News
Added by on 01-07-2010
Town Centre hosted Loughborough Mela 2010
“Communities Together”
This year's Mela took place on Sunday 27th June for the second time in Loughborough Town Centre.
Loughborough Mela 2010 was an exciting partnership event between Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood, Charnwood Arts, Voluntary Action Charnwood, with involvement from local community groups, including the Bangladesh Social Association, Fearon Hall, Shree Ram Krishna Centre and other agencies and individuals. The event was financially supported by Charnwood Borough Council and the Loughborough Town Centre Partnership, who also gave a generous contribution to support local artists and performers,
The event showcased different cultures and gave the audience a flavour of the rich and diverse communities in Charnwood. In addition, there were fairground rides, food and specialist market stalls and the usual friendly relaxed and harmonious atmosphere.
Whilst the core of the Mela remains a celebration of Asian culture, entertainment included a wide variety of music and dancing from across the world, the main underlying theme of the Mela, that of encouraging people from different nationalities & cultures to work together in bringing communities together, was clearly achieved.
Varsha Parmar, on of the Mela organiser’s said "It was wonderful seeing the different communities come together to enjoy and celebrate the event. The range of people this event brought together, not just in terms of different cultures, but also the different ages and backgrounds was tremendous. Holding the event in the middle of town centre made it more inclusive to the general members of public who come into the town centre and who may not have otherwise attended the event.”
Kevin Ryan of Charnwood Arts said “I would like to thank the many performers both amateurs and professionals who made the event such an entertaining afternoon. The quality of their performances was extraordinary. The brilliant sunshine made it one of Loughborough’s brightest event this year.”
Quoting Mike Jones, one of the Mela volunteers, “The way that the performers, organisers and the public gelled together was a model of cohesion”.
The Mela committee would like to thank all the volunteers who helped throughout the day to ensure the event ran smoothly, and especially to Simone MacLaine-Freeman, the co-ordinator for all her hard work and efforts in putting together this highly successful event.
The committee would also like to receive feedback from people who had attended, and if you have not already given this via the feedback forms being handed out on the day, please contact Simone MacLaine-Freeman, the organiser via email on simone.mf@charnwoodarts.com
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Report Hate in Charnwood
Added by on 28-05-2010
Report Hate in Charnwood
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Added by on 28-05-2010
Report Hate in Charnwood
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East Side Kahani (Story)
Added by on 24-05-2010
Following last year’s successful multi faith Pantomine, “Dick Whittington”, Loughborough Council performed again at Loughborough Town Hall on Tuesday 15th June 2010 to an almost packed audience.
People from all backgrounds, faiths and cultures came together to bring a bollywood version of the “West Side Story”. The all singing, all dancing production written by Pete Henton, directed by Morry Van Ments and produced by Varsha Parmar.
We would like to thank everyone who came along to watch the performance for their support and to the cast, crew, including the Town Hall technicians who put in the hard work and effort both on stage and backstage to create the wonderful event.
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HIAP leaflet
Added by on 30-04-2010
See the new promotional leaflet for the Hate Incident Action Project
Here
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Successful Launch of the Hate Incident Action Group
Added by on 30-03-2010
Over 65 people attended a high profile launch on Wednesday 24th March at the Ramada Hotel, High Street, Loughborough to launch the 3 year Hate Incident Action Project.
Local groups, organisations and partners were all represented. They were able to find out what is being done around hate crime and what the local impact of the £210,000 project will be.
Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood in partnership with Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough Police applied to the national Equality & Human Rights Commission for a 3 year project working on the subject of hate crime.
Patrick Devine from the Commission told the audience the partnership had been extremely successful in securing the money from their Strategic Funding Program as there had been over 2,000 applications but only 61 community and voluntary sector organisations across the whole UK were awarded the funding.
For HR&EC this was a real triumph for everyone who had worked incredibly hard to build up the organisation over the past years.
The project will
• give support and guidance to victims of hate crime across the equality strands of disability, race, sexuality, religion or belief, and gender identity,
• provide training and awareness raising to groups, agencies and schools etc.
• re-visit existing reporting centres and establish new ones that incorporate the equality strands.
If your organisation would like to find out how you can be involved or get support from the project please contact Lesley Ansari (Training and Development Officer) on (01509) 261651 or email lesley@humanrightsandequalitiescharnwood.org
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HR&EC Annual Public Lecture
Added by on Thursday 29th April 2010
HR&EC's 3rd Public Lecture 2010 was held on 29th April 2010 at the Robert Martin Hall,Loughborough University.
The guest speaker, The Right Reverend Tim Stevens
Bishop of Leicester delivered an excellent lecture on "Some more equal than others? Equality, faith and the established Church in England today.”
“Recent debates in Parliament over the Equalities Bill have raised a number of questions. How far should Government determine employment rights for faith communities? Where do religious freedoms begin and end in a secular society?
