Somali charity worker named Volunteer of the Year at Be Proud awards 2019

Ahmed Mohamud was taken by complete surprise when he was awarded at the Be Proud Awards in the Volunteer of the Year category.

“Volunteering is not an easy job, but I did not expect this award,” he said.

 Ahmed has been working for Moss Side based Somali Adult Social Care Agency (SASCA) for the past three-and-half years. The organisation mainly helps the Somali elderly in Manchester to cope with living in the city.

This includes helping them with tax, health, immigration and more. However, the organisation also helps people from other immigrant communities that seek their help.

Last month, the organisation held an event for the elderly, which focussed on problems such as isolation, loneliness  and depression. The elderly are also encouraged to get medical check-ups with doctors who are invited to such events.

Ahmed said: “Our hope is that our community will be integrated in society and be able to learn English. We hope that they will be able to stand on their own feet.”

The charity faced an uncertain future last year when the council threastendd to withdraw funding to SASCA as part of general austerity cuts. He found it to be one of the toughest challenges that SASCA had to face.

He said: “The council saw what we were doing and saw our drop-in sessions, and that we were doing well. However, we do have plans to search for other funders.”

He believes that most of the problems faced by Somali and other migrant communities are taxes, housing, and employment. SASCA solves these problems by inviting a solicitor to speak to the people in need of help.

“We hope that with all that we are doing, we can integrate our community into society,”Ahmed said.