About Us
Supporting Leicester since 2001
Originally set up to help the Somali community, Somali Development Services (SDS) offers advice and services to all the communities and cultures that call Leicester home. Whether you’re young, old, UK-born, settled, or just arrived, we can help you get the best from life
We are a community-based, non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering individuals and families through education, inclusion, employment, health & wellbeing, advice, foodbank, and environmental awareness
We believe small actions can create big change
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We believe the people and communities of Leicester, whether they’ve just arrived, settled or born here, have the right to choice, equal opportunities and a healthy way of life
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SDS is a grass roots organisation working directly with Leicester’s Somali and other communities to offer advice and programmes around health, education, training, empowerment and support. From our centre we’ve created meaningful change within the community with services such as our Baraka Foodbank, tutoring, vocational training, healthcare support and workshops
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Because we directly serve a diverse range of Leicester communities, the structure of SDS is intentionally flat to encourage participation from the people we serve and those who work and volunteer for us. SDS is a non-political and secular Community Interest Company (CIC). Governed by democratic principles, we are committed to understanding and meeting the needs of the community with a practical, collaborative and results-orientated service
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During our 25-year history, the advice and services SDS offers have had a great impact on the community. We’ve supplied laptops and devices for home schooling during the COVID-19 lockdown and more recently, helped underprivileged youth re-engage with their education. Our Building Better Opportunities program has so far delivered education and employment training to nearly 170 people. The work we do brings hope and empowerment. When asked in a 2021 survey, 68% of the people who accessed our advice and services rated their experience as ‘excellent’
Feedback from Advice, Information & Guidance service users at SDS
Our Impact
The vast majority of clients and service users we speak to tell us about how greatly the services at SDS have impacted their lives. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we managed to secure laptops and digital devices to many of the families whose children were being home-schooled as result of the lockdowns. Our Building Better Opportunities and Strive and Thrive projects have transformed the lives of those who have participated. Since their inception, we have helped nearly 170 individuals, gain employment, further their training with qualifications and progress into successful careers and education. Between 2020-21, we have helped some of the most underprivileged youth in our community reintegrate into education, with 114 participants reporting to have had improved their ability to learn. In our 2021 survey, an overwhelming number of our advice, information and guidance service users said that they would rate their experience as ‘Excellent” (68%).