The Lecture covered issues on whether the Bishops of the established Church have any voice in Parliament on these matters? How far should ancient religious traditions accommodate to contemporary views of human sexuality and human rights?
And how can we balance religious freedoms and statutory obligations in a plural society? These questions were explored from the perspective of a Bishop in the Church of England who participates regularly in debates in The House of Lords and currently acts as the Convenor of the Lords Spiritual bench.”
The Lecture was well attended and raised some very interesting questions and debates. For a copy of the lecture please contact the office on 01509 261651.
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Health Fair 2010
Added by on 09-03-2010
A Health Fair organised by Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood (HR&EC), NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland and The Shree Ram Krishna Centre on the 26th February was a huge success. The event was attended by over 150 people who were given the opportunity to learn about a range of health issues from healthy eating, giving up smoking, keeping fit and mental health issues.
The East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) provided life saving first aid demos and Active Together gave free Body MOT’s that were very popular with visitors. Other attractions included a laughter yoga workshop and advice on how to access an NHS dentist.
ESOL student Parvin Begum said, “This was a really good event. We’ve learned how to cope with many different health problems.”
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HR&EC International Women's Day event
Added by on 08-03-2010
OVER 100 WOMEN CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Saturday night saw the Carillon Rooms in Ashby Square filled with laughter and excitement as women of all ages and from different cultures gathered to celebrate International Women's day. The free event was organised by Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood and was open to women who live or work in Charnwood. International Women’s day (8th March) is a global day celebrating the achievements of women and was first launched in 1911.
Entertainment included a women’s Morris dancing group, a Bollywood dancing, performance by the ‘Whole Shebang’ a women’s drumming group, stand-up comedy, circle dancing and an excellent buffet meal provided by Surti Swad. Some of the women became models for the evening as they put on Fair Trade clothes or modelled their own cultural dress.
Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and the comments included:
Quoting Lyn Buckley, “It is the first time I have been to such an event, I especially enjoyed talking to women from other cultures”
And Nadia Ansari, “the circle dancing brought everyone together as we were all holding hands and laughing as we tried to remember the steps”.
Varsha Parmar, Development Officer for Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood and the Loughborough Council of Faiths said, “we were incredibly pleased with the response and it was fantastic seeing so many women having fun together”.
To join the mailing list for information of future events you can ring Varsha, Minara or Kate on 01509 261651 or email
info@humanrightsandequalitiescharnwood.org
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Face to Faith
Added by on 03-02-2010
Loughborough University and Colleges
Centre for Faith and Spirituality
Face to Faith
Faith and Spirituality in Everyday Life
The Pagan & Druid Religions
with Mark Graham
Monday, 22nd February 2010, 12.30 – 2pm
University Campus, Brockington Building,
Rooms B012 – B014
All Welcome. Light Lunch Included.
To book a place call 223741
or email: chaplaincy@lboro.ac.uk
About the speaker:
Mark is the Chair of the Loughborough Council of Faiths and the Interfaith Manager for the Druid Network. He has also worked as Interfaith Manager for the Pagan Federation and was the founder of the Charnwood Grove of Druids.
As a Pagan, Mark has a deep reverence for Nature which is reflected in his job as an ecologist. Mark also owns and runs a Woodland Burial Ground where people of any faith, or people who follow no particular religious path, can be buried beneath a tree or in a wildflower meadow.
Mark is the author of a book on trees and mythology which is published by Capel Bann.
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Communities Together Grant
Added by on 02-12-2009
‘Communities Together’, a community cohesion grant fund, has been launched by Leicestershire Together for projects demonstrating joint working between different and diverse communities.
Grants of up to £500 are available now for organisations and projects which are working to bring different groups of people together in Leicestershire.
The new ‘Communities Together’ grant is intended to support community and voluntary organisations who are involved in local projects which:
• play an active role in getting different communities and groups of individuals together to increase understanding and communication
• promote inter-cultural education and relations
• introduce and engage new audiences, organisations and community groups to each other.
Eligible projects will be able to demonstrate their success in increasing cohesion and understanding between people from different age, faith and belief groups or of different abilities, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and gender.
The grant could be used to fund the promotion or development of local projects, workshops or training sessions for different community groups, consultation events, sporting events and much more.
The ‘Communities Together’ Grant Fund is open to projects operating in Leicestershire and applications will be assessed on a monthly basis.
Application forms and more information can be found on either of the websites below:
Websites: http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/community/community_grants.htm
http://leicestershiretogether/index/people/community_cohesion.htm
Or, to speak to someone directly, please do not hesitate to contact the Policy and Partnerships Team at Leicestershire County Council on the contact details below:
Tom Fisher Tel: 0116 305 8098
Email: tom.fisher@leics.gov.uk
Noel Singh
Tel: 0116 305 7020
Email: noel.singh@leics.gov.uk
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SUCCESSFUL EQUALITY & HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION FUNDING
Added by on 30-11-2009
Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood in partnership with Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough Police applied to the Equality & Human Rights Commission for a 3 year project working around hate crime.
