Helen Clare - Somali Woman's Centre

"I heard about Junction 49 through the Freshers Fair at Birmingham University.

I had already started to get involved with helping a Somali Women's centre in Birmingham and thought that Junction 49 might be able to help me with the things I wanted to do there.

I wanted to get help for the woman who was running the centre all by herself. She was working really hard and it was costing her money and personal time and energy.

I looked at the website and got in touch. I found the Junction 49 website and staff really helpful and practical.

My ideas for how to help the Somali centre were quite set but still broad and Junction 49 helped me to narrow down my ideas. I was guided on what would be feasible and we decided that running a homework club at the Somali centre was the best idea as this was something tangible and sustainable.

I also wanted to give the Somali centre a lick of paint as it was looking shabby so I organised a fundraising Family Fun Day for the paint and I got Deluxe to donate some as well. It was fantastic! And a real success, there were such a diverse mix of people helping out, and the feedback that I've had has been brilliant.

Getting help through Junction 49 was really easy, all the information I needed was accessible. As it is aimed at young people I was able to understand more than when I looked into other organisations. I wrote down my ideas and Junction 49 responded really quickly with the help I needed.

The Homework club is now up and running. I'm now planning to hold more fundraising events and definitely want to keep the Homework club going. I had to sort out the logistics of what age group to aim it at, how often to hold it and what day of the week. With the help of the Junction 49 team I was able to pin these things down.

The most challenging part of helping the Somali centre was the fact that it needed so much voluntary help and support that it was hard to know where to begin, where to access grants and advice.

I hope that the Homework club will have a lasting impact on the community as some of the children don't speak much English at home and the club will support them in their gaining confidence and doing well at school. "