Tallo Information Centre

Tallo Information Centre is a community centre on South Acton Estate in Ealing Borough which gives advice and information to asylum seekers and refugees mainly Somali community in West London.

TALLO is run by Somali refugees and asylum seekers resident in the London Borough of Ealing. We are company limited and in the process awaiting charity status and at present have 1 full-time Coordinator, three sessional advisers/assistant youth workers and 11 volunteers. Tallo is managed by a committee of 7, of whom 3 are service users. Tallo is audited by the Community Legal Service Quality Mark at General Help and passed.

Tallo is leading a good model in working both a strategic and service delivery levels. Tallo is committed to bridge the gap from bottom and top level approach that allow full participation & empowerment, and support harmonious partnership within the Ealing Community & Voluntary Service, Ealing Community Network, Southall Community Alliance, Acton Community Forum, Ealing Racial Equality Council, Ealing Advice Forum, POLICE, Ealing Primary Care Trust, Ealing Homes, Ealing Youth Services & Connexions, Ealing Social Services, Youth Offending Services, Ealing Supplementary Schools Forum, Ealing Schools, West London Path Finder, Sufi Muslim Council, Acton Mosque and other voluntary and community organisation including those lead regeneration and employment and training projects. The projects that Tallo is providing with the community are grouped– activities for children and young people and services for adults.

Mission Statement

Tallo Information Centre aims to provide a free and high quality advice and information service that meets the needs of refugees & asylum seekers particularly Somali community in the West London. To empower and develop the capacity of the Somali community in order they are able to identify and meet their needs in holistic fashion and participate fully in society. Tallo Information Centre will provide fully accessible, impartial, confidential free community advice and information service in highly standard to all Somali residents within the London Borough of Ealing.

Our Values

The services that Tallo provide are based on values that we regard as fundamental. These are:
-Equality of Access
-Confidentiality
-Free Service to All
-Empathy and Non Judgmental Approach with Clients
-User Involvement (either Somali adults/youth) in Planning our Services
-Open Complaints Process

TIC will develop its mission/vision and value statement include;
We will provide links/services in respect of ESOL, employment and enterprise project delivered via partnership with Global Skills Limited.
Our advice will always be independent of the policies of any funders.
We will actively develop our outreach services to meet the needs of the most vulnerable members of the Somali community.
We will always involve local people and community interests in the management of the service.
We will embrace new technologies to assist us in the development of the service, example, using Sage Act to use day to day manage with full diary features.
We will develop our commitment to training staff and volunteers to achieve the highest possible standards of service delivery.

TIC Strategic Plan (the Vision)

Tallo Information Centre (TIC) holds an AGM where all its members, staff and Volunteer Management Committee members come together to review its on-going two year strategic plan and agree ideas for the next annual programme or financial year. The work plan is constantly checked by the centre manager and monitored at each TIC committee meeting, with a final review at the following AGM.

TIC AGM 2007/08

The Tallo Information Centre AGM report positively underlines that TIC will continue to provide services to Somali adults as well as young people through promoting the general charitable purposes of its work for the benefit of the community.
Looking to the future we believe that our strategic plan will include internal and external organizational developments that reflect the community needs and demands of economic regeneration that look to the services that Tallo provides. However, we must prioritise the following:
Working in partnership with the voluntary, community, private and public sectors.
Linking other Organisations deliver services to the community/forums or projects and local services focusing training, economic regeneration, and capacity building in order combating of Somali community’s social inclusion.
Motivating community participation, ownership of schemes by local groups as empowerment.
Establishing reliable programmes of monitoring and evaluation to measure achievements/success.
Support and increase representative input into South Acton Somali Forum, Ealing Local Strategic Partnership, Ealing Community Network, Ealing Somali Confederations, Acton Community Forum, South Acton Residents Action Group and other forums.
To fundraise for projects.