Learning disability charity Hft has teamed up with Hamara, an ethnic minority organisation in the voluntary and community sector in Leeds, to launch a friendship service for adults with learning disabilities in the Asian communities across the city.
Hum Tum – Hindi for You and Me – aims to organise small social events that take into account cultural and religious needs. “Hum Tum actively encourages involvement from individuals with learning disabilities and their families within the Asian community,” said Shabana Yakoub, a Hft support worker who manages Hum Tum. “We hope to enable isolated people from minority backgrounds to develop a healthy social life through making friends and having fun in an environment that is familiar and comfortable for them. “We will be organising a variety of social events such as going out to restaurants that don’t serve alcohol, watching Bollywood films at the cinemas and, if preferred, male or female-focused activities such as ladies only henna evenings.”
