The Chinese In Wales Association (CIWA) is a charitable organisation which delivers services that make a positive difference to the lives of ethnic Chinese residents in Wales.
CIWA was formed in 2017 by a group of enthusiastic volunteers to meet the changing demography and needs of Chinese community members across Wales.
At CIWA, we are committed to promoting cultural awareness, community integration, cohesion and well-being. With core aims including the promotion of social inclusion, we work with people in Wales who are socially excluded on the grounds of their ethnic origin, age, disability, ill health, and poverty amongst other factors, focusing on members of the Chinese community. We address the various needs of the Chinese community and help to integrate the Chinese community effectively into wider society.
CIWA is a community-led, grassroots association, with its head office in Swansea. We currently have about 500 households registered as community supporters across Wales and over 2,000 followers on our different social media platforms.
We are operating a drop-in community hub based in 2nd Floor, Swansea Grand Theatre. Our commitment and range of core services has developed rapidly since we were established. Our trustees, current staff members and key volunteers have trained and developed skills, gaining a rich experience in organising and delivering projects and activities to meet the community’s needs.
One of our main focus areas is the provision of language services in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, alongside advocacy, information service and case referral. We aim to help people overcome language barriers in accessing public services and we work closely with local organisations and authorities to be a voice for the Chinese community.
Another key group that we support is children with special needs in Chinese families; specialising in autism and related conditions. We organise activities and therapeutic programmes for children and their siblings, whilst also supporting their parents and carers. We are dedicated to educating and enhancing awareness within Chinese community and beyond.
Many of our activities for the Chinese community are based around well-being. For children and adolescents, we offer activities like homework club, music classes and sports activities such as badminton and table tennis. This not only supports the child's intellectual development, but also provides them contact with the wider community, as well as supporting the physical and social wellbeing of our young people. For adults and older people, we provide language classes, talks/workshops, physical and social activities. Through the activities, we hope to enrich the spare time of our community members, bring people together and improve well-being.
One of our senior service users, Mr Pan, said:
"I live alone with limited English. I truly appreciate CIWA's staff and volunteers provide selfless advocacy service to help me cope with my daily life. I also feel less lonely when participating in their activities."
Our Chinese New Year celebrations in Swansea attract thousands of visitors annually, one of the visitors told us:
"This was a really great event! Lovely performances and activities! Definitely going to attend next year!"
For more information about what we do, please visit our website: chineseinwales.org.uk , or follow us on WeChat, Facebook and Twitter @Chineseinwales
Please support us to support others! We thank you kindly for your donation.
