Somali Community Parents Association(SOCOPA) was established in 2005 and re-registered as a charity in February 2009. SOCOPA is charity organisation based in Leicester. It is established to provide community based services and give support the Black Minority Ethnic (BME) in the Uk. It engages children, young people and their parents and provides support and facilities such as maths, English, Science and Somali language. It also provides to the children and young people sports and leisure activities including Football, Table Tennis.
We provide counselling, addiction services e.g. khat, alcohol and gambling, victim support, socially isolated women support, youth leadership development and crime prevention, youth sports and recreation programmes, services for elderly people and general community development. We are also supporting fathers to be actively involved in their children�s education and development. We provide advice and assistance to families to improve their living standards and cope with the difficulties that come from being unemployed and on a low income. We provide support and assistance to parents and young people who are isolated or have difficulty in accessing services. We encourage family cohesion through workshops and disseminating information.
We encourage parents to be actively involved in their children�s education. We initiate and give the community the opportunity to develop youth services and positive attitudes that promote integration. We have provided advice, signposting and advocacy for 150 people. We have engaged over 50 unemployed people in St.Mathews and St.Marks and given them support with driving theory, ESOL and given them free driving lessons. We gave ICT training for 12 women and we also provide youth activities on weekend and have provided after school study support. Through our dedication and willingness to assist the marginalised ethnic minorities in the UK, particularly Leicester.
The Somali Community parents Association (SOCOPA) aims to provide its clients various activities such as community engagements, advice and information, training and skills for unemployed people within the neighbourhood.SOCOPA has successfully delivery the previous NLDC project and organised forklift driving training and job search facilities for 12 unemployed people and have managed to assist 7 people to gain paid employments.
SOCOPA facilitates range of services and opportunities to both youth and adults who are unemployed. In addition, we also arrange leisure opportunities for children and young people who have missed out on childhood experience. SOCOPA has successfully delivered projects such as study support for children and young people funded through Voluntary Action Leicester (VAL). In addition, SOCOPA has also organised events and workshops relating smoke free homes and parenting skills seminars. Workshops relating smoke free homes and parenting skills seminars. We engage and train unemployed and provide them confidence building skills such ESOL and ICT Classes incorporation with Leicester College.
