BACKGROUND

It all started in 2016…

RISE Projects was founded in 2016 after a group of concerned young Somali people in Haringey got together to find solutions to some of the issues plighting the community. Having looked around, we felt there were no responsive organisations working to support young Somali people in Haringey and started organising activities and events for disenfranchised and alienated youth to learn new skills, take part in organised activities and become empowered through participation, community activism and engagement.

Our organisation was founded to improve young people’s life chances, amid existing challenges. Haringey is a borough with stark social divide and high social inequalities, and the vast majority of our service users live in the east of the borough, in some of the most deprived wards in the whole of the UK. Many of the young people we engage and support have had adverse childhood experiences, have suffered some trauma and experience a ladder of disadvantage being Muslim, Black and refugees or children of immigrants. All these dimensions of difference has created a community which faces challenging obstacles to improving their life outcomes, who face neglect, experience a lack of support from service users and who are not engaged in decisions that impact on their lives, despite living and working in the borough.

Over the past three years since its founding, RISE Projects has worked to improve the lived experiences of the Somali community in Haringey and beyond. Creating much needed service provisions for the community and working to bridge the gaps, where possible. We continue to work with young people, families and our partners and service providers to ensure that the Somali community has a voice, is represented and empowered.