10 April 2026

Foraging activity

Foraging Activity

Today (08/04/2026), a group of United African Association (UAA) members took part in a foraging activity. Foraging means going out into nature and learning how to identify wild plants and other natural ingredients that can be safely used for food, teas, or even cakes.

It was amazing to discover how much edible produce could be found in such a small area. Activities like this reflect UAA’s commitment to promoting healthy eating and wellbeing through connecting with nature.

We would like to sincerely thank Kathleen from Grow Cook Eat and Lizzy Mary-Jane from Tellus Mater for leading the session. At the end of the walk, we came together to cook and share a meal using some of the ingredients we had collected earlier.

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8 April 2026

Weekly Report – Community Lunch

Date: 28th March

The United African Association successfully delivered its weekly Community Lunch on 28th March, bringing together volunteers and community members in a welcoming and supportive environment.

Volunteers played a vital role in the preparation, service, and clean-up of the meal. Key contributors included Emmanuel and Mary Kake, who supported the cooking alongside other dedicated volunteers. The team worked collaboratively to prepare a nutritious and culturally appropriate meal, which included rice with chicken stew and a variety of additional dishes.

The session was well attended, with a total of 77 individuals served. In addition to providing a hot meal, the space offered a relaxed and friendly environment where attendees could unwind, socialise, and enjoy soul music. This created a sense of comfort and belonging, making it more than just a meal service, but a place for relaxation and community connection.

Overall, the activity was a success, demonstrating strong volunteer engagement and continued demand for community support services.

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14 March 2026

6-week Weight Loss Programme

Successful Conclusion of the 6-week Weight Loss Programme

Our 6-week Weight Loss Programme came to an end on 2 March 2026, and we are very grateful to have worked with Ben Jeffery, Health Coach for Gro Health.

The programme began on 19 January 2026 and ran every Monday for six weeks, with each session lasting 2 hours. On average, 7 people took part.

Throughout the programme, participants received valuable information about healthy eating, including how food choices can support and improve overall health. There was also important discussion around mindset and the emotional barriers that can come up when trying to make changes to diet and lifestyle.

The sessions created a safe and supportive space where participants could openly share their challenges, encourage one another, and learn together. The level of support within the group was truly wonderful to see.

A big thank you to Ben Jeffery and Gro Health for supporting our community members in such a meaningful way. We really appreciate your time, knowledge and encouragement, and we hope to work with you again soon.

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22 January 2026

UAA secures funding to deliver a project aimed at promoting electrical safety awareness

The United African Association, based in Northampton, has secured significant funding to deliver a project aimed at promoting electrical safety awareness while helping to alleviate cost-of-living pressures for families experiencing financial hardship, including those in vulnerable groups such as individuals with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).

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19 November 2025

A Productive Day at the Allotment: Preparing Our Plot for the New Season

On Monday the 17th of November, 5 of us ventured into the allotment (at St David’s allotments) with the goal of clearing up our plot, so that we can come back next year, and restart planting. The young men worked quite a lot and the goal has been achieved. Only thing remaining now is to cover the plot to prevent new weeds to come up.

Afterwards, we went for a meal, together, to relax and the work done.

Here’s a quotation from one of the young men:

“I had an amazing day at the allotment for getting fresh air and enjoying the chat, we assisted to clear the ground as a group at the allotment and finally we got rewarded a free food and drink.”

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7 October 2025

School Integration Challenges

We had a lot of interest and it became clear that this subject is a real worry for our parents. Some are facing a lot of difficulties when they try to integrate their children in school. Their rights are often obliterated by the claim that schools are unable to deal with their needs. It’s with pleasure that we are announcing another session on the 3rd of November (2025). Closer to date, a dedicated flyer will follow. Many thanks to Nana and everyone else involved.

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7 September 2025

August 2025 Highlights at UAA

🌟 UAA – August Highlights 🌟

August was a lively and impactful month for UAA, filled with music, culture, awareness, and community activities:

🎶 Music & Performance:
UAA drummers entertained the public outside Northampton Railway Station with an energetic lunchtime performance that drew praise from passers-by. The group is also preparing to perform at the Northampton Music Festival pop-ups, building excitement ahead of the England v Samoa Rugby World Cup match at Franklin’s Gardens.
🪂 Fundraising for a Cause:
Excitement is building as four UAA volunteers get ready for a skydive on Saturday, 7th September, raising vital funds and awareness.
🧠 Dementia Awareness & Community Health:
UAA hosted a Dementia Awareness Event, welcoming Andrea from the Community Health Champions project. The event combined sociable discussions with an unexpected but delicious lunch, helping spread awareness and support.
🌱 Grow, Cook, Eat Project:
Volunteers, including a team from Barclaycard head office, joined in healthy cooking sessions, enjoying a tasty vegetable lasagne. Enthusiastic helpers also tended to the UAA allotment, which produced pumpkins, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and growing maize.

A month that showcased UAA’s heart for community, culture, and wellbeing – bringing people together through music, health awareness, food, and fundraising.

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5 March 2025

case-study-05-03-2025-2

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5 March 2025

Case Study 05-03-2025

Lady 1 is in her 60s and was returning to Northampton to re-settle after an absence of a few years. She had not eaten properly for almost 2 weeks and was desperately looking for a job. She was in a bad way mentally because of her living situation.

