The Growing Together gardening project continues to gather pace as we head into the winter break. Course publicity has been sent out to existing TREC clients with a view of starting learning early in the New Year. Links continue to be made with other similar projects based around Leicester and Leicestershire. We are grateful to have been gifted a kind donation of hand tools from The Sanctuary and Inclusion Project and look forward to these being put to good use in the near future!
As a result of the ongoing pandemic and the restrictions that are currently in place this year TREC held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) online over zoom for the first time on 1 December. The meeting, which was well attended, was briefer than past AGMs as there was no keynote speaker. The sole purpose was to agree the financial activities and report on the annual review. With the briefer meeting came a more focused discussion about TREC over the 2019/20 period. Topics addressed included TREC’s move to the Highfields Centre, the lockdown in Leicester and TREC’s response to it including the PPE measures put in place in the office to ensure as safe an environment as possible for both staff and clients. The meeting also highlighted some of TREC’s achievements over the last year like our work with Journey to Justice, and with the Leicester fire service to give a couple of examples. There was also acknowledgement of new areas of work being developed. Further areas of discussion included Leicester City Council’s move to hire a Race Equality Officer, and the importance of maintaining an independent voice for Leicester’s racial minority communities.
TREC is pleased to announce that we have started our own Instagram page. We plan to use it in conjunction with our other social media to provide further updates regarding TREC’s events and activities.
Click here to see our account.
The winner and runners up of a short fiction initiative operated by Leicester-based diversity-led arts collective Serendipity and Writing East Midlands for writers from African and African Caribbean backgrounds have been announced. The winning entry – a fantasy story about friendship and self empowerment entitled Yemi Can’t Swim: Something in the Water, – was submitted by Sarah Kelly Olatunji. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y4rmnpdm
If you or your child is aged 10 - 16 years and need support catching up on any missed schoolwork Highfields Centre is here to help. The Highfields Centre are starting a new Homework Club every Monday from 6PM to 8:30PM starting 5th October. They have a free internet connection, access to PC’s and printing services, and one to one mentoring. The Highfields Centre is offering this new service at their address 96 Melbourne Road, Leicester, LE2 0DS. If you are interested call Fatimah Li on 0116 253 1053 to book a spot, or email: info@highfieldscentre.ac.uk for further details
Black History Month (BHM) takes place each year in October. In Leicester, we mark the occasion with a programme of events that promote the history and contributions of African and Caribbean communities. Serendipity was awarded the tenure by Leicester City Council and has overseen BHM in Leicester since 2012. Each year their programming centres around a unifying theme. The theme for 2020 is Black British Theatre. As a result of the current pandemic this year’s programme will mostly be held online. For more information, including the full programme of events please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y3zkr9ha
Leicester Museum are taking a series of artworks and sculptures depicting black people out of its stores and running a project in partnership with a local black poet ‘The Orator’ and Opal22Arts to create responses to these artworks in writing and poetry. Four workshops, each looking at different works of art, will be led by The Orator, and will produce writing that will become new labels for the works on display in the museum. These workshops will be held as 4 zoom meetings, every Tuesday in October from 5:30-7pm. For more information and to Book a place please email: A flyer for the project can be downloaded here: https://tinyurl.com/y6mwmpgd
TREC Chill and Chat Group: Good news, we are restarting this group which is aimed at supporting
asylum seekers, refugees, and new arrivals to the UK. We will be providing a comfortable and safe
space to talk and learn together. The focus is on helping with general health and well-being. The
group sessions are being held every week, starting Thursday 22 October 2020 from 1.30 – 3pm.
Please adhere to Covid19 advice and restrictions when attending as space is limited to 20 people. A
face covering is essential to enter the building. This free group will be held at our offices at The
Race Equality Centre, in the Highfields Centre Youth Wing, 1st Floor, 96 Melbourne Road,
Leicester, LE2 0DS. If you or someone you know would like to attend there is no need to book a
place or call ahead, just come along. Free refreshments such as tea, coffee, and biscuits will be
provided. For further information please get in touch with Abida Hussain, Race Equality Officer for
health and well-being. Abida.Hussain@theraceequalitycentre.org.uk
The Racial Minority Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Assembly facilitate opportunities for Racial Minority community and voluntary organisations to articulate the concerns and needs of and within communities. The purpose of the Assembly is to increase the voice and influence of Racial Minority communities and ensure fair treatment and equality in the delivery of services. The Assembly is hosted by The Race Equality Centre, who provide the development and administrative support.
