Ashiana Network offers advice, support and safe housing for South Asian, Turkish and Iranian women in east London who are victims of domestic violence and forced marriage. It also provides counselling for young people who may have been affected by domestic violence and training for professionals. They believe working with Pilotlight helped them develop and secure funding for the long-term.
Ashiana was set-up in 1989 and its director Shaminder Ubhi has been with the charity since 1995. The main areas in which Shaminder needed help were with business planning and fundraising. Shaminder found that while she was busy dealing with the day-to-day demands of running a charity she had had no time to devise a strategy for future growth.
The team Pilotlight put together helped Shaminder develop a business plan and a fundraising strategy. In particular the team helped her look at the bigger picture for Ashiana and individual consultants were also brought in when needed. Ashiana now has a coherent business plan and the help and advice they received has enabled them to go ahead with plans for a new refuge. They also won a three-year contract with the local authority for their counselling work.
“It was the first time someone not involved in the charity looked at how we worked….they challenged us to think outside the box. We’ve now secured funding for the next three years,” she adds.
The relationship with Pilotlight was so strong that Shaminder asked one of the Pilotlighters to continue to be a mentor.