{"id":32613,"date":"2016-11-07T16:51:37","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T16:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=32613"},"modified":"2016-11-07T16:51:37","modified_gmt":"2016-11-07T16:51:37","slug":"charity-promotes-crosscultural-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2016\/11\/07\/charity-promotes-crosscultural-unity\/","title":{"rendered":"Charity promotes crosscultural unity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the post-Brexit climate of rising anti-immigrant feeling, the Friends and Neighbours (FAN) charity brings people from all cultures together. Members meet in small community groups and access is open to all.<\/p>\n<p>Originally conceived as a way to bring incomers into contact with locals, the groups soon became havens for anyone wanting social contact. FAN&#8217;s founder says, \u201cI was surprised by how many British people need it&#8221;.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32616\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 480px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/10\/Alt.cardiff_6_Map_Big_MA.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-32616 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/10\/Alt.cardiff_6_Map_Big_MA-480x267.jpg\" alt=\"World map with location stickers\" width=\"480\" height=\"267\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32616 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/10\/Alt.cardiff_6_Map_Big_MA-480x267.jpg\" alt=\"World map with location stickers\" width=\"480\" height=\"267\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> FAN welcomes people from all backgrounds<\/p><\/div>\n<p>While working as a tutor of English as Second Language in Grangetown, she urged her students to go out and interact with native speakers. Their response took her by surprise. \u201cA very shy young woman raised her hand and asked, \u2018How do we meet British people?\u2019\u201d she remembers. So she set up FAN to encourage locals to help learners practice their speaking skills.<\/p>\n<p>One of these early members was Zahra Afshar, who came to the UK from Iran 14 years ago. She discovered FAN about 10 years ago and soon saw the charity\u2019s potential for bringing people together. She now works for FAN as a volunteer.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32617\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 480px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/10\/Alt.cardiff_6_Zahra_Big_MA.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-32617 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/10\/Alt.cardiff_6_Zahra_Big_MA-480x296.jpg\" alt=\"FAN volunteer Zahra\" width=\"480\" height=\"296\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32617 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/10\/Alt.cardiff_6_Zahra_Big_MA-480x296.jpg\" alt=\"FAN volunteer Zahra\" width=\"480\" height=\"296\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Volunteer Zahra Afshar feels FAN members are genuinely welcoming<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As the FAN network developed, groups\u2019 compositions changed to meet the needs of their communities. Some still have a lot of overseas students who come mainly for the English practice or to meet local people. Others consist primarily of British people who welcome the chance for social interaction.<\/p>\n<p>Since the June referendum, Zahra has noticed a chillier attitude towards foreigners in general. \u201cBefore that, I was more comfortable with people,\u201d she says. But she still finds that FAN members remain committed to the charity\u2019s core value of acceptance for all.<\/p>\n<p>FAN\u2019s founder agrees that its groups are still welcoming, but worries that increasing anti-immigrant feeling may stop potential new members from venturing out. However, she remains optimistic about society\u00a0in general. \u201cMy hope and my belief is that it\u2019s not most people,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Charity\u2019s community groups offer everyone a warm welcome and a sympathetic ear<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":32616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,207],"tags":[131,5586,5190,3102,266,1142],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-32613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-no-logo","category-no-logo-home","tag-charity","tag-community-group","tag-immigrant","tag-local-community","tag-refugees","tag-social-inclusion"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - 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