What we do

Who are we?

The Somali Integration & Development Association (SIDA) is a voluntary association (Registered Charity) founded in 1989 to serve the needs of the local Somali community. SIDA was formally established on 30th October 1999 when a constitution was adopted.

Legal Structure

SIDA is a charitable community organisation, charity number 1084999 (Registered 14th February 2001), and turned into Charitable incorporated Organisation , CIO number 1167198 in the year 2016

Governance

SIDA is governed by a Board of 9 Trustees which has overall responsibility for governance and management of the organisation – they undergo constant development to maintain skills and appropriateness to govern the organisation.

Staff and Volunteers

SIDA has a full time Co-ordinator and 2 part time staff (Health Worker & Female Specialist Advice Worker) supported by 2 regular volunteers – this team delivers the roster of services and programmes.

Merger

In 2009, SIDA merged with 2 other Somali community originations – Aylesbury Somali Women’s Health Project and Southwark Somali Women’s Group which increased capacity to serve the community (Specifically, to focus upon Somali women) and also brought 2 part time staff to our team.

Partnership

Additional capacity to deliver our programmes is achieved through effective partnerships which have been developed with the Southwark Somali Forum and the Ocean Somali Community Association (OSCA) – these partners contribute staff secondments and funding to deliver programmes in Southwark together with SIDA.

Finance & Funding

SIDA currently benefits from a level of support which has actually increased over the past few years in response to the growing roster of services – turnover has grown from £47K in 2007 to more than £80K in the past 5 years. This is mainly due to a large grant from LB Southwark of c£60K per year – we also have a small reserve of c£8k which, it is planned, will be increased over the next 1 – 3 years as we are developing and implementing a new formal fund raising strategy.

Profile of Target Group / Area

SIDA was established to provide services to the Somali community residing or working, primarily in the London Boroughs of Southwark, but expanding throughout the UK and abroad [e.g. Somalia] as we develop a broader and overseas remit to support Somalis wherever they may be.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to help the Somali Community, improve the quality of their lives and enable them to play a fully empowered and effective role in wider society by bringing people together, sharing knowledge and co-ordinating activity and opinion.