From our CEO..

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As I sit here today and reflect, not only on my own journey and growth but also on the amazing growth of Al-Hurraya, I am overwhelmed with joy. However, the journey has not been all smooth sailing. 2021 has been the year where we have thankfully slowly transitioned back into some form of normality. As restrictions were slowly lifted, we were able to resume our services and get back to delivering our vital face to face support and really get back into business. As I discussed in last year’s annual report, COVID 19 exacerbated many of the issues faced by the local community and therefore our Al-Hurraya team have really put in the work needed in making sure we are able to meet the ever-changing needs of our clients.

The last year has been an extremely busy one, with new contracts and projects, this has meant we have been able to grow our dedicated, passionate, and skilled team of employees. As well as growing our in-house team, we have also developed new partnerships, particularly within the voluntary sector and strengthened existing ones. This has meant we have been able to reach further within the communities that we are already supporting but also extend our scope of support, providing services to harder to reach, new and emerging communities.

We are currently working with a range of amazing organisations such as the NHS, Nottinghamshire’s Police and Probation services, The Violence Reduction Unit, The Youth Justice Service and many other vital statutory services. We have also been able to deliver our amazing educational and informative training workshops within some of these services addressing cultural competency and unconscious bias.

Over time, Al-Hurraya has developed into the number 1 culturally inclusive/specific Specialist service in Nottingham. I believe it is our grass roots knowledge and experience that sets us aside from other organisations. A great moment when I knew our hard work, dedication and growth had been recognised was during this year as I was awarded an MBE. This award has been one of the most memorable achievements in my life and I would not have been able to achieve this without the support of my family, staff and support network who have all stood behind me and Al-Hurraya even during the difficult times. The life of a CEO can be very lonely at the top, and I have had many personal challenges. We are peer led and sometimes it can be forgotten that I am in recovery. I would like to thank the people that give me strength, especially my wife has been my rock from the start of my journey.

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I had a vision when I set up Al-hurraya and promised myself I would make it easier for people within my community and other communities, to access services so that they would not have to go through the challenges and suffering that I did. We are far from the end of this journey however I feel so far we are doing our best at delivering on this promise and are always striving to break down barriers and support those that need it.