DERMAN for the wellbeing of the Kurdish and Turkish Communities

Who we are

The word ‘DERMAN’ has the same meaning in both Kurdish and Turkish – strength, solution, cure.

WHO WE ARE?

Derman, a registered charity and company limited by guarantee, was set up in Hackney in 1991 by members of the Turkish, Turkish Cypriot and Kurdish communities in partnership with local GPs and the health authority.

WHAT WE DO?

Deman provides a range of health-related services to Kurdish, Turkish, Turkish Cypriot and Eastern European Turkish people mainly refugees and asylum seekers mainly in Hackney.

The services include Counselling/Psychological Therapies, Mental Health Recovery Support, Welfare Advice, Health Advocacy and Activity Groups for individuals and families.

Derman offers its services freely, at no cost, to all Kurdish, Turkish, Turkish Cypriot and Eastern European Turkish people mainly Hackney irrespective of their political, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Derman’s services are all completely non-denominational and politically unaligned.

Derman is one of the very first to be firmly based within its client community. Derman remains unique and provides a model for others to learn from for two essential reasons:

• Derman is a good example of a self-help organisation springing out of its constituent community. London is a truly multi-lingual, multi-cultural city – a vital resource for this country and its people. The Kurdish, Turkish, Turkish Cypriot and EU Turkish people make a key contribution to the economy, gastronomy and culture of London.
• Secondly Derman is also an excellent example of holistic care, the importance of which is increasingly recognized today. An individual needs to be treated as a whole person not just as having an illness or a problem. Otherwise that individual is confronted by a separate collection of services often unrelated to each other and they fall between the gaps.