as well such as classical Bollywood hit Kal Ho Naa Ho which was his most hit views of all times.

He sang many other songs such as Raataan Lambiyan, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga and Tum Hi Ho all of which are classical Bollywood movie hits.

His song called Armaan Malik Sab Tera was performed outside the Reading Oracle with a little girl who lives in Reading. The performance was very entertaining attracting a lot of clapping, dancing, and singing from the audience. Vish said on his social media platform, “I

By Raveena Hargun

turned Reading Town Centre in a dance floor”.

Vish has fans across all walks of life within the Asian community – young people, adults and the elderly, and his fan base has grown exponentially across Berkshire and UK in particular.

Follow Vish on his social media: Tik Tok: Vish.m2 Instagram: Vishmusic Twitter: Vish_m2

HEATWAVE DESTROYED HOMES FIRE & WILDFIRE

The heatwave had destroyed people’s homes with fire and there were a few wildfires, but this heat wave was a red weather warning which was 40 degrees which has been the highest temperature in the UK for years.

The Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue service had worked so hard during the heatwave because a lot of people’s homes were destroyed by fire because of the heatwave and there were a few wildfires as well.

In Reading there were six residents that were evacuated because of a huge fire that was on Red Cottage Drive in Calcot. South Ambulance were called too however the Fire and Rescue Services were there to handle the fire overnight. There were about fifty firefighters were at the scene to stop the blaze and according to Police reported, there was no injuries. The Calcot Infant school helped

By Raveena Hargun

the evacuated people and other member who could not get access to their homes as well.

Another fire that happened in Reading was a Southcote wildfire in the open area on circuit land. The blaze took hold of fields South of Southcote lock and the river Kennet.

Six fire engines were called from Wokingham Road, Caversham Road, Crowthorne, Whitley Wood Theale and Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue also attended to the scene. This lasted two hours because firefighters got there very quickly and tackled it before it had spread even further.

Berkshire Fire Fighters said they had faced their busiest days for this year’s heatwave since records began. Thank you to emergency services who did a great job during this heatwave.

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By Raveena Hargun

What is CPAR? Community Participatory Action Research (CPAR) is an approach to research that gives people a voice in identifying and solving the health problems affecting their communities. The aim of CPAR is to increase knowledge and understanding of a given phenomenon and to integrate the knowledge gained with interventions for policies or social change benefiting the community members. In CPAR research all stakeholders are equal partners, working together to make positive changes within communities and address health inequalities.

How CPAR started In February 2021, Health Education England Southeast (HEE SE), the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), and NHS England set up the Southeast England Community Participatory Action Research Project to build research capacity and capability within certain previously excluded or not fully engaged communities.

The Public Health England’s report, Covid-19: understanding the impact on BAME communities, demonstrates the widening of existing health inequalities and as a result, Health Education England Southeast implemented a programme of work to support community participatory research, in which researchers and community stakeholders engage as equal partners.

The aims of the project were to:

• support skills development of individuals from organisations drawn from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic communities in CPAR to tackle health issues related to COVID-19.

• to investigate the impact of Covid-19 on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities and develop relevant and implementable services that will promote the health and wellbeing of all.

• equip community researchers with the skills to later deliver CPAR to help in addressing wider inequalities.

• share learning from CPAR across networks in the Southeast and beyond.

The project was also seen as an opportunity to develop research capacity and capability, and to fill gaps and strengthen knowledge for certain previously excluded or not fully engaged communities.

In Reading, Berkshire, CPAR was a partnership project focussing on health inequalities. The partners are Reading Borough Council (RBC), The Reading Voluntary Action (RVA), Reading Community Learning Centre (RCLC), University of Reading (UOR), and Alliance for Cohesion and Racial Equality (ACRE).

This team of community researchers carried out their research in 2021- 2022 In the picture seated from the left, Tariq, and Eva. Standing from the left are Hema, Donna, Krishna, and Esther who was the CPAR facilitator.

Key areas of research included:

• Women and health care services By Donna and Hema

• Maternal service and digital inclusion by Eva

• Men and mental health by Tariq

• Impact of covid on the Nepalese community by Krishna

The researchers took part in 3 different showcase events to present their research work, findings, and recommendations.

The first, Community Participatory Action Research (CPAR) showcase event was on Monday the 4th of April 2022 from 9:30 am to 1 pm at the Museum of English Rural Life and was hosted by the University of Reading.

Maternal services and digital inclusion which were presented by Eva Karanja showed an overload of leaflets for mothers which means they get too much information and makes them panic. Mothers are not getting listened to which is very hard because a lot of them go through the same thing and staff at the NHS cannot offer support because of overcrowding and mounting pressure on them. There is a lack of time for mothers, because they should have at least a day to themselves. Classes are not even offered as much to mothers so they cannot go to class and meet new mothers or mothers-to-be.

During covid-19 partners were not allowed in birth labour and the child group was closed leaving some mothers feeling lonely and isolated being away from partners during birth. C- section was for 24 hours only and there were 3 days when someone could not see her child for three days because of her C- section. It is remarked that more needs to be done in this regard. Women and Health care services were presented by Hema Sundararajan and Donna Ma. This section revealed that there is the need for more health service awareness and more support for people who have language and service barriers.

There needs to be staff who can translate for other people such as Arabic, Punjabi, Hindi, and other languages. Booking appointments was hard for people because 61% of them suffer from anxiety and 21% from physical health while 53% had challenges reaching out to healthcare and 26% were discouraged from seeking support. In summary of the research reflections, it is realised through the experience of respondents that there is a need for more medical care.

FOR DADS IN READING -

The birth of a child is a profound and disruptive lifechanging event; charities and support specifically for young new dads were difficult to find. This alone may discourage men who are feeling they need guidance to seek it.

Perhaps societal pressures may allude to men thinking they cannot seek the help they need as the mothers’ mental health support may be viewed as more important. There are some services that prioritize making support equal.

Increasingly reports show that both men and women will experience Postnatal Depression and Perinatal mental health. There are increased pressures of fatherhood, and financial responsibilities, as well as making relationship and lifestyle changes.

Reading holds the highest young pregnancy rate. New mothers need and deserve all the support, we must acknowledge new fathers need the support to maintain their mental well-being too throughout all stages of pregnancy and parenthood.

New fathers may be more concerned for their partner’s mental health, NCT(UK’s leading charity for parents) found that 73% of new fathers were concerned about their partner’s mental health.

THE YOUNG DADS COLLECTIVE:

The Young Dads Collective (YDC) works to improve the lives of young dads and their children by tackling the social exclusion that locks out young dads’ potential. As experts by experience, the YDC’s young dads work with professionals to transform how organizations engage with young dads and overcome the hidden barriers that shut young dads out.

By Chloe Jones

Young dads are among the most socially excluded parenting groups in the UK. They often miss out on the support networks that most parents take for granted and rely on.

