On March 19th 2019, the Central Scotland African Union - CeSAU annual general meeting was held at the Mayfield Centre in Stirling. The event was well attended by both general members, non-members and board members. The three main points of the meeting were to appoint new board members, consult members on what community building activities they would like the charity to organise in the coming year, and also to begin preparation for the Black History Month event in October. The meeting also had two external addresses from Ms Wilma Comrie - Stirling Council Representative and Mr. Kenny Sagar - Chair of the Indian Community in Central Scotland.
In her address Ms Wilma Comrie invited all present to either fill in physical forms or online forms to suggest infrastructural developments that would benefit local areas and communities, within the scope of the Stirling Council budget.
Mr Kenny Sagar, sought to extend an open invite to CeSAU members to feel free to participate in current programmes being run by the Indian Community. These programmes included a stroke survivors’ support group, which is particularly important as people of colour are genetically more pre-disposed to suffer from stroke, diabetes and cardiovascular disease than their counterparts from other racial groups. Mr. Sagar highlighted that - it is therefore important to increase personal awareness on how one can manage and adapt their lifestyle to significantly reduce their risk of their suffering from the afore-mentioned. Some of the proactive actions the Indian community was taking was the running of walking groups with a large number of sessions per week (9) to fit into anyone’s schedule really. Lastly Mr Sagar, invited CeSAU members to feel free to participate in any of the festival celebrations run by the Indian community. Both addresses were well received.
Facilitated by Ms Wilma Comrie, the election process appointed and in some cases re-appointed to the board the following:
Chairperson - Ms Fungai M.
Treasurer - Mr Elisha K.
Secretary - Ms Christina
Youth Officer - Ms Paida B.
Fundraising Officer - Ms Stephanie K.
Scottish Multi-Cultural Partnership Representative - Ms Priscilla M.
Ranking from most popular, the community building activities suggested were:
Different training events for the youth e.g digital music production; Dance Workshops;Fashion shows, Talent shows 9/18
Fitness class, Sickle cell talks, Diabetes Awareness,
Stroke awareness, First aid awareness 7/18
Barbeque , Family day out, jumping castle, music and games, Regular get-togethers 7/18
African food/culture/art festival 4/18
At least once a month, invite speakers along to give talks on healthy eating/ training -first aid/healthy eating etc 3/18
Beach trips, Countryside trips etc 3/18
Regular group walks 3/18
Mental Health Talks, exploring how to live a fuller life 3/18
Career days, for youth and community at large, with resources and links made available 3/18
Expand Black History Month Commemoration events to include cultural displays, dance, food etc 2/18
Hillwalking 2/18
Increase awareness of cross cultural activities, joining in events hosted by other to promote better understanding of others communities outside our own 2/18
Platforms for women networking, ironing out challenges of working and managing childcare 2/18
Speed Boating 1/18
Youth trips to amusement parks like Alton towers, Disneyland Paris etc 1/18
Road trips to explore Scottish Attractions- make Scotland feel like home away from home 1/18
Scottish history and culture talks to increase local knowledge 1/18
Virtual Help/Information desk 1/18
Participate in animal shelter campaigns 1/18
Natural hair grooming lessons 1/18