A ladies group in the heart of Bolton has been fostering health and wellbeing with monthly NHS check-up events.
Each week, at the Willows Centre in Bolton, Khidma Ladies Community Group gathers for its weekly sessions.
The group brings women out of isolation, helping them to build confidence and make new friends in a safe environment.
What started as small sessions with just five members has flourished into a thriving community that has been transformational for its Bolton members.
Chair and founder of Khidma, Yasmin Oskoei, started the group in 2016.
“I’m so proud to say we’re still going strong,” said Ms Oskoei, who lives in Rumworth.
“Khidma ( خدمة) means ‘serving’ and we are all about serving the community.
“The majority of our ladies are from South Asian backgrounds, but we welcome everyone.
“We’ve created a safe space for women to come and develop new skills and improve their health and wellbeing.
“It’s a place where women empower women.
“They share experiences and feel included within the community, which I think is very important.”
The Khidma Ladies meet twice a week at the Willows Centre, at the back of Caledonia Street, on Thursday and Friday.
Ms Oskoei runs the group with co-organiser Tasleem Ali, an inspirational speaker who is deaf.
For the past seven months, Bolton GP Federation has been visiting the Khidma Ladies once a month to provide free mini health checks.
“The ladies love the health checks,” said Ms Oskoei.
“We’ve also brought in a lot of people from the community.
“Our team has gone door to door encouraging people, and we’ve been posting about it on our social media pages.
“The health and wellbeing of the community is at the heart of what we do.”
Ms Oskoei added that the ladies group encourages its members to feel comfortable about getting health checks.
“As a group, if we tell our members, they are more likely to listen.
“It’s been really special because we’ve been part of improving people’s health.”
The group is always looking for new members and is “open to everyone and welcoming to all ”.
“It’s been so successful”
On Thursday, December 11, the final health check was held at the centre.
The Bolton News went along to meet the Khidma Ladies and find out more about their collaboration with Bolton GP Federation.
The Federation started the health checks as part of a campaign to tackle diabetes and heart disease in Bolton.
The project is in collaboration with Rumworth and Central Primary Care Networks, Bolton CVS and the Central South neighbourhood team.
Jack Ayling, the communications officer for the Federation, said: “I’ve always been blown away by the support and confidence that Khidma gives to women, who may not have had people to speak to otherwise.
“At the sessions, our nurses do mini health checks, and we also invite other stakeholders to come along and offer their services.
“In this area, there’s a lot of deprivation and people who are at risk of diabetes.
“This can be due to a lack of education or language barriers, but there are a lot of different factors.
“It’s been fantastic to meet the people who regularly come, and we’ve seen people who have made lifestyle and diet changes from attending the health checks.”
Mr Ayling discussed how the Federation has been working with Khidma, and other groups, with funding support to invest in community groups that are at the heart of Bolton.
“It’s been so successful,” Ms Oskoei added.
“We call Jack our ‘Khidma Brother’. Our ladies adore him, and we love working with the GP Federation”.
Some of the other service providers in attendance were InHealth Greater Manchester North Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP), Bolton Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, and Healthwatch Bolton.
Nova Martin from the Bowel Cancer Programme said: “Events like this are absolutely invaluable.
“Khidma are so kind and welcoming, every time we come we see familiar and new faces.
“It’s a great way to have health conversations amongst family and friends.”
The Bolton News also met Hina Raghvani from DESP, who said: “Anyone who is diagnosed with diabetes is invited to attend our screening programme, looking for diabetic retinopathy.
“Today, we are making sure that people are coming along to their appointments and seeing if there are any ways we can help them.
“For example, I can try and arrange a female screener, to make them feel as comfortable as possible.
“We also offer a language line over the phone to assist anyone whose first language isn’t English.
“All of the ladies have been attending their appointments, which is great, so I’ve mainly been providing information for those who need it.”
Finally, from the service providers, we met Yasmin Rahbar, who is the community engagement officer for Healthwatch Bolton.
Ms Rahbar said: “We listen to people’s feedback on NHS health and social care experiences and encourage them to share their thoughts with us.
“This helps us to inform and improve care with our providers and decision-makers.
“We want to make sure that care is meeting the needs of our communities across Bolton.
“Healthwatch runs lots of different projects based on what people share with us.
“I’ve worked with Khidma on several occasions and I’m familiar with lots of the ladies here.
“It’s been an absolutely amazing event with lots of people sharing information and providing feedback.”
Ms Rahbar was giving out Primary Care ‘Get To Know Where To Go’ booklets, with useful numbers and information on all the services available to the Bolton community.
Many of the resources were written in a variety of languages, ensuring that the information was accessible to as many people as possible.
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Stories from the Khidma Ladies
For many of the women in the group, Khidma is a vital lifeline keeping them connected with the community.
Volunteer and member Yasmin Dakri has been a part of Khidma for the past three years.
“When I retired due to having a brain tumour, I was feeling very isolated at home.
“I didn’t want to meet people because I felt like I was forgetting a lot of things and thought people would laugh at me.
“But then I met Yasmin Oskoei who suggested that I join the group.
“Nobody judged me, even when I forgot people’s names.
“Now, if I miss a session, my friends call me up and make sure that everything is okay.
“I really feel part of Khidma.”
Ms Dakri said people often don’t want to go home at the end of the sessions.
“We all sit down together and enjoy a hot meal like a family, we play games and have lots of awareness days, like today.”
Discussing the GP Federation partnership with the group, Ms Dakri said: “There’s been a very good response from the mini health checks.
“Some of the ladies have brought their husbands to get checked as well.
“There are some people who have been told they need to go and see the GP, which has been an important wake-up call.”
One of the youngest members of the group is Saamia Ahmed, who is 31 years old.
Ms Ahmed moved to Bolton a year ago, so the ladies group has been a great way for her to make friends and to get to know the area better.
Ms Ahmed, who comes to the sessions with her support worker and mum, said: “All the different things that Khidma does are really interesting.
“The health checks, of course, are very helpful, but they have also put on a defence combat class which has been my favourite thing so far.
“I think it’s a very good way to get to know people, and if I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t know anyone.”
Ms Ahmed said she enjoys listening to the other women’s stories.
“It’s a really positive place, I find it very motivating.”
Nita Chudasama from Great Lever is also a more recent member of the group.
“I was part of a Bolton Asian WhatsApp group when I first heard about a hate crime event that was taking place,” said Ms Chudasama.
At the time, I had been experiencing anti-social behaviour and felt as though I wasn’t being heard.”
Ms Chudasama attended the Bolton Hate Crime Conference, where she met Yasmin Oskoei, who invited her to join Khidma.
“It’s done me a world of good coming here.
“Everyone is supportive and we are all made to feel welcome.
“The group combats loneliness because it’s a place for women to come and talk.
“Yasmin Oskoei has been a really great support, Khidma is just amazing.”
The Mayor of Bolton, Cllr David Chadwick, and Mayoresses were also in attendance at the event, as well as Cllr Ayyub Patel and Cllr Abdul Atcha.
Cllr Patel said: “Khidma Ladies Group has done a fantastic job at engaging with women from the diverse community of Bolton.
“The group breaks down social isolation barriers, and the event today has allowed the ladies to look at their health needs.
“Women from Indian and Pakistani heritage experience a lot of health inequalities, so this is an opportunity to help them to feel supported and to live well.”
The initiative highlights how community spaces built on trust can become effective gateways for vital health support.
To find out more about Khidma Ladies Community Group, visit the group’s social media pages or email khidma2community@gmail.com.
To discover more about Bolton GP Federation, visit: www.boltongpfed.co.uk/.
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