YDC brings about real change by sharing young dads’ knowledge and experiences with practitioners, service providers and policymakers. The YDC helps young dads to be vocal and heard, support one another, and improve their life chances and those of their children. There is strong evidence that father involvement is positive for mums, children, and dads.

The Fatherhood Institute: The Fatherhood Institute is the UK’s fatherhood think tank. The Institute:

• collates and publishes international research on fathers, fatherhood, and different approaches to engaging with fathers

• helps shape national and local policies to ensure a father-inclusive approach to family policy

• injects research evidence on fathers and fatherhood into national debates about parenting and parental roles

• lobbies for changes in law, policy, and practice to dismantle barriers to fathers’ care of infants and children

• are the UK’s leading provider of training, consultancy, and publications on father-inclusive practice

The Institute’s vision is for a society that gives all children a strong and positive relationship with their father and any father figures; supports both mothers and fathers as earners and carers; and prepares boys and girls for a healthy, equal upbringing.

READING REFUGEE SUPPORT GROUP AND OTHER CHARITIES

- By Raveena Hargun

The Reading Refugee Support Group has been leading the way in helping refugees rebuild their lives not only in Reading but the whole of Berkshire through services provided by the centre.

The centre which was started by a group of refugees almost three decades ago, has become sanctuary for many refugees and asylum seekers, most of whom have now become positive contributors to different societies. Reading Refugee Support Group is located on the first floor RISC 35-39 On London Street Reading RG1 4PS, operating Monday to Friday 10:00am to 4:00pm.

The group works with a number of other organisations and groups that provide help for refugees. Most of these groups and organisation the Reading Refugee Support Group work with offer advice and other services such as training, jobs, funding among others. Some local organisations that could help are Reading Community Lottery, Reading Community Grants and VCS Emergency Services.

Homework clubs help independent schools with weekly sessions including caseworker one-to-one sessions. There is also a women’s lunch group that helps keep people

safe and provides support such as aiding in achieving personal goals, education, and language development which is attended by about 15 people each week. The job club helps people become employed by focusing on their CVs and providing helpful information. Volunteers also work with individuals and families to develop their English language skills.

You can also volunteer to help the Reading Voluntary Action (RVA) and the community. They do activities such as holding a drop-in centre which can offer help. In addition to this, RVA recently did a Covid event on the 25th of January 2022, which was to provide the vaccine to people and to provide emotional support for those grieving as well as lateral flow and PCR tests.

How can you support the charity? You can donate or volunteer to help the charity. The charity also helps people from Syria and Afghanistan to find homes and assists them in other ways.

There is news and event information on the RVA website and for more information, please visit: https:// rva.org.uk/news/

SIKH CELEBRATE BROTHER’S DAY CALLED RAKHRI

- By Raveena Hargun

What is Rakhri?

Rakhri or Raksha Bandhan is celebrated by the Sikhs and Hindus in August, but the date and day changes each year. Rakhri is where the sisters and cousin sisters tie a plain, pattern or pearled string on their brothers or cousin brothers’ wrist which is traditionally red but could be obtained now in different colours.

By doing this, the tradition implies that they will give you money or some brothers or cousin brothers will take their sisters or cousin sisters out or give them a gift.

The word Rakhri in the Punjabi language dates back to the 18th Century when the Sikh Khalsa’s army introduced the term Rakhri. The army promised the farmers of the land to protect them from the Mughal and Afghan armies, and in exchange for that protection, demanded a small share in their produce. Originally, this was a bond between groups of people to protect each other’s well-being. The practice eventually turned into the bond between brothers and sisters which is now called Rakhri or Raksha Bandhan.

The actual ceremony in tying the brothers Rakhri

The best thing about tying Rakhi around the wrist of the brother is its simplicity and minimalistic appeal. The house is all shiny and bright. Normally the sisters and cousin sisters will go to

the brothers’ house and tie the Rakhri. They all wear colourful clothes and fine jewellery while the sister prepares thali with Rakhi, fresh sweets, candle then ties the Rakhri.

Nowadays some people will go to each brother’s place or will all meet at one person’s house and all of the brothers and sisters will get together. Sisters will take it in turn and tie the Rakhri around the wrist of the brothers (either left or right) and some of them would like to take pictures during the ceremony.

Afterward the brothers and sisters exchange traditional Punjabi sweets like Khajuria; dodha barfi; besan ki barfi; peanut chikki; pinni but nowadays people will give sweets, chocolate - depends on what the brothers likes.

Finally, the brothers then give the sisters gifts like cash or something else and promise to protect them throughout their lives.

OVERCOMING GENDER BASED VIOLENCE

Utulivu Women’s community Thursday conversations continue to unite Mojatu along with other charities, social workers, police, and residents of Reading. These online conversations create safe spaces for people to participate and confide in like minded people about their own experiences.

Like the ‘’Celebrating Oneself and Other’s Wellbeing, Let’s Talk’’ meeting that took place Thursday 9th June, participants discussed their personal experiences affected by Gender Based Violence within Reading.

The founder of Utulivu Cecily Mwaniki outlined to participants a variety of the expected positive outcomes from these conversations such as:

• an increase in the general sensitivity, understanding and knowledge about gender-based violence.

• develop competencies and skills necessary for society to change gender-based violence.

• become aware of the signs and symptoms of genderbased violence.

• facilitate the exchange of ideas in this agenda confidently.

• have the confidence to start gender-based violence conversations.

For both men, women, and anyone in between, it is important to understand the definition of Gender-Based Violence as this may aid people to intervene, withdraw themselves from it or feel confident in reporting signs of it. It refers to harmful acts directed at an individual based on their gender. It is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power and harmful norms. Gender-based violence (GBV) is a serious violation of human rights and a life-threatening health and protection issue.

Gender Based-Violence - UNHCR

It is a phenomenon deeply rooted in gender inequality and continues to be one of the most notable human rights violations within all societies. Gender Based Violence is violence directed at a person for their gender. Both men and women experience this, but most women and girls are victims. (European Institute for Gender Equality)

How is Gender Based Violence Different from Domestic Abuse?

• Domestic Abuse refers to violence carried out by partners or family members. It is the most common type of Gender Based Violence. In most contexts, domestic violence is used to describe intimate partner violence (IPV) which is violence that occurs between two individuals in an intimate relationship - sexual or romantic.

• As defined by the government, Domestic Abuse is ‘’any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence, or abuse between those 16 or over who have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. In most cases, it is experienced by women and perpetrated by men.

By Chloe Jones

Domestic Abuse IncludesPhysical Abuse | Sexual Abuse | Psychological Abuse and or Emotional Abuse | Harassment | Stalking | Online or Digital Abuse | Coercive Control (patterns of intimidation, isolation, control with the use of threat of physical or sexual violence).

Useful Statistics

It is more common than you think. In the European Union since the age of 15, below are the statistics

• 1 in 3 women has experienced physical or sexual violence.

• 1 in 2 women has experienced sexual harassment.

• 1 in 20 women has been raped.

• 1 in 15 women has experienced stalking.

• 95% of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation in the European Union are women.

Source: European Union Agency for fundamental rights, Violence against women.

Eurostat, Trafficking in human beings 2015

In the UK, there were 24,856 offences of coercive control recorded by police in the year ending March 2020, up from 16,679 in the previous year.

Causes of Gender Based Violence

norms)

sphere

Types of Gender Based Violence

NB:

psychological (emotional)

speech

take many forms, from

the internet, to rape

anyone: a current or former

a family member, a colleague from work, schoolmates, friends, an unknown person, or people

act on behalf of cultural, religious, state, or intra-state institutions.

click on this link for the rest of the article: https:// mojatu.com/2022/09/30/overcoming-gender-basedviolence-by-chloe-jones/

THE PURPOSE AND MEANING OF MY LIFE- LETS TALK FOR OUR WELLBEING

By Chloe Jones

Another insightful conversation was hosted on Thursday 28th of July, while in the spirit of celebrating oneself, Utuvuli, Mojatu and members of the community reconnected to explore ‘’The Purpose and Meaning of My Life’’. This topic was one of the many soul-stirring topics which are part of the ‘ ‘Lets Talk For Our Wellbeing’’ discussions held on this day.

Finding your purpose and meaning of life is utterly special to every individual,a quest that differs greatly from every life. A question to be pondered solely, extroverted or both. Along the way to discovery of your purpose may feel idiosyncratic at times and adaptable. To provoke thought, we asked ourselves a series of questions:

Is my Life Is Too Busy?

33% of the group said they slightly agree, 50 % of the group said slightly disagree while 17% said they were not sure.

People followed this by saying although life felt overwhelmingly busy at times, there are ways in which to make it feel more manageable, creating lists, ticking things off and creating simple structure as well as committing yourself to a quiet moment of every day by devoting time to yourself.

Switching your mobile phone off and letting friends and family know that you are having a break from social media can allow space in your mind to feel less busy as the majority of our responsibilities are reminded to us via our phones which can make us feel glued to the screen as opposed to our consciousness. Personally, I find not going on your phone when you first wake up is important, it can shape the rest of your day to feel productive without having to digest all the phone information before checking in with yourself.

Remind yourself of what self-love tasks really mean to you. Usually doing something fueled by self-love will feel hard at the time but the benefits reaped later on, as self-sabotage usually feels good at the time but the consequences pay later. Create your own personalised

list of radical self love tasks that you can do in between busy days.

Do I have time for myself?

50% said they strongly agree and 33% said they slightly agree. It was discussed that ‘’time for yourself’’ is completely objective and that you should consider how you wish to spend it. Time for myself could sometimes mean dedicating time to my career, cooking a nutritious meal or simply being yourself. When do you feel like you’re spending your time most valuably?

Taking this time is how we recover and how we build resilience, to be able to cope with the obstacles that occur in life that once felt enough to derail us but now can feel like a lesson.

Some women opened up about the struggles of finding ‘me time’ in the chaos of motherhood, but conveying the importance to your family of having quiet and alone time in the day for a few moments made a huge difference to their wellbeing.

Do I have a sense of meaning and purpose in my life?

One woman courageously shared that her purpose in life is healing from her trauma and teaching similar lessons on healing and growth to the people around her. For myself, my purpose and meaning in life is to live freely and authentically, to avoid compromising myself for anyone and to take all opportunities that come to me. Someone followed by sharing that their purpose and meaning in life was to be courageous and take the risk, always listen to their instincts. And finally one woman shared that life to her was all about connections with others and inspiring each other’s meanings in life.

To conclude this conversation it is obvious that every matchless moment in someone’s life may inspire their own meaning, or perhaps the shifting of perspective in scenarios will teach you purpose and especially the connections and experiences shared with others may stride to inspire the discovery of your very personal meaning and purpose of life.

WHAT DOES FLOREY CLINIC DO

The Florey clinic provides a free confidential integrated sexual health service in Reading, Wokingham, and West Berkshire. It provides a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social wellbeing. The clinic provides information on the different methods of contraception that are available and how they can be used.

In addition to this, they do a full sexual health screening service including tests for chlamydia, HIV, Gonorrhoea, and syphilis testing which only takes 60 seconds. The clinic will provide accurate information, confidential care, and support for all aspects of your sexual health. All their services are free and there are no prescription charges.

Florey clinic’s sexual health and contraceptive advice are based on 21A Craven Rd, Reading RG1 5LE is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 4:30 pm - website: safesexberkshire. nhs.uk

STI is a sexually transmitted infection that is generally acquired by sexual contact this can cause bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can be transmitted from person to person in the blood or semen, or vaginal and other bodily fluids. You can order a home testing kit sent to you confidentially or go to Florey clinic and it’s completely free.

HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). HIV is treated with antiretroviral medicines, which work by stopping the virus from replicating in the body. This allows the immune system to repair itself and prevent further damage. Chlamydia is a bacterial infection. The bacteria are usually spread through sex or contact with infected genital fluids (semen or vaginal fluid). Symptoms include pain when urinating, unusual

By Raveena Hargun

vaginal discharge, and pain in the tummy or pelvis. Pain during sex or bleeding after sex. Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics.

Gonorrhoea is caused by bacteria and is mostly passed from one person to another by sexual contact including oral, anal, or Virginal intercourse. The symptoms include a thick green or yellow discharge from the vagina or penis when peeing and in women bleeding between periods. Did you know? around 1 in 10 infected men and almost half of infected women do not experience any symptoms.

Some people need help and support, especially young teenagers that are under the age of 18 and above. They will need help and advice because they might need the emergency contraceptive pill. Especially when we have the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Reading. Florey clinic gives you advice on how to keep safe.

What to be aware of when you use drugs for sex:

Mixing drugs and sex can be potentially harmful, also, drugs and alcohol can give you lower inhibition. What to think about if you use the hook-up app or chatroom with people online? This is important because you need to know how to keep safe especially if you are using a chatroom. You need to know how safe it is whether they are taking any pictures – do not trust people that have disappearing messages or screenshot blockers. Sometimes it is best not to meet people that are in the chatroom. People getting paid for sex need to make sure nothing happens to them, and they are being careful.

Florey clinics keep safe section, they will give more information on sexual exploitation and what to do if you think you or someone else may be at risk of child sexual exploitation.

In addition to this, they also help people who have been sexually assaulted and raped and guide victims on how to report the matter to the police. There is a sexual assault referral clinic that offers a safe, discreet, and caring environment as well as provides you with a well-trained Crisis worker through the SARC (Sexual Assault Referral Centre).

Even though you are in SARC they will provide you with a forensic examination by a specialist forensic doctor who treats you with respect and will ask for your consent before examining you. They will also be crisis support throughout your initial visit and will arrange followup appointments and telephone advice as well as introduce you to other necessary services.

This is the website for SARC: www. solacesarc.org.uk - Helpline: 0300 130 3036

You can also contact Reading Trust House Sexual Abuse Centre. This is the website RTHSAC: Trusthousereading.org - Helpline: 0118 958 4033

READING FESTIVAL - By Raveena Hargun

Summer is one of the seasons people look forward to and prepare in earnest on how they are going to spend it. One of the things many people look forward to is festivals. Like many cities and towns across the country, the Reading festivals form an integral part of the summer activities of the people. The Reading festival happens every year on the Bank holiday weekend of August and this year’s festival was held at Richfield Avenue in Caversham from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th August 2022.

Many artists across the world and members of the public from the UK and around the world get together to celebrate this event where people will start coming to set up their campsites and bring their own food and drinks also, sing and dance with their family and friends.

Some of the artists that performed during the festival included Dave, Megan the stallion Polo G, Little Simz, Bring me the Horizon, Manneskin, Halsey and Saturday headliners were Arctic Monkeys, but many artists had dropped out this year. However, many youths go to this event from the ages of 14 to 25 while adults between

the ages of 26 and 40 turn up for this festival, however, a drop in the adult attendance has been observed over the past years.

Some people registered their satisfaction over social media with the performances of Arctic Monkeys and Dave as being their favourites due to the excellent set that they did on the stage while some said that this year’s festival has the best they have been to this year or best set that they have done.

There were reports of spiking which the police investigated and got the perpetrator arrested by the Thames Valley Police. Most of these bad practices happened during Arctic Monkeys performance. Thames Valley Police have reported an increase in the number of illicit drugs usage and possession. Volunteers, Thames Valley Police and the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Services as well as the general public deserve commendation for a very successful festival this year. Soon 2023 tickets will be on sale once members of the public find out which Artist will be coming next year.

COME & WORK WITH US

Come and join the Estates and Facilities Team! We are a vibrant and diverse team, responsible for looking after the beautiful campuses of University of Nottingham and are looking for enthusiastic, motivated and customer focused people to provide an excellent experience to our wide range of customers.

We have a mix of positions available for cleaners, catering assistants, bar staff and many other roles in our halls of residence, university buildings and Café’s, over a range of hours and days that are flexible and could fit around your family and other commitments.

The University of Nottingham has been providing an outstanding student experience for over 140 years and is a leading university of worldwide significance with established campuses in UK, China and Malaysia. Our award-winning sites at University Park and Jubilee Campus are only 15 minutes by bus or tram to Nottingham city centre. https://fumbu.org/0ej

RECOVERY THROUGH POSITIVE SOCIAL NETWORKS

By Chloe Jones

It should be universally acknowledged that recovery is a journey and creating positive social networks can make us feel supported and confident on our way to positive well-being. To recover means to find hope, develop self-esteem and resilience. Recovery is personal and recovery should be whatever recovery means to you.

Discovering your purpose and meaning in life, becoming independent and finally, building healthy relationships are important. Our relationships in life can make a huge impact, to be in a safe and secure one, can improve our health.

What does a healthy relationship look like when we are going through recovery? Communication | Respect | Boundaries | Support |Trust

When entering a new relationship, it is vital to have nurtured foundations and to trust in your independence. The ways in which we are less developed emotionally, perhaps due to trauma, affect the reasons and intentions for having a relationship.

‘’Healing our inner teenager’’ - Our inner teenager may be guarded, more focused on being chosen, seeking approval, not truly knowing what you want but demanding something. But once we mature into an adult who understands and knows ourselves, we can make healthy self-loving choices guided by our core values.

Starting with boundaries is a beneficial foundation to set when building new healthy relationships.

Tuning in with yourself and recognising your personal boundaries, assures that you won’t be giving too much or too little of yourself when you are recovering, finding the balance and being able to find someone who gives back.

This self-awareness and willingness may turn our triggers into teachers. Ask directly for what you want and need rather than waiting for your partner to guess. Maturing into a self-loving being can be taking responsibility for your reality and inviting others to meet you there.

Respect is about admiration and consideration for each other, it must be reciprocated for a conscious relationship. Make daily efforts to appreciate who your partner is and how they are feeling. Treat them as ever-evolving, ever-changing beings and make them feel regarded. Engaging emotionally with your partner means you can check if they do understand you and if you understand them. This falls into good communication too - responsive to each other’s needs. Mutual willingness might make you feel vulnerable at first however if the relationship is conscious and healthy, you will feel a balance rather than the narrative you are being taken advantage of. You are both unique individuals and time apart, community connections and friendships separate from your relationship can strengthen your romance. Knowing what you want is direction! And whatever connections you already have are opportunities to make more.

WHAT DOES LONG COVID DO?

Over the last three years, the term Covid has been a common popular word. Then came the expression ‘long covid’. What exactly is the meaning?

Generally, the data about covid-19 and the associated long covid is still at the young stage of development but below is what is so far known. As explained by the John Hopkins Medicines, coronaviruses are a type of virus and there are many different kinds, and some cause disease. A coronavirus identified in 2019, SARSCoV-2, has caused a pandemic of respiratory illness, called COVID-19.

According to the World Health Organization, Long COVID is the term used to describe chronic fatigue that persists after confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection, and which was not present prior. Sometimes it can last weeks, but often it can last months. Some have thought of long COVID as another form of chronic fatigue. Those who have existing medical conditions and then contract COVID-19 tend to have a much harder road to recovery, or COVID could make their condition worse, depending on such conditions. Long COVID can also include a multitude of ailments afflicting people for a period of time after having contracted COVID, such as breathing difficulties or cognitive dysfunction like confusion, forgetfulness or lack of clarity. A persistent loss of the sense of taste and smell has also been commonly reported.

Get to know more about Covid-19 and Long Covid by connecting with your communities and daily educating yourself. Community United working with Utulivu women, ACRE, and other organizations to champion the Long Covid conversations in the community. Get to know them more.

Contact Eva Karanja for more info on admin@ utulivu.co.uk

Useful References

1. Afari-Oori, M.et al. Incidence of cardiac complications following COVID-19 infection: An umbrella meta-analysis study. Heart & Lung, v 52, p 136–145, 2022. DOI 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2022.01.001.

2. Xie, Y., Xu, E., Bowe, B. et al. Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19. Nat Med 28, 583–590 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591022-01689-3

3. Stammers et al (2022) The assessment of patients undergoing cardiac surgery for Covid-19: Complications occurring during cardiopulmonary bypass. Perfusion, 37(4), pp350-358. https://doi-org.ezproxy.uws.edu. au/10.1177%2F02676591211018983

Art is more than just a pretty picture. It is your own story, emotion, and expression. It represents your inner being and your thoughts. On the other hand, Culture includes the elements that characterise a particular people’s way of life. The arts are – a vast subdivision of culture, composed of many creative endeavours and disciplines. The arts encompass visual arts, literary arts, and performing arts.

