During the year, South Asian Voices Bristol CIC continued to develop its work within the community, creating opportunities for South Asian voices and lived experiences to be heard, represented and celebrated. The CIC delivered a varied programme of community activities covering culture and heritage, women's health and wellbeing, climate awareness, community engagement, education and broadcasting. A central aim throughout the year was to provide accessible spaces in which members of the community could participate in conversations, share experiences, learn from others and engage with subjects that may otherwise receive limited representation within mainstream services or media. COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS, EVENTS AND ENGAGEMENT Throughout the year, the CIC organised and delivered community workshops, educational activities, facilitated discussions, speaker sessions and public events. These activities brought together community members alongside speakers, facilitators, artists, performers and other contributors. Sessions were designed not simply to provide information, but to encourage participation and enable people to contribute their own experiences and perspectives. The CIC worked directly with community members and participants, as well as with other community organisations and project partners, to develop activities that reflected the interests and needs of the communities it serves. Community activities provided opportunities for people to meet, participate, learn, discuss issues affecting them and develop connections with others. The CIC also sought to make its activities welcoming and accessible to people who may not ordinarily engage with more formal organisations or services. SOUTH ASIAN CULTURE AND HERITAGE South Asian culture, heritage and representation continued to form an important part of the CIC's work. During the year, the CIC coordinated and supported cultural activities, performances and public-facing events involving artists, performers, community contributors and partner organisations. These activities provided opportunities for South Asian culture and heritage to be shared and celebrated while also creating platforms through which South Asian people could represent their own experiences and communities. The CIC worked with artists, performers and community contributors to support cultural programming and encourage participation in activities that celebrated identity, heritage and lived experience. This work also extended into community broadcasting, allowing cultural conversations and experiences to reach audiences beyond those able to attend events in person. Through this programme, the CIC helped create opportunities for South Asian voices to be more visible within the wider community and provided spaces in which culture and heritage could be celebrated and shared across generations and communities. WOMEN'S WELLBEING AND MENOPAUSE Women's health and wellbeing, particularly menopause awareness, formed a significant area of activity during the year. The CIC developed and delivered menopause workshops, facilitated discussions, community sessions and broadcasting designed to encourage more open conversations about menopause and women's experiences. More than 100 women were directly engaged through workshops and community events during the year. The programme provided opportunities for women to discuss menopause in supportive community settings, share experiences, hear from speakers and contributors and take part in conversations around health and wellbeing. An important part of this work was helping to bring conversations about menopause into communities where cultural, social or generational factors can sometimes make discussions about women's health more difficult. The CIC therefore sought to create environments in which women could speak openly and where lived experience could form part of the wider conversation around menopause and wellbeing. The CIC also used radio and broadcasting to extend the reach of this work. A monthly menopause radio takeover provided regular opportunities to discuss menopause and women's wellbeing with a wider audience. In addition, the CIC planned and delivered a special five-hour radio takeover for World Menopause Day, providing an extended platform for discussion, awareness raising and community engagement. The combination of face-to-face activities and broadcasting allowed the CIC to reach both women participating directly in its projects and a considerably wider community audience. CLIMATE CONNECTIONS PROJECT The CIC also delivered its Climate Connections Project, which was developed to increase engagement between South Asian communities and conversations around climate awareness and climate action. The project recognised the importance of making environmental issues accessible and relevant to different communities and creating opportunities for people to participate in climate-related conversations. Activities included community outreach, workshops, facilitated discussions, engagement with community groups and young people, radio programming and climate-related radio takeovers. The CIC worked with contributors and partner organisations to create opportunities for participants to explore environmental issues and discuss how climate change and climate action relate to their own communities and everyday lives. Rather than simply providing information, activities were designed to encourage discussion and participation and to enable community members to contribute their own perspectives. The project also used broadcasting to extend these conversations beyond individual workshops and events, allowing climate-related discussions to reach the CIC's wider community audience. COMMUNITY RADIO AND BROADCASTING Community broadcasting was a particularly important tool for extending the CIC's reach during the year. Radio programming and takeovers were used to explore South Asian culture and heritage, community issues and opportunities, menopause and