WHO WE ARE
Make a Difference community group brings together and fosters understanding amongst local people from the diverse communities across Greater Manchester. We facilitate promote, support and develop recreational activities, events, fundraising, and project planning support, catering, and trips out. We welcome and support people with special needs and disabilities from all backgrounds to all our activites and events.
Meet Our Team
I founded Make a Difference in November, 2017 and since then, I have seen the community grow and strengthen in meeting the needs of the local people. I myself, have worked in the voluntary sector for over 25 years and I love facilitating several community groups to promote health and well-being initiatives for children, young people and adults. My role has broadened into supporting and establishing programmes aimed at reducing poverty and helping to improve the lives for people who live in deprived areas. This role seeks to involve communities in seeking solutions to the problems they face in partnership with statutory and voluntary bodies. As well as that, I am passionate about cooking and travelling. I love to plan ahead and be organized, I guess good qualities for the work I do. I am proud of my Indian heritage which I share in my groups to raise awareness of different cultures and traditions in the communities we all live in.
I am currently teaching A-Level Sociology in a Sixth Form College and I am proud to say that my students’ have achieved the top 20% results in the UK for three consecutive years. I have a range of effective teaching techniques from questioning to assess progress and focusing on exam skills to apply knowledge learnt. In addition to developing students’ subject knowledge I also ensure students familiarise themselves with mark schemes and focus on the exam structure to ensure students reach the top band. I am currently an examiner for AQA, so have received all relevant training in regards to the Sociology specification.
I have taught A-Level Sociology and GCSE Sociology in the UK for three years.
- Exam focus/Skills
- Questioning
- Retrieval activities including keeping year 1 content alive
- Subject- Sociology
I am Bernard and I have worked in the voluntary sector for over 20 years. At the moment, I am the Chairman and Centre Manager for the Heaton Norris Community Centre in Stockport. And I volunteer at the Art Attack Youth group, the Seniors’ Tea Dance and the Shine Well-Being group every week. I’ve been told I am a very passionate and caring person who goes out of my way to support people in need. I do know I am a people’s person and I love to spend time chatting and talking to people to get to know them.
At the Sunshine Well Being group I facilitate the darts, snooker, football, football and any physical movement or games that the young people want to participate in. I am 26 years old and by day, I work as a Mortgage Underwriter for a corporate company in Manchester and every Wednesday evening I volunteer at the Sunshine group. I have lived in Longsight all my life so I have a good understanding of the issues in the area that young people face. I get to know the people in the group one to one which I prefer. In my other spare time I love to cook and am an avid Manchester United football fan.
I’m Jan Bennett, mum to 6 amazing children. I have worked in the voluntary sector now for about 10 years.
I have a passion for encouraging young people to have aspirations in life and helping them achieve them. I’m passionate about invisible disabilities awareness and support and always happy to help if I can.
I’m also qualified to deliver autism awareness workshops, I can deliver and create challenging behaviour workshops as well as deliver my own family’s personal journey living with invisible disabilities.
In my spare time I enjoy going out to local pub or local club and meals with my husband and friends , I am also a huge shopaholic
Hi, my name is Ken, I have been around youth work for around 5 years in a part-time capacity, working with young people who have been experiencing minor mental health issues. My back ground and full-time roles have been in the care sector over a 20-year period. This has ranged from residential work in settings that support clients with learning disabilities over a 24/7 period. In this setting the support I have provided has been around developing independence through structured programs that the clients have been involved in. I have also set projects up in the community to further support this independence and allow them full access to facilities that everyone enjoys.
This belief of supporting others to achieve has much as they can from life stems from my background in occupational therapy and further experience working in a mental health rehab unit with detained patients. Again, supporting patients to get as much from life has possible and regain lost skills due to major mental illness and return to living independently.
I currently work has a mental advocate where I support the rights of detained patients in ward rounds within mental health law so that their needs and wishes are met. This could be access or leave off the ward or medication issues or after care planning,
My experience has taught me that young people in general are over looked and face many barriers that may not be apparent, and I believe that they are the key to a better future, not only for themselves but everyone.
In my spare time I like to go to the gym, cycle, walk and spend a fair time in the Lakes.
I teach language skills through citizenship to people from different BAME communities. I am lucky enough to have a PGCE, a TEFL and lived in China a few years. With parents coming from the Caribbean and a great volunteer, I’m really glad to have the opportunity to use my experiences and skills as a member of this team. Yes, I enjoy proof-reading to improve and support people’s writing whether fiction, autobiography, for work or academic.
I love watching movies, the environment, reading and meditation.