You do not have to be a fine artist, or performer or have a lot of money to experience the benefits of art. There are no rules, boundaries, restrictions, or hindrances when finding your perfect artwork. As long as it speaks to you, gets your feelings going and your mind growing, you are all set. That is truly meaningful art. Below are some of the health & well-being benefits of art that you may want to know more about.

Improved Mental Health

There are countless people worldwide right now that are burdened with stress for many reasons. From kids having a mental breakdown for not being able to achieve good grades (yes, that’s very true) to adults juggling multiple responsibilities, health challenges, and social-economic challenges. Let us not forget, work stresses and burnouts are also prevalent among individuals currently. The list may be endless. Such instances can trigger stress, depression, anxiety, panic, ADHD, and similar other mental health issues.

Remember the day you come home running with that first artwork you had made in class, and it instantly got put up on the fridge? It could be a mere cartoon from your pre-nursery days or an amateur sketch. You were happy, right? Art invokes feelings. It’s meditative.

It doesn’t matter if it’s high-end art from a gallery or something homemade by your kids, it is nevertheless a great source of happiness and relieving mental health issues. If you take your time and energy into using your mind to mentally picture a beautiful place inside your head right now… Does that bring contentment to your heart and a smile to your face? I bet it does. What could be more important than that? Aren’t we all striving to lead a happy life? Is it not happiness the goal of our life?

Art is fun and reduces the effects of mental health issues, alleviating stress hormones and bringing a sense of gradual relief to the neural sensors of the

brain. Surrounding yourself with meaningful art, in the long run, can be a great form of self-therapy and relief.

Freedom

Art gives you freedom. It allows you to run away and explore as you look at it, and lets it embrace your mind. There is never a right or wrong kind of art for you. Art is art. When choosing YOUR art, you are in a nonjudgemental and free space where you can pour your heart out to be it witnessing those strokes of colour and have nobody rule your feelings. You have the permission to feel new things with art and strip away any inhibitions in your life. Honestly, it gives you the ultimate freedom you need in life.

Self-expression

Often, we tend to feel alone as well, even when we are surrounded by a room full of people. You may not be best at expressing the happiness or resentment you feel within yourself. Art has the ability to fill up any room at your will. Something chosen by you, that always supports what you think and believe. Just by laying your eyes on it, you can always escape to your own inner nature and embrace the feeling there is a like-minded soul right there with you.

The more you start thinking about art, the better you get at exploring your own feelings and effectively knowing yourself. You may have seen the best artists always sharing a story with their art. They use art as a medium of self-expression. That does not go away when you put their art up in your home but rather adds to it!

Self-awareness

Sure, you may have less meaningful art in your house, different images popular on Instagram and Pinterest, but all art doesn’t have to be totally unique and authentic. Again, each artwork chosen by you helps you express your truest self and your inner potential. Art makes you feel worthwhile, aware, and bountiful of your inner being. You need not pretend to blend with every artwork, but make sure you surround yourself with at least a few pieces that you really connect with!

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FASHION RUNWAY - By Raveena Hargun

Do you know what a fashion runway is?

It is a fashion show event which is run by high fashion designers who showcase their clothing and accessories during Fashion week. All brands and designers want to sell their products and runway shows are a great way for them to get press coverage and increase brand awareness.

Fashion week is normally held in four capital cities: London, Paris, Milan, and New York. Fashion week happens twice a year, the first one in February and the second one in September and kickstarts in New York, London, Milan and finally ends in Paris.

Did you know that the fashion runway started in the 1860s when ‘Charles Fredrick used models instead of mannequins to present his creation in Paris. This explains how fashion parades started to spread to London and New York and how it has changed.

It changed from World War two when the doors were open to the audience for the first time. In the 1960s the fashion runway started when Models started to walk down the stage and that was when they introduced lighting and sound.

Fashion designers include: Coco Chanel, Stella McCartney, Tom ford and Donatella Versace. Men fashion designers include Prada, Fendi, Moschino, and Dolce and Gabbana.

Designs are very detailed and intricate. Versace uses chiffon bubble crepe and polyester and knit. Dolce and Gabbana use lace, tulle, chiffon, net, and billowing silhouettes are some of the fabrics that the designers use. They use these fabrics because they last longer and that is why some fabrics are expensive, hence designer clothes are also expensive.

There are quite a few well-known celebrities that are runway models, for example, Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevingne, Romeo Beckham, and Harry styles.

Runway models must have precise measurements, so they are able to fit the clothes that

designers are going to be showing to their clients. Their measurements are usually no greater than 34 inches around the bust, 23 inches around the waist, and 34 inches around the hips. You need to be 5,4 tall to be a runway model.

There are a number of boundaries for plussize runway models. However, they have more opportunities for catalogue and commercial models.

In addition to this, runway models have to walk a certain way because the designer’s products and accessories should catch people and the audience’s eyes and get them talking about the designer’s work and also tell other people about their work.

This image has very decorative detail with a nice slit which shows off the woman’s legs and beautiful figure. The way her posture as well will catch the audience or people’s attention will get them talking about the designer’s dress.

What is the point of a fashion runway?

This shows how people would look in different styles, with different designs. As already stated, this represents new clothes that are launched in the fashion marketing industry which gets people to buy the clothes and sometimes change their style and go with the trend

Even though Fashion Runway is very popular, fashion designers show their style and identity, and personality. This is why fashion shows are key to most people.

Designers sometimes can get celebrities or influencers to be brand ambassadors for the clothes. They give them discount codes to promote the show and clothes to their followers to keep the public and help them to get high profit.

For example, Kendall Jenners does Fashion runway for big designers and promotes them on her Instagram. This gets people talking because she shows the clothes in a very specific way that people identify with. She is very popular in fashion because Kendall loves fashion, which shows her identity and personality. In men’s fashion, they love to look good in their jackets and shoes. An example is young, Romeo Beckham. He is showing the younger generation a good representation.

WHAT IS A KARA IN THE SIKH COMMUNITY

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By Raveena Hargun

What is Kara? Kara is a bracelet that is worn by the Sikh communities. It is a thin bracelet, you can get thicker ones as well, but the majority of them are thin and both men and women can wear either on one hand or sometimes both hands. This is one of the five Ks which was introduced by the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

Sikh community wear Kara with a belief to get connected with guru ji. It is believed that Punjabi Kara protects from danger but symbolises concealment and courtesy. Symbolically it is also associated with the concept of supreme power. It reminds people of living and working under the super divine power.

