Building Bridges Workshops delivered by Faith Regen Foundation

Progress Report on Afghan Action’s (AA) Building Bridges Workshops delivered by Faith Regen Foundation (FRF) as of 22nd March 2011

Background

FRF is assisting AA in the delivery of all aspects related to the first outcome of the ‘Building Bridges’ project. As stated in the Project Framework, outcome 1 involves the following:

Afghan and other advocates (of which 25% women), trained through workshops, are confident and able to deliver a wide range of events & initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of poverty, insecurity and development opportunities in Afghanistan.

Update

FRF has started to organise and deliver a range of workshops across the UK, to recruit, train and retain 100 advocates who will be working with AA’s regional networks to organise and deliver events and initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of poverty and development issues in Afghanistan and promoting a positive perception of this country and its people. FRF is also providing the premises and the refreshments for each workshop.

Chantal Marin and Marzia Manconi have delivered the first workshop in Bounds Green on the 3rd of March 2011, from 2 p.m. to 5p.m.  Refreshments were provided throughout the workshop. 17 people attended the workshop, of which 7 male (41%) and 10 female (59%). The age range was as follows:
Under 20 – 1 person
20 to 30 – 13 people
31 to 40 – 2 people
Over 40 – 1 person

Training and documentation provided

During the workshops, the participants have been provided with the following training:

  • A presentation and description on Afghan Action (AA), its mission and values and its involvement in the Building Bridges project.
  • The historical and socio-cultural background of Afghanistan.
  • Top tips on organising successful events and initiatives for awareness increasing purposes.

The material below has been developed for the workshops, in order to provide the advocates with the skills and knowledge to organise and deliver their own events & initiatives:

  • PowerPoint presentation and hand-out on AA and the Building Bridges project. This is aimed at providing advocates with a valuable insight into the organisation and into the project they would advocate for.
  • PowerPoint presentation and hand-out on the historical and socio-cultural background of Afghanistan. This is aimed at developing advocates’ understanding of poverty and development issues in Afghanistan.
  • PowerPoint presentation and hand-out on awareness increasing strategies. This is aimed at developing advocates’ confidence to deliver events/initiatives aimed at increasing the general public’s awareness of poverty and development issues in Afghanistan.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Material to be used for monitoring and evaluation purposes has also been developed and handed out during workshops to all attendees. This is necessary to ensure that all recruited advocates are confident and able to deliver events/initiatives to increase awareness.

  • Job description and person specification for advocates to ensure that they are fully aware of their duties/tasks
  • Questionnaire on Afghanistan to be filled before attending the workshop as well as after the workshop to measure the increase in the knowledge and understanding of poverty and development issues in Afghanistan
  • Feedback form of which comments can be used to improve future workshops or other events and initiatives
  • Participant list to monitor the number of attendees as well as their gender and age range

Outcome

The average score for the first round of questionnaire was 43% and for the second round of questionnaire was 70%. This shows a significant increase in the general knowledge and understanding of Afghanistan.

With regards to the feedback forms, most of participants have stated that the workshop has been very helpful to increase their understanding of Afghanistan from different points of views such as history, culture, poverty etc.

National Open College Network (NOCN) Training Option

NOCN is a leading UK awarding organisation, offering credit-based qualifications and is accredited by the Regulatory Authorities in the UK. NOCN qualifications are nationally recognised and accepted as means of entry into employment, further learning with further and/or higher education.

We have arranged to provide those advocates willing to get NOCN training a choice of 2 modules: (1) ‘developing team and interpersonal skills’ or (2) ‘Becoming a Volunteer’.  We will be offering this training in April once we confirm the number of advocates interested in this training option.

List of workshops delivered by FRF

VenueNumber of WorkshopsDateNumber of AdvocatesActual Figure of Attendees
Bounds Green13rd March, 2.00–5.00 pm1017
LMC128th March, 2.00-5.00 pm20
Brent131 March, 2.00-5.00 pm10
Harrow130 March, 2.00-5.00 pm10
Manchester (both centres)224th / 31st March, 2.00-5.00 pm20
Birmingham323rd March / 28th March / 30 March
2.00–5.00 pm		30