DAWN is a charitable organisation that works for the betterment of communities and provides emotional and social wellbeing support to the local community in Harrow and others in the neighbouring boroughs. They provide a wide range of services in a culturally sensitive environment including: counselling for all difficult and stressful situations and educational, cultural and recreational opportunities. The latter include: seminars and workshops, creative writing and arts clubs that include literature, poetry, music, dance and drama classes, and talks for continued personal development and intellectual growth to help alleviate isolation, loneliness and distress to improve quality of life. They also run confidential support groups, including a weekly group for mothers-to-be and new mothers who are experiencing depression and anxiety.
A significant part of DAWN's work is dedicated to a culturally specific counselling service under the name of Yakeen, which has been running for over 25 years. Yakeen was created as a discrete, standalone, counselling project aimed at addressing the culturally sensitive needs of women. Although the primary beneficiaries of Dawn’s services are women, it has opened limited access to its counselling service to Asian men since April 2013. Counselling is available in a number of user friendly, community languages to ease communication and help clients overcome and discover better coping mechanism to deal with the underlying issues causing them distress, emotional and at times physical pain or discomfort.
NB: Counselling sessions are charged on a sliding scale based on your income and personal circumstances. Please refer to this page for details of charges.
Address:
1 St Kilda's Road, Harrow, HA1 1QD
Area serviced:
Harrow and all neighbouring boroughs e.g. Brent, Ealing, Hayes, Hillingdon and Hounslow
Opening times:
Monday-Tuesday-Friday 9am-5pm; Wednesday- Thursday 9am-7 pm; counselling specifically for men Wednesday and Thursday
Waiting times:
3 to 4 weeks for men counselling
Who is it for:
Men and women of all ethnicities
Languages:
Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi and Urdu
Disabled access:
Yes, on ground floor
Charges:
Counselling fees vary from person to person according to income - check the website for more details
Buses:
Any that serve Harrow Bus Station (182, 186, 183)
Train/tube:
Harrow on the Hill (Metropolitan, National Rail)
Parking:
None on site, but centre is near the St. George's and St. Ann's car parks