This bracelet depicts the selfless nature of Sikh people. Moreover, it also depicts the permanent bonding of Sikhs with their community. While wearing a Kara, Sikhs promise to help people in a time of need and to support them

Kara is mostly made of iron, but sometimes of steel. You can get the Kara in silver and gold, but majority of the people wear silver because that is what the colour of the Kara is. You can get engraving in on these as well for example your name in Punjabi. Men tend to wear a Punjabi Gold Kara which can be designed just for you to wear on the wedding day or special occasion so it can complement the outfits.

What does wearing Kara mean? Kara originated as protective ring to guard sword arm of the Khalsa warriors during the battle. However, in the earlier time it was used as a knuckle duster for hand-to-hand combat.

Overall, the Kara means to protect Sikhs from danger and to have power also to guide them to be strong and being connected with Guru Ji and to happy life.

SIKHS HELPING THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITY

By Raveena Hargun

Sikh Swat (Sikh welfare awareness and team) are based in Reading and other parts of the UK they are a charity that helps support people and the homeless by serving them langer which is a service where the Sikh community help feed people who need it the most and help which is free. They help people across the world too.

The Sri Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara (Temple) in reading on Cumberland Road will help you get free food as well. All of the food in the gurdwara is always vegetarian due to religious reasons and guests must respect the rules.

Although Sikhs are not required

to be vegetarian, vegetarian meals must be served in the gurdwara (temple), this ensures anybody with dietary restrictions of their faith can eat langar and in the langar hall.

The Reading Swat team helps people who need it the most and they do other events and projects that can also change people’s lives in many different ways.

The Swat serves food to the homeless every Wednesday at 7pm and Sunday at 6pm anyone is welcome to help volunteer. They will also help people source food at other times.

However, the swat team now has a healthcare team as well which

are supported by Tesco and other community services. In Reading they are talking to people that have mental health issues. The Sikh community in Reading have set up a mobile van that has toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, and dentist surgeons that help the homeless. During covid, the swat team helped by providing hand sanitizer and getting the covid vaccine to keep people safe in these difficult times.

The Sikh community, amongst others, do a great job to help and support people who need it in the Reading area and other parts of the country too.

HOW DO SIKHS CELEBRATE THEIR WEDDING?

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By Raveena Hargun

A Sikh wedding ceremony begins with Roka or Thaka (pre-engagement). Once the family’s bride and groom agree and are happy, the arrangements for the wedding can start. Their families get close. The groom’s family and his close family members will go and visit the bride’s family. This represents that the couple is engaged and will accept no further marriage proposals.

Within 4 weeks, the engagement starts with the exchange of gifts which are kurmari (gift baskets, watches) or Kara and chunni (women Scarf). The groom wears surma and the bride will wear the suit that her mother-in-law gives her which shows that the bride is welcomed into the family. If you do this in the gurdwara ( temple) you sit for two hours doing payers.

Kurmai is on the boy and is done by the girl’s family. The Chunni focuses on the girl and is done by the boy’s family. The two ceremonies signal that they have been given the blessing to be married. This can be either done in the temple or in a hall, but most people do it in the gurdwara (temple), though the event can be done separately.

Maiyan is a traditional ceremony taking place a few days prior to your wedding. This ceremony consists of friends and family rubbing a paste on the bride and groom. The traditional meaning of Maiyan is to cleanse the skin and create a glow.

Traditionally, Maiyan is conducted three times starting two days or a week before the wedding. The bride and groom will do this separately. In the first Maiyan in the morning, you do Haldi (Tumeric) this is called a venta ceremony. It is aimed at purifying the bride and groom. Their family and friends will do the venta on all over the body such as arms, legs feet and face which takes place in their homes. Both the bride and groom cannot leave their house or changed their clothes during this period but nowadays, you can have a shower straight after. This is done for the security and safety of the bride and groom to be.

Second Maiyan begins with a rangoli or maiyan, which is made in the garden or veranda of the wedding

home. It is made with coloured powder, flour, and rice. The design could be as intricate or adventurous as one would like and only the man’s and girl’s sisters and cousin sisters do this.

What is a Jago (Pre-wedding Party)?

Jago often means ‘staying awake’. the Jago ritual involves the relatives of the groom and bride, in their respective abodes, staying up all night. The idea is to celebrate the wedding and make merry by dancing and partying. The aunt of the bride and groom takes an earthen pot (Jago) filled with candles (lights) and places it on her head and dances. The pot is further passed on to other family members and friends as well. There is also chajja which is smashed with one or two sticks.

Choora (bangles) ceremony is where the bride’s maternal uncles/mama gift the bride with a set of red and white bangles or choora which is dipped in milk before the bride’s mama (uncle) put them on her. After this, some of the bride’s family will put kalires (golden ornaments) that are tied onto one of the bangles.

Before the wedding starts the groom’s turban is tied for him by his father and the groom will be given his kirpan (sword) which is carried throughout the wedding ceremony. The sister of the groom will tie the Sehra which is made of golden ribbon, flowers, or a string of pearls around the groom’s turban which is covering his face. The bhabi/sister-in-law will put Surma Khol (eyeliner) onto the side of his forehead and the groom’s sister will tie a piece of jewellery onto his turban. Then everyone will leave the house to join the dance around the groom’s car where they will then go to the gurdwara. The baraata (groom’s wedding procession) will be welcomed at the gate of the gurdwara. After the welcoming, they will go into the langar hall (dining area) and have tea, samosa and pokara.

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I STAND WITH THE FARMERS - By Raveena Hargun

In 2020, a farmer’s protest was organised in India lasting for over a year. The protest started from the state of Haryana and Punjab which is the area where most of the food is grown.

previously set out by the government to control the prices. Unlimited storage means that anyone with enough money can stock up. This act creates problems for farmers because it paves the way for corporate organisations to dictate the market and prices.

Altogether the three acts can invite skilled people into a fragmented or deregulated market, it can lead to rapid prices for farmers. Farmers need government protection in order to make money and trade their produce to other people or countries.

The protest spread around India very quickly stretching over a year from the 9th of August 2020 when it started to December 11th, 2021. The protesters were camping in the open and they could be seen everywhere blocking some of the roads as well. Farmers were protesting in Punjabi because the government was only buying a couple of their produce at low prices. According to reports, 52% of Indian farming households are indebted.

There were three acts which the government introduced which prompted the protest and they are:

• The first act was to unregulated trade which means spaces outside of the markets and the law will override the wholesale of market rules and such trading opened up to a lot of trade taking place outside of it already.

However, there are two parallel markets with different rules - one is an oversight and another one creates a big room for big corporate players that come into the unregulated market. This means they can move out and go to deregulated spaces hence putting farmers at risk of losing.

• The second act creates a contract for farming deals and business agreements would be strictly between the farmers and the traders. This will give farmers more options to fight a bad deal. In addition to this, the agreement shows that small farmers are either dependent on the big corporations or they can be chucked out of the industry altogether.