She approached a healthcare agency in the building where our offices are and was signposted to our office, where we gave her food and the chance to have a rest. As she was known to some members of the community as a credible person, a member of staff provided her with accommodation in her home for a period of 3 months, during which time she began working on a part time basis and eventually moved into a room in a shared house. She was so grateful for the support she got from our charity with not only accommodation, but also food, befriending and volunteering activities. She stated a few months ago that without UAA she would not be alive. She is currently studying at college with the aim of becoming a learning support assistant in a school.

Lady 2, B is in her 60s and came to us 4 years ago after being violently beaten by her then partner who threw her out. She was afraid to seek medical treatment because of her undocumented status, fearing going to hospital would ultimately lead to deportation. She had lived with her partner for 10 years and during that period she made a few applications for leave to remain based on private life, however he would sabotage her application by requesting his passport bank during the application process, which meant cancellation of the application. She had been earning some money babysitting some friends children but taking
all her earnings, even though she had hoped to use her monies to send funds to her children and grandchildren in Africa. He used to isolate her from friends so she never formed solid friendships. During their relationship he used to verbally insult her. Additionally, she had blood pressure but was not treated for it as she did not have a GP.

He had secretly applied for his wife to come over and when she was granted her visa is when he beat B up and threw her out, she was then referred to us by a councillor. She stayed with a mum and her young child for a few weeks but complained she was being exploited.

Soon after she came to us we helped her get registered with a GP, as she had high blood pressure for which she had not been getting treatment and was also diagnosed with arthritis. She started getting treatment for that and we also helped her start applying for leave to remain through Red Cross’; immigration service. We supported her with food parcels and non food essentials and she became a very active volunteer with our charity. By that time, she had been in UK for 20 years. She lived with a member of staff rent free for 18 months before getting referred to Red Cross to assist with accommodation. With the cost of living, it was very expensive to house her and a paying lodger was needed. Fortunately, in April 2024 the Red Cross managed to secure her Home Office accommodation in Birmingham and in months ago she finally got her leave to remain granted.

She is very grateful for the support we have provided and she hopes that once she gets her national insurance she can return to Northampton, get a job and continue her involvement with our charity.

Lady 3, M is in her 60s and has some health issues, she has been rough sleeping for over a year and it has taken a toll on her health. She often goes into hospital and GP as a result of the ongoing health issues. She has been helped by another homeless charity with accommodation last winter and continues to be supported with food and other necessities, however this winter she has been sleeping rough, although she gets support with occasional accommodation from time to time,particularly if it’s very cold. The rough sleeping has taken a toll on her mental health too and obviously she doesn’t open up to people. We are assisting
her with other issues and hope to be able to support her with accommodation.

T is a middle aged man who struggles with reading and writing English. As a result of his lack of literacy skills he has struggled to find a job as he needs help with filling in job applications. As a result of lack of work he ended up rough sleeping, in shop and church doorways.

He was referred to us by word of mouth. One of our volunteers as well as a member of staff accompanied him to various employment agencies in Northampton, registering him with several. His limited literacy skills were a barrier to many jobs as several jobs required a person’s ability to read. After a few weeks and with accompanying to jobs he and another volunteer were able to secure seasonal work with Royal Mail.

During this time he was housed by a member of his church so was able to meet some rent payments, however his mother passed away so he had to fly back to Africa to attend to her and his sick wife who is seriously ill. He returned to UK a few weeks ago, has been seeking work and is currently living with a distant relative although they are pressuring him to leave the family home as it is very cramped.

We are working to try and help him get a job and have accompanied him to the job centre and employment agencies. We are hopeful that he will find a job very soon, however in the meantime should he be evicted from his current residence we hope that funds raised through our efforts will cover his living expenses for a couple of weeks until he is able to get back on his feet.

OG is a typical example of the person we would support. She was an out of work healthcare worker who had been looking for a new sponsor as the sponsor did not have any hours for her to work. As a result of being enable to pay for rent she resorted to rough sleeping. She was found by one of our beneficiaries who brought her to us. We started providing her with food parcels and non food essentials and provided her with accommodation for 2 months.

During this time, we helped her with improving her CV, provided interview skills through a West Northamptonshire Council funded project and helped connect her to potential employers through our networks. She secured a job with a new sponsor in December 2024 and is very grateful to our charity.

It is people like OG that make up the bulk of the people approaching us with homelessness issues. We have had referrals from adult social services about people due to be discharged from mental health hospitals who find themselves without accommodation following a medium to long term hospital stay during which time they were not earning and not being eligible for public funds have no income for accommodation or other essential living expenses.

Some people resort to eating disposed food from waste bins, sleeping in parks and doorways. Organisations such as ours try our best to help but as a small charity we have limited resources which is why we have decided to create a fundraising project. We anticipate that the majority of people will only require our support for up to 4 months. All monies raised will go towards direct support for homeless people, paying rental costs.

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3 March 2025

Africa Day Event 2024

United African Association Hosts Fundraiser to Support Northampton’s Homeless Community

What an amazing event our Africa day celebrations we had on Saturday the 25th of May, 2024. So many people attended and we were delighted to invite the new Mayor of Northampton to his first event as mayor.

We had Malawians, Kenyans, Ugandans, Zimbabweans, Namibians, Ghanaians and Nigerians performing cultural dances and songs, as well as drumming from our own African Drumming group. So many special guests.

This was our biggest ever event. We are grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund and Northamptonshire Community Foundation for providing grant funding which enabled the event to take place.

Thanks also to Weston Favell Tesco, Northamptonshire Police, Raj's Beauty Salon & @laurencemotivational_official for raffle prize donations.

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