The objectives of the Assembly are to: “Enable Racial Minority communities and organisations to have a greater voice and influence and to challenge race inequalities in policy and decision making.”This is achieved by Integrating communication mechanisms amongst organisations, and enabling equitable empowerment of Racial Minority communities and organisations.
We are currently offering Micro Grants ranging between £500-£1000 to Racial Minority voluntary sectoror ganisations experiencing difficult times during Covid-19. This financial support is limited and will be on a first come first serve basis.For more information about the Assembly, how to join,or for an application form to access the fund please contact: Fiona Francis, (Racial Minority VCS Assembly)Tel: 0116 2042790 Email: fiona.francis@theraceequalitycentre.org.uk
In this show Leicester Community Radio will be talking to you and each other. They will be talking about their lives in Leicester to expose the parallels between what they have gone through and the experiences of others. It is because we are each expert in our own lives that this show was developed. They want to offer some insight into Their lives and the lives of others around us and in doing so increase mutual understanding.
How the show works
Each week there will be three hosts talking, listening, and responding to each other in free-flowing conversation around a theme or event. The chat will be punctuated with music, news, and community updates.
How can you be involved?
· If you want to be a host
· If you want to suggest a host
· If you want to comment, criticise, or complement
· If you want to suggest a theme, topic or talking point
· Or ask a question
Life Chat every Thursday between 12 noon and 1pm
GET IN TOUCH
Leicester Community Radio https://onlineradiobox.com/uk/leicestercommunity/
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is vitally important for new arrivals in Leicester. Being able to read, write and engage in verbal communication using English is essential for people to fully participate in society and, especially, to gain employment.
TREC has been providing ESOL classes since the summer of 2017 and has helped hundreds of learners to improve their English. This, in turn, has enabled many people to get jobs or enter further and higher education.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 put a stop to face-to-face ESOL classes and they were suspended.
However, we are in the process of setting up an ESOL and Horticulture project called Growing Together. This will enable people to learn about growing fruit and vegetables, whilst simultaneously improving their English language abilities.
Initially, learners will receive certificates of participation but our intention is to seek accredited status for the courses.
Although the project uses horticulture as the focus, many of the topics to be covered (such as health and safety in work situation) will be of value to learners in their search for work in a variety of settings.
We plan to deliver the first few modules online and then utilise a plot of land that has been made available to us so that learners have the practical experience of growing produce.
As well as growing fruit and vegetables, learners will improve their English and develop team-working skills. Hence the project name Growing Together!
We regularly find articles in local and national press that will be of interest to you see links below, we will regularly update here any new articles that are of importance, so keep an eye out.
NATIONAL NEWS
UK’s ‘Only Black Farmer’ Calls For Food Industry To Take Black Lives Matter Seriously
One of the UK’s only Black farmers is calling for the agricultural industry to do more to support the Black Lives Matter movement beyond ‘internal HR fluff’. Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, who is 63, was awarded an MBE for services to farming in the Queen’s Honor’s List this year. He was a child of the Windrush generation arriving in Britain from Jamaica at the age of four and has dedicated his working life to the UK agricultural industry, founding The Black Farmer brand. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y33gff5f
Investigation Launched After Black Barrister Mistaken For Defendant Three Times In A Day
The head of the courts service in England and Wales has apologised to a black barrister after she was stopped and mistaken for a defendant three times in one day at court. Kevin Sadler, the acting chief executive of HM Courts and Tribunals Service, has condemned the “totally unacceptable behaviour” and promised to investigate the complaint made by Alexandra Wilson, who specialises in criminal and family cases. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y4sbledd
How Black Working-Class Youth Are Criminalised And Excluded In The English School System
The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has released a paper called How Black Working-Class Youth are Criminalised and Excluded in the English School System: A London Case Study. This paper reveals that over the past forty years, exclusion from mainstream school has coincided with systematic ‘educational enclosure’. This report aims to support important on-going campaigns for education justice, by excavating the specific political conditions that have ushered in regressive reforms. For more information, and to read the report in full please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y3rnkvwx
We Must Rebuild The Sport And Physical Activity Sector Better Than Before
Dr. Marilyn Comrie, director of The Blair Project has written a blog post on why things must be different in the sport and physical activity sector following the coronavirus crisis and the Black Lives Matter movement. She uses this post to highlight some of the ways practical changes could make a big difference for the better to the sport and physical activity sector. We at TREC definitely feel its worth a read so for more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y5qsyjts
Legal & General Warns FTSE 100 Firms Over Lack Of Ethnic Diversity