• The final act affects the different parts of the chains which eliminate the storage limits that had been

The wholesale market had seen a few crops arrive at the market. In the state of Madhya Pradesh more than 40 markets have lost their businesses. This shows that people are losing money and food as well. Many people died during this protest and the figures show the number was over 670 deaths. Some of them became ill during the protest as a result of dire situations while others committed suicide.

This protest attracted international attention with prominent people like Rhianna, the famous singer and Greta Thunberg, Climate Change activist retweeted an article and said ‘’why aren’t we talking about this #Farmersprotest’’.

Rhianna then had support from the Indian community and celebrities thanking her for her support. Her tweet angered the Indian government, and she was asked to take it down for reasons of maintaining public safety. Greta Thunberg retweeted a different article to Rhianna saying, “We stand in solidarity with farmers’ protest in India”. Such reactions showed people outside India had a lot of interest in what was happening in the country.

In the UK, the Indian community held protests in Birmingham, London and Leicester calling with the hashtag “I stand with farmers’ protest”. People in these communities were feeling upset because their families took to the street demanding for change toward farmers’ plight and much had not been done.

One of the protesters said, “my family has a full history of farming throughout different generations, and I am extremely upset because my 80-year-old grandad is on those on streets protesting right now in India.” Many protesters in the UK expressed their dissatisfaction in the Indian government saying “here, we have houses and electricity and in India, people are on the street without housing or food.”

Others opined that many of the spices that are sold in the Indian shops and supermarkets in across the UK are produced by our farmers in India. There were reports that some people went to India to help give the protesters with food and other forms of assistance.

MENTAL HEALTH: OVERTHINKING -

What is Overthinking?

Overthinking is where you are thinking too much, however overthinking can be an early indicator of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other Mental Health conditions. Over Thinking can also be where you are overly worried about things that are entirely out of control. Therapy can be a great way to understand why you are overthinking so frequently.

Here some overthinking symptoms you may experience constant worry and may feel sick:

 Difficulty in relaxing

 Negative thoughts and underlying negative thoughts

 Difficulty in decision making

 Feeling anxious

These are the most common overthinking but can get help. Did you know that meditation and mindfulness moments decoding any thoughts or emotions, you

By Raveena Hargun

may have are intrusive. Mindfulness can train your brain; this helps to calm you down and makes it easier to sleep.

Spend time reading a book, journal or listening to music instead of being on social media. Decision Making can be another reason why people overthink because they may worry over big or small decisions. Think about your time and use it wisely, get a family member or a friend to help you with the decision, maybe use the time as a guide, for example, get this done by 8am to 9am then move on to the next thing.

CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapist) will be great help if you need someone to help especially when you are overthinking and cannot get help, in addition to this you can go into depression and anxiety with this. Here are some links if you need help: http://www.berkshirepsychologyservice.com/ https://thinkcbt.com/location/cbt-in-Reading

BASICS OF MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID

There are 5 basic steps for an action plan in terms of any mental health first aid. It is important to remember you are listening to understand rather than to be understood.

person, assess

assist with any crisis

to get

help

can remember this information using the ALGEE acronym. The aims of any first aid are to preserve life, prevent deterioration of any injury, promote healing and recovery, and provide comfort to the ill and injured. Youth Mental Health First

Aid is the help given to a young person experiencing a mental health issue before professional help is obtained.

The aims of MHFA (Mental Health First Aid) are to:

life where a young person may be a danger to themselves or others

help to prevent the emotional or mental health issue from developing into a more serious state

the recovery of good mental health

comfort to a young person experiencing a mental health issue

awareness of mental health issues in the community

By Chloe Jones

Reduce stigma and discrimination

It will not teach you to be a therapist however, it does teach people to:

recognise symptoms of mental health issues

initial help

enable a young person to access appropriate professional help

Through training to become a mental health first aider, you are able to respond, using suitable language and a calm, collected attitude, and making it a comfortable and safe environment for someone to confide in. Hopefully inspiring plenty more people to open up and trust that telling someone will make a positive difference.

YOUNG PEOPLE AND MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS

By young Ryan Baraka Mariga Okemwa

Hello, My name is Ryan, and I would like to talk about my experience with mental health. Mental health matters at every age and often the impact it has on young people is often underestimated. It is important to ensure that it is dealt with appropriately from as early as possible to ensure children and young adults get the right support required to enable them to build important life skills and thrive in their adulthood. Drawing on my own experiences and those of close peers, I would like to address this by talking about a few issues that have affected me or my peers directly.

Young people face some of the biggest challenges, more so in the last couple of years as we are transitioning into adulthood. Through this journey, it is often young people with mental health problems that face the biggest obstacles.

However, before we dig deeper into this, let us start by clarifying what is classed as “mental health”. According to MentalHealth.Org, “Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.”

There are many factors that contribute to our mental health. However, I would like to address these in a bit more detail.

Cultural Stigma – The ethnicity of a person is their race, whereas the culture is the norms and values in which they identify, and these can sometimes affect mental health as they create an immense feeling of wanting to belong. Both of my parents are from Kenya and have the culture and traditions that they are trying to raise us with. With my parents’ family, e.g., my uncles, and aunties, I find that it is difficult for my parents and to them discuss matters concerning mental health or issues they are experiencing and there is this perception that you can’t really talk about it. You are just supposed to get on with the issue and basically suffer in silence. There is an unspoken rule of not burdening others with your issues and whatever issue you are facing is a “me issue.”

Religion Stigma - The role of religion and simply

“praying the issue away” is very common in African households. Whenever you try and talk about something, you are simply bombarded with bible scriptures and told to pray over the situation and that is it. It is never to be mentioned again. Although faith is essential and praying over situations is vital, it is also important for us to learn to listen and be able to talk about various issues that are affecting us.

Another aspect of religion and mental health is how we can fit in as say Christians with our religious beliefs with people who are not religious and oppose our beliefs. Sometimes, friends can find you weird when you raise your beliefs to them, and you end up feeling a bit like an outcast. Sometimes, we feel we need to water down our beliefs to fit in.

Mental health is seen as a weakness and associated with negativity. Men for example are supposed to be these strong pillars and heads of their households, therefore, discussing anything about a struggle or an issue they are facing is unheard of. They simply suffer in silence for fear of appearing weak and feeling vulnerable in front of others.

I have experienced this when I have tried to speak to an uncle about a challenge I was facing and the first thing he said to me was, “you have to be a man now. You are no longer a child.” What does that even mean? It immediately made me feel like I can’t talk about things and a man should just silence his feelings and not share his inner thoughts.

School-related stigma – I have a friend whom you could clearly see was having some issue in school and would often be rude and aggressive to a teacher and just seemed down and angry most of the time. One day, a teacher was probing my friend and they simply got up and walked out of the class and some of the other classmates started being rude and making odd comments.

When I approached my friend later, he just broke down in tears and declined to speak to me. I just advised him of the services and support available to him within the school to help him deal with any issue he is facing.

