ABOUT THE SIKH AWARENESS SOCIETY Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh The Sikh Awareness Society (SAS) was established in 1998 amongst growing concerns of the 'grooming' of our youth. In Britain today Sikh youth are still actively targeted on the basis of their religion and history. This historically linked hate-crime causes much emotional distress to the families involved with the majority of these cases ending up in abuse. Under common Punjabi mentality, these issues are still considered 'taboo' and are rarely addressed by the Gurdwara Sahibs, and Sikh community leaders. Therefore the victims of this hate-crime tend to suffer in silence. The SAS was initially set up to deal with these issues. Since 1998 the SAS has grown to tackle many more issues affecting the Sikh community and the Sikh youth in Britain today. We are now regarded as a leading independent Sikh advisory board, speaking for the concerns of the Sikh Sangat. The SAS originally operated as a discreet, confidential service, providing counselling and support to the West Midlands Sikh community. Due to an increasing number of calls from distressed Sikh families; in April 2006 we decided to expand our services and go nationwide, to address the Sikh Sangat to the issues and problems facing our community. We initially started out in 'problem areas' i.e. towns/cities where we knew of serious hate-crime in the past. We quickly came to realise it is a national problem and far more deep-rooted.   THE ROLE OF THE S.A.S • Raises awareness of current problems facing the Sikh community. • Provides a confidential 24-hour telephone and call-out service to the Sikh Sangat. • Counselling and rehabilitation programs. • Promotes greater understanding of Sikh religious concepts and history. • Sikh out-reach programs. • Provides 'Big Brother' and 'Big Sister' support for Sikh youth • Acts as a liaison body between the Sikh youth and the Committees of the Gurdwara Sahibs. • Works to document and expose hate-crime and human rights violations against Sikhs.   ABOUT THE SIKH AWARENESS SOCIETY Raising Awareness - Seminars 23 seminars held at Gurdwara Sahibs, camps, universities and colleges - raising awareness of key issues affecting the Sikh community. Raising Awareness - Meetings * Meeting with London Metropolitan police - minorities' liaison officers & hate-crime departments. * Meeting with representative of The Department for Education – raising concerns of the radicalisation and grooming of Sikh youth at British universities. * Meetings with Gurdwara Committees – developing strategies to support local Sikh sangat. Counselling, Rehabilitation & Support * Reconciled 39 young Sikhs with their families, and providing continuous support and guidance. * One to one counselling and support provided to 67 families. * Supporting victims of racially motivated hate crime. * Supporting people influenced by the affects of drink and drugs. * 24-hour telephone support. Police and Prosecution * 3 cases where the SAS has worked with the victims and the police to pursue prosecution under Paedophile Grooming Laws * The SAS has highlighted over 10 cases of racially motivated assault and abuse to the Police. Out Reach Programs * Initiated 7 National out-reach programs. * 4 Week Sikhi camp held at the tranquil settings of Baru Sahib - India Sikh Awareness Society Members * 27 new Sewadars Nationwide - each providing unique skills. We would like to say a heartfelt thank-you to all those who have supported our endeavour. A special thank-you to the youth who had the courage to stand up to intimidation and those who stood by us during testing times.* We are seeking someone who can write articles, document hate-crime and human rights violations for our new website *Those of you who would like to get involved in your local area, or have ideas or suggestions please contact us.We would greatly appreciate your feedback - tell us about your experiences, issues that affect you and about topics you think we should tackle.

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