SCCCC are delighted to be hosting another virtual event to continue to highlight how loneliness and isolation impacts BAME older people as well as the impact Covid-19 has had on them.

We recognise that although there are a lot of similarities, there are also a lot of differences between 'BAME' communities. To help us raise awareness about some of the diverse issues experienced by BAME older people we are joined by very experienced speakers:

David Bussue- Service Director at SACMHA

Waqas Hameed- Senior Health and Wellbeing Worker/ Link worker at Darnall Wellbeing

Rehneesa Inez – BAME Community Engagement Officer at SCCCC

The event will be chaired by Pam Daniel, Equality and Engagement Lead, Voluntary Action Sheffield (VAS) with an introduction by Mark Storey- CEO at SCCCC.

There will be time for a Q&A session and breakout rooms to share knowledge throughout the session.

By the end of the event you will have learnt about:

• Loneliness and isolation amongst older men and within the African Caribbean community

• Support that is currently provided for BAME older people

• Loneliness, isolation and obstacles that hinder BAME older people accessing support services (such as stigma, inappropriate services, previous bad experiences, reluctance to try new things).

• Practical ways of reducing loneliness and isolation

This virtual event is suitable for all individuals wanting to broaden their understanding and play their part in reducing inequalities and older people’s feelings of loneliness. It is mainly suitable and targeted towards individuals working or volunteering with older people in a charity, community, health and social care setting within Sheffield.

Speaker Biographies

Waqas Hameed- Senior Health & Wellbeing Worker/ Link Worker at Darnall Wellbeing

Wagas moved to the UK from Pakistan in 2003 to work as a Chef. In 2009, he became a Community Health Champion Volunteer to utilise his skills and support local community. In 2010, Wagas became a health trainer progressing to Senior Health & Wellbeing Worker/ Link Worker. He has always been interested in collaboration and multi-disciplinary work to enhance the local offer, supporting long term conditions effecting the population. In 2021 he was involved in Long Covid research as a visiting researcher with the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre.

David Bussue- Service Director at SACMHA

David has a long professional history in the areas of personal social care, service development, third sector service delivery, and service development. He also has extensive public sector experience, rising to senior levels and managing multi-million pound budgets and extensive numbers of managers and staff. He is a qualified and registered social worker and a practice educator, supporting universities in the training of social workers. David is also an ordained and licensed Minister and serves as Associate Pastor at the Church of God of Prophecy, one of the longest-established Black Majority Churches based in the Park Hill area of Sheffield.

Pam Daniel- Equality and Engagement Lead at VAS

As the Equality and Engagement Lead for Voluntary Action Sheffield, Pam has been keen to bring her skills and almost 15 years of experience to help facilitate change in areas of inequalities for Sheffield communities. She has a specific focus to reach out to groups and communities, listen and engage with leaders, staff and volunteers to develop how VAS becomes more inclusive and supports all organisations to build capacity and access funding. Pam’s previous roles within the voluntary sector have given her the privilege to work at grass roots level within communities and support people whom through health inequalities, has left them lonely and isolated.

Rehneesa Inez - BAME Community Engagement Officer SCCCC

Rehneesa joined SCCCC in April 2020 as the BAME Community Engagement Officer, working on the Inclusive Community Care project. Prior to working for SCCCC, she completed a BSc (Honours) in Psychology and MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience and Brain Imaging and undertook various community roles such as support worker, scout leader, radio show host and safeguarding representative. She is proud of her dual cultural perspective on life, being both British and Pakistani. Through working together, her aim is that we can continue to reduce the challenges, barriers and deeper underlying inequalities that are faced by older people within the ethnic minority community, in turn reducing their feelings of loneliness and making Sheffield an inclusive city.