From a Broken Coffee Table to a Community of 400 We're proud to share that UPLIFT and our founder, Naima Ali, have been featured in the Daily Mirror. This week, the Daily Mirror visited one of our coffee mornings in Small Heath to tell the story of how UPLIFT began — and it's a story we hold close to our hearts. It started with a small act of kindness. At the school gates, Naima — a single mum of two who grew up in Kenya — noticed another mum struggling to understand that her son needed his swimming kit. She stepped in. Then she kept noticing other mothers with little English quietly struggling too. So she walked with them to Aldi, bought them a coffee, and sat at a bus stop helping them find local colleges. Within four weeks, every one of those women was enrolled in classes. That was the beginning. The group kept meeting, growing from a small room and a broken coffee table found out on the street. As Naima says, they started with almost nothing — but that table held their tea, their conversations, and their ideas. Today, many of those first women are dedicated UPLIFT volunteers, and our coffee mornings, youth groups, fitness classes and day trips bring up to 400 people through our doors every week. Thank you to the Daily Mirror for sharing Naima's journey, and to everyone who has helped UPLIFT grow. If this story moved you, there's a place for you here too. Come and join us — for a coffee morning, to volunteer, or just to find out more.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/hope-beats-hate-simple-acts-37153840
