Sponsoring the Dick Whittington Pantomine, Hexagon Theatre, Reading

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It was a really busy morning on 31st December for INSAAN as we saw out 2015 with a Pantomime at the Hexagon. The “relaxed performance” of Dick Whittington proved to be a big box office hit with our Special Needs families. INSAAN sponsored over 100 people, including children, parents, grandparents and carers to attend the show. It was absolutely lovely to see everyone in a happy, joyful and festive mood. Many thanks also to the Hexagon staff for delaying the start of the performance for a few minutes as we tried to accommodate all those waiting patiently in the queue to collect their tickets.

One young lad asked a member of the INSAAN Team: “Are you Father Christmas?”, “How did you guess?” came the reply, “Because you are giving away tickets for free!!” commented the little boy.

Yo Ho Ho Ho. Happy New Year to All.

 Take a look at our photo highlights!

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Special Families Fun Day @ The Warehouse

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What an absolutely amazing Family Fun Day! This one had it all. Naats, Nasheeds, Qawaali, Henna workshop, Music Workshop, Gladiators, Soccer Shoot Out, Soft Play Area and a three course meal. Many, many, many Thanks to all the Special Needs Families that made the event a huge success. We look forward to more of the same in 2016 and beyond.Photographs Copyright INSAAN. Permission for dissemination must be obtained first.

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Culture Day & Children In Need at The Avenue School

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The Avenue School in Reading is an academy designed for children with special needs; it has a proud history of celebrating cultural activities to reflect the Multi-Ethnicity and Multi-Cultural mix of our wider community. On Friday 13th November, INSAAN joined forces with Avenue staff to celebrate Culture day and Children in Need with the super-talented children. Headteacher, Dame Sue Bourne looked the part in her dazzling black sequined sari as she introduced us to the order of the day. Poetry and scripture reading was followed by music provided by brothers Dhanyal and Idris Butt whose older brother Omar, a former Avenue School pupil, was also in the audience. Everyone joined in to clap along with the melodious tunes. We also had a sensory workshop (see, touch, taste, feel, smell) with children experimenting with aromatic herbs and spices. Cookery was also on the menu and all the children were involved in making “Aloo Tikki” (fried potato cakes) from scratch. They went down really well. Staff and pupils loved the Henna artistry workshop with many volunteers having hands and arms tatooed. Lunch was a typical Asian meal which included samosas, pakoras, pilau rice, chicken curry and chick pea curry. There was also a music workshop which the children really enjoyed; the pleasure and stimulation of “music therapy” was a sight to behold. Our day ended with pupils dressing up and letting their hair down at the school party. It was a fantastic end to a very busy and active day. We all had a great time and we hope this work will help promote to the community the contributions and talents that these young children have!

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2nd Annual General Meeting // Annual Report 2014-15

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Many thanks to all who attended the INSAAN AGM on Wednesday 2nd September 2015, 7.00-9.00pm at Aisha Masjid & Islamic Centre. The meeting was chaired by INSAAN’s Community Liaison Officer, Councillor Shahid Younis, and a full report of the preceding year was presented by Dr Asif Butt who highlighted some of the main aims and objectives INSAAN has achieved in a relatively short time. A full and comprehensive financial statement of the accounts was presented by INSAAN Treasurer, Mr Asaf Saleem. There was also a lively Q & A session with some really interesting points of view regarding the state of play between the wider community and their relationship with Families with Special Needs. The future direction of INSAAN seemed to generate a lot of passion during discussions. We will be consulting with Special Needs Families for more input on the subject. All resolutions were duly passed and Trustees re-instated for the next year.

You can Download our Annual Report 2015 below, summarising our year’s activities and progress.

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Eid Special 2015 Report @ Holiday Inn, Reading

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On Friday 31st July, we hosted the long-awaited ‘Eid Special’ – celebrating Eid with an evening of fun-filled family entertainment with delicious cuisine to promote and raise awareness for disability and the work of INSAAN at the Holiday Inn, Winnersh Triangle in Reading. The guest list included media personalities from the likes of Venus TV, Soch TV & Prime TV to businessmen, writers, charity workers, local dignitaries, including Parry Batth (the Mayor of Wokingham), the fabulous Reading residents and of course, some of our Special families. The star attraction was classically-trained, young Pakistani artist Shujat Ali Khan, grandson of the legendary musical maestro Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, son of Ustad Sharafat Ali Khan and nephew of Ustad Shafqat Ali Khan. INSAAN wanted to raise awareness and acceptance for children with special needs in our community and promote awareness of what INSAAN has done to help.

You can read the full Event Report below.

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Culture Day 2015 @ The Addington School

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On Friday 1st May 2015, INSAAN celebrated Culture Day at the Addington School in Woodley, Berkshire.

The children and young people engaged in several workshops, including sensory (look, touch, taste and smell), cooking, henna art, music and a fashion show as the Grand Finale. Thoroughly enjoyed by all.

It was an honour and a privilege to be involved with the Addington. We are hoping to make this an annual feature in the school calendar.
Thank you to the staff, pupils and volunteers for all their support.

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