The UK’s biggest fund manager has warned FTSE 100 companies with all-white boards that it will vote against those that fail to diversify their leadership teams by 2022. Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), which has £1.2tn in assets, has also written to the bosses of S&P 500 companies in the US, saying it expects their boardrooms to include at least one black, Asian or other minority ethnic (BAME) member by January 2022 as well. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y6bsfwcx
Two Thirds Of Minority Ethnic People In Britain Believe Police Are Biased Against Them, Poll Shows
Two thirds of black and minority ethnic people in Britain believe the police are biased against them, a new survey by the charity Hope Not Hate has found. The poll has revealed that four out of five black respondents think the police are biased against people of their ethnicity, as do the same number of respondents from Bangladeshi backgrounds. In total, 65 per cent of those who took part in the survey, all of which are from ethnic minority backgrounds, agreed the police were biased against people from their ethnic group. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y2ybpvax
Tightening Oldham Lockdown Would Fuel Racism And 'Cripple' Economy, Says Council
Forcing Oldham into a tighter lockdown would not only “cripple” the local economy but fuel racial tensions, the council’s deputy leader has warned the government. Officials from the Cabinet Office toured Oldham on Wednesday, led by local politicians and health experts desperate to avoid a “Leicester-style” lockdown. Arooj Shah, Oldham’s deputy leader, told the Guardian that racism was on the increase in the district after it was singled out as an infection hotspot three weeks ago, with the Pakistani community particularly badly hit. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y6d2fxmm
Met Police: 'Knee-On-Neck' PC Subject Of Assault Investigation
A police officer has been told he is the subject of a criminal investigation over an arrest in which a black man appeared to have his neck knelt on. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating the actions of two Met Police officers who detained Marcus Coutain on 16th July. It is looking at whether the use of force in the arrest was "appropriate". Mr Coutain was filmed telling officers to "get off my neck" as he was arrested in Finsbury Park, north London. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/yxgkmamm
The Racism Faced By Teenagers In The UK: New Research
The popular narrative is that that racism is not as big an issue in Britain as it is in the US. New research by Sarah Page, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology at Staffordshire University disputes this idea. With a team of research assistants, she investigated teenagers’ personal experiences of victimisation and the effects this had on their health and wellbeing. The young people they worked with, who were all from the Midlands region of England, encountered racism and discrimination at school, on social media, and in their wider community. Their research findings show that racism sadly remains an issue for young people in British society. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y52eo9m4
The Hidden Epidemic Of Racism In UK Schools
Intisar Chowdhury, a teenager whose father sadly died from Covid-19 earlier in the pandemic has worked to produce a dossier detailing the stories of BAME teenagers and the racism they face at school. This dossier presents a horrific indicator of the abuse and even assaults dished out to black and Asian children by their peers and sometimes teachers in English schools. This collection gives a record by BAME students who usually don’t have a voice on the public stage of their daily humiliations, the sort of thing that teens don’t tell their parents, out of guilt or a sense of isolation. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y4gyflda
Young, British, And Black
The death of George Floyd in the US sparked the UK’s biggest anti-racism protests in centuries, and young people have been some of the loudest voices behind the UK’s recent anti-racism protests. The Guardian has run a special feature where they have spoken to 50 young Black Britons at the heart of these rallies. This collection of some of their thoughts and stories is well worth a read giving a snapshot of some of their experiences living in this country and, acting as a reminder of what the protests have been and continue to be about. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y2uzm4u6
The Black Curriculum
The Black Curriculum is a social enterprise founded in 2019 by young people to address the lack of Black British history in the UK Curriculum. They believe that by delivering arts focused Black history programmes, providing teacher training and campaigning through mobilising young people, they can facilitate social change. Their programmes are for all young people aged 8-16 and aims to equip young people with a sense of identity, and the tools for a diverse landscape. They are working towards changing the national curriculum and building a sense of identity in every young person in the UK. For more information on this group, and on their campaign please click here: https://tinyurl.com/ycp7jxq7
A judge has been heavily criticised after he freed a Leicester man who called a man the n-word and told him he should be lynched. Liam Daw, who grew up in Leicester, was drunk and walking down a street in Torquay in Devon when he saw the victim through a window of a ground floor room. The victim was in his own property and had never seen Daw in his life before, reports Devon Live. Daw kicked at the window to attract his attention and shouted racial abuse through the glass until the owner came out. Daw moved down the road shouting ‘you f***ing n*****, you should be lynched’. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y27hd4en
In the wake of the recent Black Lives Matter protests, we as educators and people with an interest in the education and welfare of young people in Leicester, feel a sense of responsibility to take leadership at this moment to challenge racism and improve the curriculum.
