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Case Study:

SAFS – A business with a heart

SAFs were founded to look at why Asian families were not engaging with mainstream healthcare and social services. Find out how they have been transforming the lives of young people with disabilities in Sandwell for over 30 years.

Published: 12 January 2024
6 minute read

SAFS is a community organisation based in Sandwell, West Midlands.

SAFS was founded in 1986 to look at why Asian families were not engaging with mainstream healthcare and social services.

They have since gone from strength to strength – not only providing tailored, culturally competent services for young people with disabilities and their families, but also offering activities and spaces that bring the whole community together.

More recently, they have expanded their work, taking on the Windmill Community Centre and transforming it into a fully accessible hub for the local community.

In this film, we look at a range of SAFS' social care and wellbeing services, speak to staff and service users about their experiences, and learn about SAFS' exciting future plans.

We always call ourselves business with a heart. I think the impact of SAFS is far greater than we realise. It's not just for the families we work with. It's also for the people who are employed here, and then also the wider community."

Parpinder Dhatt
CEO

I have been attending SAFS since Bobby was eight years old. He contracted TB meningitis at that time and as a family, it was hard to come to terms with his illness. In a way, we adopted a new family, because I wanted Bobby to have not just English, but an Asian cultural society, so he doesn't miss out on anything. We all get together, we talk with each other, we share our problems, we don't feel that we're alone or isolated."

Baljit Kaur Uppal
Parent and Trustee