A grant of £209,100 has been successfully awarded for a 3 year project working with victims of hate crime in Charnwood. The project will look at giving support, advice & guidance to victims of hate crime across all the equality strands, providing training and awareness raising to groups, agencies, schools etc. We will be looking at revisiting reporting centres and establishing new ones that incorporate all the equality strands.
More information can be obtained from the Equality & Human Rights Commission website where we are listed as successful applicants. The East Midlands region, we believe, has done really well with successful applications.
Quoting Anne Williams, Chair, “This is a really exciting development for Communities in Charnwood. Together with the South Asian Women’s project these two initiatives will help to eliminate discrimination on the grounds of race, religion and belief, age, disability, gender reassignment, civil partnerships, sex and sexual orientation. The projects will also help to build an infrastructure of statutory and voluntary organisations for partnership working to build more cohesive communities in Charnwood.
Tom Kiernan, head of Communities and Partnerships at Charnwood Borough Council welcoming the award said “This is really good news I am pleased to say that Charnwood Borough Council have supported Human Rights and Equalities Charnwood throughout the application process. We understand that it is only through partnership working that we can make a difference to the victims of hate incidents. Now we can really begin to provide the level of support to victims of abuse in a meaningful way. I want to congratulate all at HREC who have worked so hard to secure this funding.”
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Women in the community raising funds to help the community!
Added by on 29-10-2009
At the recent Festival of Food & Fashion, the Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood together with the help of local women from the community raised £500 to donate to ‘The Bridge’, a local charity.
Fun was had by all at the women’s only event at Rosebery St Peter’s Community Centre on Saturday 24th where more than 150 women and children came together from different backgrounds.
There was a variety of information stalls from the Sustainable Energy Department at Charnwood Borough Council, from the NHS on post natal care and other health issues, Fair Trade, jewellery etc.
There was also a range of cultural food for women to share and an auction carried out by Marj Jones, a well known person in the local community, with prizes from local restaurants, a women’s gym and local traders and individuals in the community.
Maillem Al-Rawi, the newly appointed Development Officer at HR&EC said, “we were very pleased at the turn out we had and women came from all the different communities, in their cultural dresses and many brought cultural food for others to share”.
Kerry Elliott from The Bridge said, “We are extremely grateful for being chosen as your charity and the money will be used to supply emergency packs for victims of domestic violence and we would like to thank HR&EC and the local women for organising the event and raising this amount”.
For further information on future events please contact Maillem or Varsha on (01509) 261651.
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Employing Refugees - Refugee Council Publication
Added by on 05-06-2009
The Refugee Council have recently produced - in partnership with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission - a new publication entitled
'Employing Refugees'.
It is a short guide, outlining the main documents refugees and asylum seekers have to demonstrate entitlement to work in the UK. Though the publication is aimed principally at employers, it would also be useful for anyone working with refugees and asylum seekers and of course, is also helpful to all in increasing understanding and awareness.
To download the publication go to: http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/practice/employersguides/employing_refugees.htm
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Report on racism against Chinese community
Added by on 05-06-2009
Hidden from Public View - a report from the Monitoring Group-Min Quan Project into levels of racism experienced by members of the UK Chinese community.
The report findings include:
• People of Chinese origin in the UK experience substantial racism, perhaps as much as or more than any other minority ethnic group
• Perpetrators can be as young as 10 years old, with their behaviour often dismissed as ‘a bit of fun’
• Owners and workers in the Chinese catering industry face verbal abuse and non-payment for goods every day. This behaviour sometimes escalates to physical assault and even murder
The Monitoring Group-Min Quan Project, 'Hidden from Public View’ (English version) is available at: http://www.racetoday.org/pages/projects/mq/bm09019-HiddenFromPublicView.pdf
A Chinese version of the report is available at: http://www.racetoday.org/pages/projects/mq/bm09019-Chinese%20vers.pdf
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Making sure all citizens can be equal in a modern society
Added by on 21-04-2009
Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood have been successful in securing funds from Lloyds TSB Foundation for a 2 year project working with South Asian Women.
The project will be to help women, particularly from the Bangladeshi community to play a fuller role in their environment and take a more active role in society.
Financially supported by the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales.
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PROMOTING BENEFITS FOR OLDER PEOPLE
Added by on 03-12-2008
Leicestershire County Council’s Benefit Promotion Team are working jointly with other partner agencies including Adult Social Care Service, Age Concern, Local Pension Service and Local District and Borough Councils, to encourage people over 60 to claim benefits that they might be entitled to. It is estimated that there is around £4 billion pounds worth of unclaimed benefits for older people, which if encouraged to claim could drastically improve a person’s well-being and independence.
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