A message from Groundswell Project Team
Dear friends
Globally and nationally, the last month and a half has been difficult for many of our communities, although we join with many in praying that the fragile peace in the Middle East can be lasting. Our thoughts in recent weeks have also been with the families of those who died and were injured in the Yom Kippur attacks on a synagogue in Greater Manchester.
In this month's edition of our newsletter, we are excited to update you about work going on across the areas where our Community Connectors work, including Luton's first ever Peace Out festival.
Our webinar series has also begun again - and we hope many of you can join us on this month's session. Until the next time, we hope you are keeping well and look forward to more opportunities to collaborate in the coming weeks.
With our love, Hadiya and the Groundswell Team
Communities in Luton 'peace out'
Luton's first ever Peace Out festival was organised earlier this month by our Community Connector Leela.
The event was dubbed as a mix between a self-care day and a community festival, with sports, film, wellbeing activities and music setting the tone for the day on Sunday 12 October.
Highlights included a sound bath healing session and a workshop on successfully navigating conflict.
We want to say a big thank you to all of our partners who collaborated on making the day such a success.
Head to our Instagram channel to see more pictures and read more about the day.
Manosphere discussion kicks off webinar series
We have restarted our regular webinar series, and kicked off with a great discussion with our Head of Training and incel expert Maeve Park, on 'Exposing the Manosphere'.
She talked in detail about her new book released this year, 'Blackpilled: Masculinity, Media and Incels', and the various subcultures connected to the intel movement. Watch it in full here or by clicking on the image.
Next, we welcome expert speaker William Davies to talk about how social media algorithms are driving societal polarisation in his session entitled Retweeting Rage. Join us at 12.30pm on Thursday 30 October. Book your place here.
Day of Peace marked at community garden
Last month saw the International Day of Peace marked around the world - and here at Groundswell Project, we marked it with a very special gathering at a community garden in East Finchley, London.
Our founder Hadiya Masieh led proceedings alongside a multi-faith gathering which heard brief reflections from Jewish and Muslim representatives, as well as a representative of the Faiths Forum for London.
The centrepiece of the day was the planting of a commemorative tree, but attendees also enjoyed refreshments, music and performances including from a young member of Barnet's refugee community.
Thank you to everyone who attended and supported this very special day.
Continuing to spread the word on financial freedom
Last year, we started to provide training and guidance to communities around the world on how Bitcoin can help them to achieve financial freedom, particularly in areas where there are challenges with interacting with traditional financial institutions.
We have recently partnered with EverGive, who are championing Bitcoin uptake in the charity sector, to deliver a series of training sessions for other charity and community groups who are looking to make the most of the flexibility of the currency.
Our founder Hadiya will also be travelling to São Paulo, Brazil, at the start of November to talk about our work to transform lives through financial freedom at the international Satsconf conference.
Community award for our Adeel in Glasgow
Congratulations to our Community Connector in Glasgow, Adeel, who recently took home a Scottish Muslim Award in the Wellbeing category.
The awards at the end of September recognise those of the Muslim faith doing great work in communities in Scotland.
Adeel has worked hard over the last year to bring communities together, particularly through sport. Adeel has been integral in helping to grow the sport of Kabaddi in Scotland, which has proved to be a really successful way of getting people from different, and often deprived, communities to come together with the universal language of sport.
Promoting unity at Longsight Festival
As we said goodbye to summer and welcomed autumn, our Community Connector in Manchester, Angela, worked with many community groups and partners to deliver the Longsight Festival.
The event in a popular park in the Manchester area celebrated the diverse communities who call the area home, and included talks, performances, music and refreshments, as well as activities for all the family.
Thanks to Angela for her hard work on this - look out on our social channels for other ways to get involved in our work in Manchester over the coming months.
Supporting the launch of Muslim Safety Net
Last week saw the official launch of the Muslim Safety Net - a new national helpline for anyone to be able to report anti-Muslim hate.
Our founder Hadiya joined with the Chief Executive of the Muslim Women's Network, Baroness Shaista Gohir, for the launch event at the House of Lords on 15 October.
The new helpline is also being supported by JCDecaux's Community Channel, providing free advertising space until mid-November on billboards across the country.
To find out more, and to discover all the ways in which you can report, head to the website here.
Don't forget our mapper app
Don't forget that our Kindness Mapper is now available on a new web platform and we 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.
