About Us

Sahil is a registered charity and a company limited not for profit voluntary organisations. We receive funding from statutory services and Big Lottery Fund grant and continue to seek funding from other sources to support the Project. Currently we are seeking some interim help.

Sahil is located in the centre of the Foleshill ward, which ranks 182 out of 8414 wards in the country in the Index of Multiple Deprivation. The percentage of people lacking formal educational qualifications in the area is over 40%.  Ward level Census data for Foleshill shows a population structure that is significantly younger then the Coventry average.  35.6% of Foleshill residents are younger then 20, as against a citywide figure of 27.2%; by contrast, 13.6% are over 60, while the citywide figure is 19.8%. 

The population of the neighbourhood is enormously varied in terms of ethnic origin.  According to the 2001 census, 33% of the population are white and 62% are of Asian or Asian British origin.  The Asian population has its origins principally in India (33% and Pakistan (24%).  In terms of religious persuasion, 26.5% of the population described themselves as Christian, 29% as Muslim, 15.6% as Sikhs and 11.1% as Hindu.    

Our service employs 8 staff (3 full-time and 5 part-time) and uses 14 volunteer helpers. Many of the women who volunteer are ex service users. By volunteering, they learn new skills, build their self-esteem and gain confidence to move into employment. Sahil is situated on the main Foleshill Road a district shopping centre that offers a wide range of retail outlets and other services including banking and fast food shops.

We are open five days a week and last year we saw 800 women resulting in 2,353 contacts. Women who use our services come from a range of backgrounds, 33% are Muslim, 42% are Sikh and 25% are Hindu.

There is a need to continually recruit more volunteers and to  provide top-up training to existing volunteers. The training programme is Open College Network accredited and will be delivered annually and consists of the following:-