About Us | Minority Ethnic Support Armagh

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Minority Ethnic Support Armagh is a non-governmental organisation comprised of Minority ethnic groups working in partnership in the Armagh City and the surrounding catchment area

Since 1991 Armagh Traveller Support was formed which developed to become Armagh Roma Traveller Support in 2020 to include the growing Roma community settling in the area. In April 2025 the organisation again developed to Minority Ethnic Support to properly represent the ever changing minority ethnic communities settling in the Armagh area. Our organisation has an established track record in innovative and ground-breaking work using a collective community development approach to addressing Traveller issues and promoting their rights which has been adopted to ensure the same outcome for the Roma community and is now branching out to include all Ethnic communities.

Aims and Objectives of MESA

MESA is dedicated to empowering nomadic, migrant, asylum seekers and refugee individuals by addressing their unique needs and promoting their rights and inclusion in society. Our core objectives, aligned with The Community Development National Occupational Standards, include:

Empowerment: Enabling all ethnic minority individuals to express and address their needs.

Partnerships: Collaborating with statutory, voluntary, and community agencies to provide culturally sensitive services.

Advocacy: Confronting racism and discrimination, advocating for social justice, equity, equality, and human rights.

Community-led: Ensuring our work is guided by the communities we support.

Participation and Representation: Promoting full participation in all aspects of life and encouraging community representation.

Support and Belonging: Fostering a sense of belonging, safety, and respect for the cultural ways of life.

Facts and figures

First formed in the 1980’s
Became constituted in 1991
Name change in 2020 to include Roma community
Name change in 2025 to include all Minority Ethnic Communities.
Rich and diverse collection of communities from worldwide now settled in the Armagh area

Services Provided by MESA

The core part of our work is a family support service providing:

Advice/ information/ support and advocacy on key issues including;

To achieve our objectives, MESA offers a comprehensive wraparound service that adopts a person-centred and holistic approach. Our open-door policy ensures that everyone in need is welcomed. Our key services include:

Family Support Services: Assistance with various family-related issues such as health and well-being, social welfare benefits, education, accommodation and employment.

Legal and Advocacy Services: Providing legal support and advocating for the rights of individuals.

Know your rights: Awareness of your rights compared with expectations.

Anti-Racism and discrimination: Awareness of these and reporting of same whether at school at work or as a customer.

Primary Health Care Services: working with the NINES service in the first instance and/to ensuring access to essential health care services by supporting individuals to register with GP, dentist, optician and podiatrist etc.

Child safety: Education on anti-bullying /online bullying, social media awareness

After-School Programs: Educational and recreational activities for children.

Tutoring: Extra help for children struggling within the education system

Parenting Programs: Early intervention, support and resources for parents and children under 5 years old.

Programs for Girls and Women: Initiatives specifically tailored for the needs of girls and women.

Healthy eating: Know your body, eat and cook healthier.

Listening Ear and Befriending Service: Offering emotional support and companionship and referral to the necessary organisations.

English Classes: Providing language education to improve communication and integration.

Cultural Celebration Events: Hosting events that celebrate tradition and heritage, and promote cultural pride.

Safe Place initiative: A designed safe place within our offices for the support and facilitation of efforts to relieve immediate:

Road Policing, Safety and Education Programme: Ensuring newcomers understand road law in NI and the documentation legally required, driving theory lessons.

Race/ Hate Crime Awareness Project: Making all newcomers aware of what hate speech is/crime is and how to report it.

Cultural Celebration Events: Hosting events that celebrate tradition and heritage, and promote cultural pride.

Road Policing, Safety and Education Programme: Ensuring newcomers understand road law in NI and the documentation legally required, driving theory lessons.

Race/ Hate Crime Awareness Project: Making all newcomers aware of what hate speech is/crime is and how to report it.

Impact and Community Reach

The discrepancy between official census figures and the lived realities observed by local support groups suggests significant underreporting and underrepresentation of the minority ethnic population in Armagh. This is particularly evident among Roma communities, asylum seekers, and refugees. Contributing factors likely include language barriers, mistrust of authorities, and difficulties navigating the census process.

To gain a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of local ethnic minority demographics and needs, a localized needs assessment is essential. This assessment should be carried out collaboratively by community organisations, local authorities, and academic institutions, combining both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods.

Such an approach would allow for more effective planning and delivery of services, enabling support strategies to be tailored to the lived experiences of these communities.

MESA currently engages with over 550 families on a regular basis, but we are aware that many more remain unreached or unsupported. A robust needs assessment would not only help bridge this gap, but also ensure equity, inclusion, and representation for all minority ethnic individuals in the Armagh area.

Commitment to Equity and Social Justice

MESA's holistic and community-centred approach reflects our commitment to improving the well-being of all minority ethnic communities in the Armagh and the surrounding catchment area. Our efforts promote inclusion, equality, and empowerment, ensuring these communities are valued and respected within society.

Culture Awareness Training & Cultural Diversity Training

Minority Ethnic communities experience poorer health than the general populations leading to a reduced life expectancy.

It is incumbent on public services to tackle these inequalities in health outcomes. However, it is recognised that they are multifaceted in origin and influenced by the social determinants of health, but they are certainly linked to the challenges of discrimination and prejudice which are very real problems facing a lot of the Minority Ethnic communities today.

There is an increasing awareness that public services need to respect the cultural and ethnic identity of Ethnic communities when they access services

The objectives of the training are to:

To raise awareness of Ethnic Minorities needs and issues
To provide information on Ethnic Minorities cultures and how this impacts the use of services
To identify the main barriers experienced by Ethnic minorities in accessing services
To identify ways of moving forward to improve access and uptake of services