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THINK ABOUT YOURSELF -

By Raveena Hargun

(journaling), social (Family and friends), spiritual (meditation), and personal (Goals).

Take note of these self-care activities, you could use them for ideas in the future.

Self-care is about looking after yourself, doing things you love, and thinking about your mental health.

This is a practice to help individuals, families, and communities to promote good health, preventing disease and maintaining good health for individuals with or without disabilities.

Here are a few types of activities you can do:

Physical (Exercising), emotional

Think about what strategies work for you. For example, ask for help when you need it and accept it when you are offered assistance. People are here to help when you need them to.

You can do self-care whenever you want but self-care never ever goes. As for me, I like to be organised when going out and time management is key for me.

This is very important for mental health; you have to think about yourself and sometimes put

yourself first. In addition to this, it is good to keep a good balance. Doing everything from physical, social, spiritual, and personal at once can be overwhelming.

Family and friends can help and support you and doing things you love may help especially when you are unwell. People should try to balance what they do every day. Doing something else each day or week can help. Take at least a few hours off your phone because it is important to take breaks.

It is beneficial for people to have fun activities in their lives and to be productive. Some activities that may help are Swimming, paintballing, escape room, or even going to a cafe with your friends and talking will help as well.

HARMFUL EFFECTS OF TOBACCO -

Tobacco has proved to be harmful to many lives. Many people start using tobacco products in their early teen years getting them addicted at an early age. However, many people smoke because it helps them calm down their anxiety and stress levels.

Smoking kills a lot of people and is killing our environment and planet

Tobacco has been around for centuries and has led to the death of a lot of people. “Cigarettes kill about 6 million people every year, a number that will grow before it shrinks. Smoking in the twentieth century alone killed about 100 million people”, WHO.

Is it not very scary to know this fact and how many people lost their lives? Tobacco can cause damage to your lungs leading to lung cancer.

Here are the few other effects that Tobacco has on your breathing problems and chronic and respiratory problems. Hearing loss.

Heart disease | Stroke | Blood circulation problems | Diabetes | Infections | Vision loss

This is what you can do to change your life around:

• Ask for help or try nicotine replacement therapy or go to your doctors and get them to help you.

• Make a plan to quit - find the help and the support and stick to it. This is what happens when you start

By Raveena Hargun

smoking, the nicotine entering your bloodstream, increases your blood pressure.

• You can do this by using nicotine patches or using vapes that has less nicotine.

• There is support and rehab programmes, medication, multiple doctors’ visits, and health checks.

During the lockdown, a lot of people in Reading had stopped smoking. NHS digital data shows 405 people in Reading set a date to quit using the NHS Stop Smoking Service between April last year and March. This is really encouraging because it shows that we are together in this to help everyone as a community and to make the Reading better for residents and the environment.

FATPHOBIA

By Chloe Jones

Fat phobia is a social stigma of obesity broadly defined as bias and discriminatory behaviours targeting people overweight and obese. Fat phobia is an appealing term as it is self-explanatory and easily defined as a fear of fat people. Fitting the template of other phobia-suffixed oppressive attitudes: homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia.

toxic terms would equate to people of over average weight and sizes, feeling uncomfortable and ashamed. Girls also reported their mums commenting on portion sizes and claiming certain clothes don’t look good on bigger bodies. Projecting their own anti-fat ideologies onto the younger generation as this was also instilled in them throughout their lifetime through media, the mainstream porn industry, and the beauty industry.

This generation of mothers come from a time when the models were still non-curvy, skinny, and tall, however, the beauty standards are forever interchangeable, and we are growing to be more representative than ever.

The beauty industry relies on people’s insecurities and would not work without capitalism, it is worth billions and would be non-profitable if people loved and accepted themselves the way they came out of the womb.

However, it is vital to address that discriminatory/ oppressive behaviours and attitudes are not a mental illness. Phobias are mental illnesses and conflating them with oppressive attitudes and behaviours invites greater misunderstanding of phobias and mental illness.

Describing bigotry as phobia negatively perpetuates mental illness and the stigma. Using terms like antifatness may help denote that it is not really a fear but more a hatred for fat people.

When we look at ourselves with disgust and shame for being over the average weight, how do we separate what is innate insecurity or general societal fat phobia/ antifatness conditioning we internalise? We subconsciously judge ourselves and others for being fat.

Still, the word carries so much weight and can feel uncomfortable to say when it has such negative connotations, the word has been demonised, we should be using it freely and remember its purpose as nothing but a descriptive word, using it in this way may help combat our own prejudices.

Comments from young girls saying they started to become body conscious from as young as 4, harrowingly often due to comments from their mothers as well as comparing their own body type to others in the school.

Overweight teenagers hearing slimmer friends describe their own bodies hatefully with words like ‘huge’ ‘fat’ ‘obese’ and saying they needed to diet, these

Not only were there reports of mothers controlling portion sizes but also fluctuating between different unsustainable diets. The diet culture preys on the insecurity. Working only in a capitalistic society, encourages weight loss, compromising people’s money, time, and energy to fit into a rigid, unattainable model of beauty.

Diet culture promotes thinness, with health, happiness, and moral virtue. Lastly, it is a large advocate for whatever body type is fashionable and conventionally attractive at the time, whilst demonising anybody outside of that.

The medical bias encompasses the endorsement of negative stereotypes of patients with obesity. The bias can lead to patients receiving poor treatment, inaccurate diagnoses, and delayed diagnoses.

The shame felt when experiencing this bias leads to an increase in stress and depression which is proven to affect someone’s weight. Depression can cause heart disease.

Whilst we understand white privilege, pretty privilege, and class privilege, we must address slim privilege. A slim person is endowed with privilege, will be treated differently in job interviews, and receive better healthcare as they are not often deemed as lazy and weak-willed.

The argument is that the fat person could be eating healthier and doing more exercise but find it harder to lose weight, factors such as lower thyroid glands and slower metabolism will affect someone’s ability to lose weight. They won’t be offered the same opportunities for this.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

Women and Girls experience disproportionate amount of violence from their male counterparts and from other sectors of society. These forms of violence include domestic violence and abuse, rape, forced marriage, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), sexual exploitation through the sex industry and other forms of sexual harassments at the workplace and in the public domain.

According to Thames Valley Police, the latest figures revealed that between 2019 and 2020, there had been 26,651 reported domestic abuse related cases within Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire. This is an alarming revelation and requires urgent action hence the need

understand why and how we should care about the effects of

such on women. Domestic violence

lead to several mental health

such as trauma, depression,

illness, suicide

eating disorder, drinking

among others.

protect

By Raveena Hargun

each other accountable

the data and demand more of it.

Support and helpline to anyone who is suffering from domestic violence and abuse:

The domestic abuse helpline is open 24 hours a day - 0808 2000 247 www.womensaid.org.uk