We understand this is a highly challenging time for schools, but feel it is crucial they acknowledge that students, parents, governors and staff are affected by two pandemics; Covid-19 and racism. These pledges alone are seen as a starting point to show a school’s willingness to engage in dialogue and begin their journey to becoming an Anti-Racist School.
We call on schools to:
1. Release a statement in support of the BLM movement.
2. Display clear information on how to report racist incidents & commit to releasing data in relation to this.
3. Carry out Equality Impact Assessments on all school policies and practices and review and rewrite accordingly.
4. Redesign the curriculum to include the teaching of racism, migration, Empire and colonialism. 5. Provide training for all staff & Governors focusing on “racial literacy” i.e. an understanding as institutional & structural and the history behind it so enabling them to see and respond to, the ways the education system can and does reproduce racism and racial inequalities.
All schools signing will be invited to contribute to the development of next steps and will receive support and resources as required.
All staff and Governors should be made aware of why these actions are necessary and Black students, wherever possible, should be given priority to express their opinions.
Educators and school leaders, we care deeply about all our young people and want them to feel safe and welcome in school. This feels like a significant moment and we want to take the lead and carry the momentum into the new academic year.
For more information contact Ruth Sinhal at ruthsinhal@gmail.com
Leicestershire Police’s hate crime data for the period January 2020 to June 2020 is now available to view. There is data on the number of hate crimes recorded comparing types of hate crimes, a breakdown of religious hate crimes by faith, more detailed outcomes of those hate crimes including how many were cautioned, or charged, and crimes by hate crime type. For more information, and to download a Powerpoint presentation of this data please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y4xv2272
TRECs own Surinder Sharma has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director and Inclusion Advisory Group Chair at Leicestershire & Rutland County FA (LRCFA). LRCFA has launched its Inclusion Advisory Group (IAG) with a view to further progress and streamline the work towards the objective of “Football for All”. The IAG is an independent body which provides advice to the LRCFA Board on matters of equality, diversity and inclusion to ensure children, young people and adults of all backgrounds and communities can access high-quality opportunities across grassroots football. For more information please click here: https://www.leicestershirefa.com/news/2020/jul/14/new-iag chair-appointed
Following Government guidance TREC has reopened its offices for clients with social distancing measures in place. If you have an appointment you will be placed in TREC’s reception area until taken into the youth wing for your meeting by the appropriate officer. The youth wing will have 4
tables with divider screens, and a hand sanitiser on each. People will access TREC’s floor by going up in the lift and down via the stairs.
In the case of a person arriving with an emergency and no appointment, the person will be guided to the concourse area until they can be seen. Should the required officer not be working on that day an appointment will be made and any documents placed into an envelope with officer/client details and the date they attended the office.
TREC Affiliate member Wajeeda Yusuf has written a report on online accountability.
“After the announcement that some areas in Leicester and Leicestershire would be the first to go into a local lockdown the media spotlight was firmly on Leicester for that week and weeks to come. There have been rumours and relentless racial bias that has been plastered across front pages of newspapers, homepages of online news websites, which has resulted in opening the floodgates for many racist comments across comment sections in both local and national press. This research is a small snapshot of the impact that the press can have on communities including examples of bias which led to online attacks on groups of people and also add fuel to racist, xenophobic and bigoted views that cause distress to communities in Leicester and across the UK. We understand and respect the need for freedom of press and therefore propose a solution that is more pragmatic which enables clear transparency and a view to encourage ethical digital journalism in order to understand the impact of what news agencies publish.”
We regularly find articles in local and national press that will be of interest to you see links below, we will regularly update here any new articles that are of importance, so keep an eye out.
National News
• Three Resign From National Emergencies Trust Equity Working Group
Three BAME sector figures have resigned from an equity working group organised by the National Emergencies Trust, expressing concerns that their presence was simply to “validate decisions that had already been made”. Yvonne Field, chief executive and founder of the Ubele Initiative, philanthropy adviser Derek Bardowell and Sado Jirde, chief executive of the charity Black South West Network, have stepped down from the group, which was set up by the NET to discuss the need for equitable funding of charities during the coronavirus pandemic. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y7oeg4la
• Why Is Coronavirus Hitting Britain’s Ethnic Minorities So Hard?
