News
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.”
Read Full Story
Launch of Hate Incident Action Project
Added by on 02-03-2010
Launch of the Hate Incident Action Project
Wednesday 24th March 2010
6.30pm to 8.30pm
Loughborough Ramada Hotel
22 High Street, Loughborough, Leics LE11 2QL
Presentation on our project
An opportunity to meet the new staff
And much more........
This is also an opportunity for you to promote your work, network and make contacts with other partners, agencies, community groups and individuals
Free buffet and refreshments
For further information and to confirm your attendance or if you wish to bring a display/stall to promote your services please contact Varsha Parmar or Kate King on (01509) 261651 or email to info@humanrightsandequalitiescharnwood.org
Funded by the equality & human rights commission
Read Full Story
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
Read Full Story
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.
Read Full Story
Loughborough Mela 2010
Added by on 28-01-2010
The first meeting to plan the Loughborough Mela 2010 was held on 2nd February at John Storer House (JSH) attended by representatives from various communities, but not all; it was therefore agreed to reconvene on Tuesday 16th February at 6.30pm at JSH to ensure even more people and communities are committed to making this year a success.
Neil Lambert, Chief Executive of Voluntary Action Charnwood, who is chairing these initial planning meetings, is sending out personal invitations to the next meeting.
The provisional date for the 2010 Loughborough Mela is Sunday 27th June from 12noon – 5pm in the Market Place, Loughborough Town Centre. This will fit in with other celebrations such as Loughborough in Bloom, and avoid a clash with Ramadan at the end of August.
Anyone who would like to know more about the Mela should contact Varsha Parmar at Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood on 261651
For more info please contact Neil Lambert Chief Executive, at Voluntary Action Charnwood and John Storer House on 01509-631750 or neil.lambert@voluntaryactioncharnwood.org.uk
Read Full Story
BOLLYWOOD IS COMING TO LOUGHBOROUGH
Added by on 14-01-2010
East Side Kahani
Following the success of their Multi Faith Pantomime, ‘Dick Whittington, Lord Mayor of Loughborough’, the Loughborough Council of Faiths is set to take to the stage again, this time with an all singing, all dancing Bollywood extravaganza.
Scripted by local writer, Peter Hinton, the story follows two star crossed lovers as they attempt to overcome prejudice and bring two feuding communities together.
Mark Graham, Chair of the Loughborough Council of Faiths explains:
“It’s a story with a message, but the emphasis is very much on entertainment. The show will have all the usual Bollywood ingredients, there’ll be singing and dancing and of course lots of glamorous costumes.”
The group are planning to stage the performance on Tuesday 15th June 2010 evening at Loughborough Town Hall, and are seeking talented individuals and groups who would like to get involved.
Auditions and an initial planning meeting took place on 27th January 2010 at Rosebery St Peter’s Community Centre. The group will be starting rehearsals in the next couple of weeks.
If you know anyone who has an interest in music or dance or would like to help with costumes or props, contact Varsha Parmar, Development Officer for Loughborough Council of Faiths on (01509) 261651 or email to enq@lborofaiths.org.uk
Read Full Story
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
Read Full Story
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.”
Read Full Story
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.
Read Full Story
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
Read Full Story
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
Read Full Story
Magistrates' Recruitment
Added by on 24-04-2009
Local people, and particularly representatives from the BME community, are being encouraged to apply to become magistrates in Leicester, Loughborough and Hinckley.
If you, or someone you know, has the qualities sought and might be interested in applying please visit the Direct Gov website by following this link:
www.direct.gov.uk/en/CrimeJusticeAndTheLaw/Becomingamagistrate (or copy and paste it to your explorer toolbar) where you will find more information on the role of a magistrate and what qualities are sought in candidates. Applications can be submitted online or you can email your completed form to the contacts given below.
Read Full Story
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.
Read Full Story
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.
Read Full Story