Jules Mambu, founder and chair of TARA (Tameside African Refugee Association) discusses how Tara started and it's success through the help of the Basis project and the impact the organisation has had on the community in Tameside.
Transcript
I’m an educated person coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo; I was a teacher in the university with two different degrees.
When I came here in 2000 I was only the third black African person in Ashton – the previous two left because it was not easy. At that time I could not speak English and this meant I became very isolated.
One day on the bus little girl started crying because she was scared to see a black face. The driver stopped the bus and asked me to get off. This was in 2001.
I couldn’t sleep that night, thinking I am a human being how can it be like this? But I couldn’t express myself.
I wanted to make sure other people didn’t have the same problem as me. In 2003 I set up the TARA in my house.
So far our success is built on networking and partnership. The Basis Project is also part of our success. We worked with Emma Mirzon and learned a lot from training and working with the Basis Project over six months. We implemented what we learned: a fundraising strategy, and a governance strategy.
Tameside Council are now supporting and funding our children project because they say it is very important.
The group is growing every year. We have learned book-keeping from the Basis Project and how to manage our finances. Individual staff members have had training and we have also benefited from the networking opportunities that the Basis Project has opened up for us.
The Basis Project has helped to spread the word about our group.
Other groups coming to us for advice always ask us first of all about money. But we tell them that policies covering things like finance and insurance must come first.
I am proud because people who learned skills here have set up their own organisation. I try to do my best to share my experience.
They key thing for any organisation is to identify the need – you must do your research before you start work.
Sometimes people ask us if we can extend elsewhere, but I think we are better to focus on Greater Manchester only. I intend to leave TARAin two years to do other things and I’m telling the current Chair to build his own contacts. TARA is not for me, it is for the community.
In 2007 TARA launched a homework club boost the confidence and achievement of African children, and teach them about their heritage.
