Kindness Map launches as an app

When Groundswell Project first launched in the UK in 2019, one of the things that made us unique was our Kindness Mapper - a tech tool to help people find out what organisations and events are active in their area.

This month, after months of focused development with the amazing CAUSE - led by Cambridge graduate Gabriel Brown, we have relaunched the Kindness Map on a new web platform and have also made it available as an app via the App Store and Google Play Store.

As well as finding out what's happening in your local area, there's a brand new feature that allows you to donate to organisations you support.

Lots of feedback we've received over the years has been that people would find our mapper easier to use in app form, so we are really excited to finally make that a reality. Find out more about the map here. Download for iPhone here and on Google Play here.

We support Love Not War 2024

Here at Groundswell, we were proud to join with individuals and groups around the world to mark the International Day of Peace on Saturday 21 September.

As you can see from this video, our founder Hadiya Masieh was joined by a series of faith leaders from around the country to 'wage for peace' last weekend.

The video reflected on the need for all of us to come together as one to say 'enough' to the war, hatred and conflict that is threatening to rip apart some parts of our world. We can live in peace - if we focus on the good and what us brings us together rather than what divides us and drives us apart.

And even though the day has now passed, please still watch and share the video through your own social channels.

Chit, chat and chai - the community connection

Groundswell Project Manchester is helping communities come together through Chit, Chat, Chai sessions.

The sessions allow attendees to enjoy the company of others, good food and drink, while learning through fun activities such as gardening. Recent activities have included arts and crafts (a particular passion of our community connector Angela), and herb planting.

Attendees also learn helpful hints and tips on how to deal with the cost of living crisis and improve their health and wellbeing.

Leela encourages Luton to 'Talk about it'

Our Community Connector in Luton, Leela, is encouraging people in Luton to come together at her series of 'Talk about it' sessions.

She said: "Join us in our efforts to foster communication and build bridges, so hate has no place to thrive. This will be a relaxed, open panel discussion, where we want to hear an array of different opinions and ideas, all feeling seen, heard and better understood."

The topic for October's session is: ‘How do we overcome hate as a community?’ 

The event will be on Thursday 10 October from 6-8pm at St Francis Church, Luton. Please book your place here.

Social prescribing events head to next level

Groundswell Project’s social prescribing team is proud to launch its new Neighbourhood Scheme in Hendon.

Led by our link worker Inass, it’s taking a more hands on, holistic, wholesome approach to people’s health.

Every Thursday, the local community can benefit from a food market, counselling, yoga, wellbeing coaching, hypnotherapy, soundbath therapy and Bollywood fitness at the Multicultural Centre in Algernon Road, Hendon.

Get in touch with us to find out more or to see how we can help roll out social prescribing in your area.

Groundswell helps club celebrate 25th anniversary

Our Community Connector in Glasgow, Adeel, was delighted to be part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Active Life Club in Glasgow.

This amazing charity particularly works in the Govanhill area, using sport as a tool for engaging with and improving the health and wellbeing of young people in the area.

Check out their website here for how to get involved and donate towards the fantastic and vital work they do.

Hadiya heading to PopTech conference

Our founder, Hadiya Masieh, will be heading to Washington DC in early October to spread the Groundswell message at the next PopTech conference.

Each year, PopTech invites a small number of value-aligned corporations, foundations, and agencies to support their conference, uniting a diverse expertise pool to share knowledge, inspire new ways of thinking, and generate new insights.

This year, Hadiya will be there as part of Groundswell's work with the Human Rights Foundation, speaking about our mapper developments and the work we've been doing with Bitcoin to promote financial freedom for disadvantaged communities.

Find out more here, and if you'll be attending, see you there!

Find out more about our training opportunities

Don't forget that we are continuing to build our training programme - all aimed at building stronger communities through our unique approach to countering hate and violent extremism.

At the moment, those training sessions cover topics like helping parents identify the signs of radicalism, tackling incel culture, dealing with the rise in misogynistic influencers like Andrew Tate and exploring the links between extremism and domestic violence.

Head to our training page to find out more and get in touch.