{"id":15053,"date":"2018-04-24T13:17:47","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T12:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=15053"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:47","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:47","slug":"mary-seacole-awards-unite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=15053","title":{"rendered":"Honouring Mary Seacole"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amid the Windrush\u00c2\u00a0immigration scandal<\/a>, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never been more important to celebrate our Commonwealth brothers and sisters and their present and historic contributions.<\/p>\n

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Mary Seacole, a Jamaican-Scottish nurse<\/a> who tended to soldiers during the Crimean War, is one such figure who is remembered for her bravery and selfless dedication to serving others.<\/p>\n

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Despite being turned down by the War Office when she first volunteered her services, she wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let anything stop her \u00e2\u20ac\u201c she travelled on her own and helped nurse soldiers wounded in battlefield. She also set up a hotel for sick and recuperating soldiers.<\/p>\n

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One way Mary Seacole is honoured today is through the Mary Seacole Awards. Each year, the Awards are granted to individual nurses, midwives or health visitors to fund a project that aims to improve the health outcomes of people in BAME communities. Applications are open now and Unite is encouraging all its eligible members to apply.<\/p>\n

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Let’s talk FGM<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite member and health visitor at\u00c2\u00a0Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust Joanne McEwan, winner of the Mary Seacole Awards in 2015, used her grant to develop an app, Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Talk FGM<\/a>, to help tackle the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)<\/a> in Oxfordshire.<\/p>\n

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For Joanne, FGM was an issue close to her heart because she lived and worked for over a decade in Egypt, where the practice is common. When she returned to the UK, she wanted to do something to tackle FGM in her local community.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very little knowledge or training about FGM \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not something that people are initially very open about,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she told UNITElive.<\/p>\n

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That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when Joanne had the idea for the app (pictured below) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a resource that health visitors could use to open up a conversation about the practice and educate families and health workers alike.<\/p>\n

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\"lets<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAll health visitors are given an iPad so it worked well with the equipment we had. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot more convenient than say, a paper information pack would be. It also helps that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something that health visitors and their clients can look at together \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it can sometimes be a bit unnerving for clients to make eye contact when discussing something as sensitive as FGM so using the app can make them comfortable enough to open up.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Initially only available on the iPad and designed to support health visitors and the families they attended to locally in Oxfordshire, a new version of the app will be on multiple platforms and is both national and global in scope.<\/p>\n

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All the app\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s content can now be accessed online<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it includes several videos where people talk openly about FGM<\/a>. In one video, a group of men discuss how the practice has affected their families and communities and the need for them as men to stand up and say no to FGM.<\/p>\n

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Another video features survivors speaking out about their experience, while another interviews a clinician who walks through an example patient consultation at an FGM clinic. There is also a video of a Muslim cleric dispelling the myth that FGM is a recommended practice in Islam.<\/p>\n

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Joanne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s app, which has received positive feedback across the UK and even internationally, all started as a small idea and was only made possible by the Mary Seacole Awards.<\/p>\n

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Leadership training<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was very humbling to have received the award and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very thankful to everyone involved. More than just the financial backing for your project, the award gives you the authenticity and credibility to take it forward,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Joanne noted.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou receive excellent support throughout the entire process and it really increased my confidence \u00e2\u20ac\u201d leadership and media training were both invaluable.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Joanne encourages all those interested to apply \u00e2\u20ac\u201d even if they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a fully formed idea.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSome people might think that doing something like developing an app is beyond their capabilities. But what I did was develop the idea and the content with lots of support which the Mary Seacole Awards facilitates. My advice to prospective applicants is to not feel overwhelmed or intimidated if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know exactly what your project might be or where it will end up \u00e2\u20ac\u201d that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the whole process and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get help all along the way.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Helping those ‘likely to be forgotten’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Joanne believes the focus on BAME communities is an integral aspect of the Mary Seacole Awards.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAll too often grants or projects in health focus on the health outcomes of the population as a whole, which tend to exclude groups who are already marginalised. With the Mary Seacole Awards, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re empowered to support those who are likely to be forgotten.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI always say that women, immigrants, and BAME groups \u00e2\u20ac\u201d they aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t separate from our society. They are our brothers and sisters, our families, friends and neighbours. They are part of who we are and as public servants we have a collective responsibility to each and every one of our citizens.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Unite lead professional officer and Mary Seacole Awards chair Obi Amadi agreed as she paid tribute Seacole.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important that we continue to honour Mary Seacole in terms of all she did in the Crimea despite the obstacles put in her way and the discrimination she faced,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bJust as she did outstanding work then, these awards now support nurses, midwives and health visitors to do important healthcare activity projects that benefit and improve health outcomes for BAME communities.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Find out more about how to apply for the Mary Seacole Awards<\/a> here \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the deadline to apply is May 5.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid the Windrush\u00c2\u00a0immigration scandal, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never been more important to celebrate our Commonwealth brothers and sisters and their present and historic contributions.   Mary Seacole, a Jamaican-Scottish nurse who tended to soldiers during the Crimean War, is one such figure who is remembered for her bravery and selfless dedication to serving others.   Despite being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[77,916],"wps_subtitle":"Unite encourages eligible members to apply for awards","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15053"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15053"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26249,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15053\/revisions\/26249"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}