Doctors and patients from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities are falling severely ill and dying with Covid-19 in above average numbers. As the death toll rises, it is becoming clear that this is not a coincidence. The Health Service Journal recently identified 119 deaths of NHS staff, and from the 106 of these people that could be verified as active health workers, 63% were from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. While 20 per cent of nursing and support staff in the NHS are BAME, this group accounts for 64 per cent of Covid-19 deaths. Among NHS medical staff, 95 per cent of those who died came from 44 per cent of the workforce that has an ethnic minority background. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/yck8odh2
• Government Must Set Out How Plans For Wider School Reopening Will Meet Obligations Under The Equality Act 2010
NASUWT - The Teachers’ Union has raised urgent concerns with the Prime Minister over the re opening of schools and the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 infections and deaths on Black and Minority Ethnic children, young people and adults. NASUWT's General Secretary Dr. Patrick Roach has called on the Government to set out how its five tests and commitments to the country will be addressed in terms of equality impact in general, and, specifically, in relation to the impact on Black and Minority Ethnic populations. For more information please click here:
https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/school-reopening-equality-act-2010.html
• Want To Make The UK Less Racist? 20 Positive Ways To Bring About Lasting Change
There are no quick fixes for the racism that is so ingrained in British society. But, from education and work to voting and organising, there are steps we can all take for a more equal world. After seeing the traumatic footage of Floyd’s final moments, many people are asking what they can do to bring about change. This article presents 20 steps you can take. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/yayyggb9
• Black British Authors Top UK Book Charts In Wake Of BLM Protests
Bernardine Evaristo and Reni Eddo-Lodge have become the first black British women to top the UK’s fiction and nonfiction paperback charts, in a week where black authors lined up to slam British publishing as a “hostile environment”, and as bookshop chain Waterstones is being urged by staff to donate to the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of soaring sales of black authors. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y7dcnxx9
• Covid-19: Understanding The Impact On BAME Communities
A government report has recently been released which is a descriptive summary of stakeholder insights into the factors that may be influencing the impact of COVID-19 on BAME communities and strategies for addressing inequalities. The report summarises requests for action, which have been used to inform a number of recommendations. It also includes a rapid literature review. These insights will form the basis of the next steps being taken forward by the Equalities Minister. For more information and to read the report in full please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y9hv335s
• Police In England And Wales Far More Likely To Fine BAME People In Lockdown
Police enforcing the coronavirus lockdown in England and Wales were almost up to seven times more likely to issue fines to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people than white people, figures show. Data from police forces shows 17 were more likely to issue a penalty notice to BAME people than to white people. Two forces, Northumbria and Merseyside, were not. One senior chief constable said bias and lack of trust from certain communities may have played a role, as well as demographics. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/ydbu45o9
• Teach Britain's Colonial Past As Part Of The UK's Compulsory Curriculum
Currently, it is not compulsory for primary or secondary school students to be educated on Britain's role in colonisation or the transatlantic slave trade. A petition to the government has been started to make education on topics such as these, compulsory, with the ultimate aim of a far more inclusive curriculum. For more information, and to sign the petition please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y9fp8yy5
Citizens Advice training document 'propagated racist stereotypes'
Obsession With White Working Class Fuels Inequality In North, Study Warns
Home Office Planning To End Family Reunion For Children After Brexit
Islamophobic Incidents Rose 375% After Boris Johnson Compared Muslim Women To “Letterboxes”
Destitute children unlawfully denied support by local councils
Home Office sending modern slavery victims back to addresses where they were abused, lawyers warn
Facial recognition must not introduce gender or racial bias, police told
Children whitening skin to avoid racial hate crime, charity finds
Grenfell children ‘didn’t know where to turn’, says damning report
Birstall Traveller's Site Petition 'Racist', Says Campaigner
Students Occupy Goldsmiths In Protest At Institutional Racism
Amber Rudd says sorry to Diane Abbott for calling her 'coloured'
First Slavery 'Super-Complaint' Accuses Police Of Fuelling Victims' Trauma
Universities Must Listen More Closely To Their BAME Staff And Students
£3.2bn UK Pay Gap For Black, Asian And Ethnic Minority Workers
Anti-racism campaigners hold vigil in Kent welcoming migrants to UK
Youtube Bans Britain First Ad That Appeared When Users Searched For Brexit Or British Political News
TREC’s researcher Arthur Dion Hanna recently appeared on BBC Radio Leicester’s The Vibe show
where he discussed the killing of George Floyd and it's wider and historical implications for the black
community in the USA as well as the UK. To listen to his segment of the show please click here:
https://tinyurl.com/y7o98t3g