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BSCMS Queen’s Award Ceremony 2023
Events, Notices etc.
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BSC Multicultural Services (BSCMS), working in partnership with Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group, is delighted to announce that a new Social Prescribing Service for the Black Ethnic Minority (BME) communities in Ipswich and East Suffolk area has been established. Our three part-time Social Prescribers will be proactively working with other agencies / stakeholders (eg, GP surgeries, hospitals and pharmacies) to provide one-to-one holistic service to clients from diverse backgrounds.
BSC Multicultural Services (BSCMS) organised an event on Tuesday 10th January evening at Inspire Suffolk, where His Majesty King Charles III’s representatives in Suffolk formally handed over the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service for 2022 to BSCMS.
Nearly 200 people attended the award ceremony from all walks of life and many guest speakers included deputy lieutenants, deputy mayor of Ipswich, mayor of Felixstowe, chairman of Suffolk County Council, leader of Ipswich Borough Council, and other notable civic, business and community leaders. The guest speakers highlighted BSCMS’s role in promoting social integration and community cohesion over the last 25 years across Ipswich and Suffolk.
Boshor Ali, Chair, Mahbub Alam Shamim, Treasurer, Mojlum Khan, Company Secretary, Shayra Begum, Centre Manager (Strategic) and Mohammed Alam, Centre Manager (Operational) also spoke at the event. Representatives from other diverse communities also attended including African, Asian, Caribbean, Chinese, Kurdish/Turkish, Middle Eastern and European communities, among others.
Boshor Ali said, ‘We are delighted to have received this prestigious award, being one of the last to be signed by the Queen. And I am also looking forward to celebrating our 25th birthday later this year.’
He added, ‘From very humble beginnings, BSCMS has grown and come a long way, currently serving people of 50 different nationalities in Ipswich and across Suffolk. Well done to the whole team for this well-deserved recognition and achievement.’
BSC Multicultural Services – What it is and what it does
Formerly known as Bangladeshi Support Centre and set up 25 years ago by a committed group of volunteers it is now a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. Operating from an accessible community building (that also houses other VCSE organisations including Citizens Advice, Ipswich) in Suffolk’s most ethnically diverse and vibrant town, the BSC reaches out to advance education and empower individuals and communities.
Its mission remains:
“To support people of BME communities in Suffolk and engage them in social, cultural, educational and recreational activities by:
~ Advancing education and training
~ Empowering individuals and communities
~ Providing information, help and support in a culturally sensitive environment”
The organisation provides a number of capacity building programmes for local communities, a resource and learning centre and key referral advice agency. The project also works closely with statutory and voluntary organisation partners on projects related to health, education, employment, housing, welfare rights and crime.
Increasingly, we also work with individual communities to develop a stronger sense of cultural identity, skills in their heritage language and encourage engagement in education, both adults, children and young people. This work is not about segregating sections of any community from the wider community but about having a greater appreciation of their own self and their place in British society. As an ethnic minority organisation we have recently grown to considerable, and well-deserved, pre-eminence; and there are very few other specialist service providers like us dedicated to primarily serving the needs of BME communities and striving for harmonious inter-relationships and community cohesion.
BSC wins Suffolk Voluntary Organisation of the Year Award – Inspiring Young People at the High Sheriff’s Awards 2019 on 28 March at Wherstead Park, Ipswich. See news item
