Project MENFA: Mentoring for All
Location Cardiff
Organised by MENFA: Mentoring for All
Contact Sujatha Thaladi Tel 029 2048 9265
Visit www.menfa.org.uk

MENFA used a combination of one to one sessions and a relaxed environment to appeal to people who might be intimidated by technology in the multi-cultural community in Butetown.

This project fits into MENFA’s overall aim of tackling deprivation in the local community, and providing opportunities to increase peoples’ skills. A survey of people who use the Butetown facility showed that there was a need to provide mentoring for those who had never had access to PCs or the confidence to use them.

After working with the local Broker to find the best way to achieve this, MENFA received funding to employ Sujatha Thaladi to run an ICT (Information and Communication Technology) mentoring programme.

Key achievements

- 25 people, who were digitally excluded, have participated in informal ICT learning on a one-to-one basis. Training has focussed on basic office skills such as internet, e-mail and Microsoft Word usage, and for social use such as reading Somali newspapers online, accessing ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) practice websites, etc.
- A partnership was formed with another charity ‘ACE’, to provide ICT training to job-seekers.
- ICT learning has also helped improve literacy and numeracy skills among members of the group who do not class English as their first language.
- Some members were able to use the internet to prepare for the ‘Life in the UK’ Citizenship test.

Lessons learned

- People appreciated the relaxed, informal style to help get over the initial fear of trying out new technology.
- A networking event generated greater interest in the project, while leaflets were printed in numerous languages and distributed around the local community.

From a personal perspective

Ensaf received mentoring through the project shortly after arriving in the UK, “Before coming to MENFA I had never used a PC. The mentor encouraged me to practice on the computer without feeling shy. I’m developing some useful skills and feeling more confident about myself.”

Next steps

- A culture of local ICT community ‘champions’ will be developed, whereby people who have received the training seek to attract at least one new member by talking to friends and family members.
- As a result of this project, Communities @One funded a second initiative, supporting Menfa’s Youngsters’ Club, which is an out-of-school hours education-based project, held on Saturday mornings.

September 2007