women's wellbeing, climate awareness and climate action, community projects and activities, lived experience and representation. The CIC involved community contributors, speakers and guests in its programming, creating opportunities for a variety of voices and experiences to be heard. Broadcasting enabled people who were unable to attend workshops or community events in person to engage with the subjects being discussed and helped the CIC take community conversations to a substantially wider audience. The associated radio station has an estimated audience of more than 30,000 listeners, giving the CIC's broadcasting activities significant potential reach. Radio also complemented the CIC's face-to-face community work. Issues and experiences explored through workshops and community activities could be taken into wider public conversations, while broadcasting could in turn encourage awareness of and participation in community activities. PARTNERSHIPS AND COMMUNITY COLLABORATION Partnership working and collaboration remained important throughout the year. The CIC worked with community organisations, project partners, speakers, facilitators, artists, performers and other contributors to deliver activities and increase the range of opportunities available to participants. These relationships enabled the CIC to bring together different skills, experiences and perspectives and supported the delivery of cultural events, workshops, community discussions, broadcasts and project activities. The CIC also provided opportunities for contributors and community members to participate directly in projects rather than simply being recipients of services. REPRESENTATION AND LIVED EXPERIENCE An important thread running throughout the CIC's work was ensuring that South Asian voices and lived experiences were represented within community conversations. Through events, workshops, cultural programming, facilitated discussions and radio broadcasts, the CIC created platforms through which people could share their experiences and discuss subjects relevant to their lives and communities. This included conversations relating to culture and heritage, women's health, menopause, climate change, community issues and other areas affecting the people with whom the CIC works. The CIC sought to ensure that community members were able to contribute their own perspectives and experiences rather than having those experiences represented solely by others. MONITORING COMMUNITY BENEFIT Throughout the year, the CIC monitored participation, project activities, outputs and outcomes and gathered feedback and evidence of community benefit. This helped the organisation understand how people were engaging with activities and ensured that projects continued to focus on their intended community outcomes. Feedback and participation information were also used to support project monitoring and evaluation and to inform the continuing development of activities. OVERALL COMMUNITY BENEFIT The work undertaken during the year provided community benefit across a number of interconnected areas. The CIC directly engaged community members through workshops, events, cultural activities and facilitated discussions, while its broadcasting activities enabled these conversations to reach a much wider audience. More than 100 women participated directly in menopause workshops and community events, alongside those reached through the CIC's monthly menopause broadcasts and five-hour World Menopause Day radio takeover. The Climate Connections Project created opportunities for South Asian communities, community groups and young people to engage with climate awareness and climate action in an accessible and community-focused way. Cultural and heritage activities provided platforms for South Asian artists, performers, contributors and community members and created opportunities to celebrate and share South Asian culture and lived experience. The CIC's radio and broadcasting activities further increased the reach of this work, with programming delivered through a station with an estimated audience of more than 30,000 listeners. Taken together, the CIC's activities during the year helped to increase the visibility and representation of South Asian voices and lived experiences, celebrate and promote South Asian culture and heritage, create opportunities for community participation and connection, support women to engage in conversations about menopause, health and wellbeing, increase awareness and understanding of menopause within the wider community, encourage South Asian communities and young people to participate in conversations around climate change and climate action, provide platforms for artists, performers, speakers and community contributors, create accessible spaces for discussion, learning and the sharing of lived experience, strengthen links between community members, organisations and project partners, and use community broadcasting to extend the reach and impact of community-led conversations. South Asian Voices Bristol CIC remains focused on ensuring that its activities are community-led, inclusive and responsive to the people it was established to benefit. The year's activities demonstrate the CIC's continuing commitment to providing platforms for South Asian voices, supporting community participation and wellbeing, celebrating culture and heritage and creating opportunities for communities to engage with important social and environmental issues.

No consultation with stakeholders

No remuneration was paid to the directors for carrying out their duties as directors of the CIC during the year. However, payments totalling £13,520.95 were made to the directors for services provided to the CIC in a separate capacity, including project management, administration, facilitation and speaker fees. These payments related to services undertaken for the activities and projects of the CIC and were not payments for her role as a director.

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration