LIVES OF COLOUR REPORT AND CONFERENCE PROPOSAL

BACKGROUND

Arrangements for the conference should address the Cheltenham Borough Council Motion: Cheltenham Borough Council believes in action, not just fine words. In conjunction with the Police and Crime Commissioner, Cheltenham Borough Homes, Cheltenham Trust, Festivals and other partners, Cabinet is requested to look at holding a conference for Cheltenham’s BAME community organisations, to discuss how we might work closer together to challenge bias, both deliberate and unconscious, and racism in all its forms. Lives of Colour was tasked with putting this report together from discussions from Cheltenham Borough Council developing a strategy to support the BAME community in the months following the exponential rise of Black Lives Matter movement. It is vital to address long-term inequalities and make sure that vulnerable communities are in a position to thrive in a postCovid society, and we can create a stronger, better and more compassionate Cheltenham by mindfully taking action to uplift people.

Any initiatives of this measure should be led directly by BAME people, as they are directly impacted by any potential measures, and they have direct lived experience and solid expertise in working with communities and developing solutions to ongoing problems.

There are concerns that BAME people are not currently centred in these discussions and projects as they should be, and a conference and ongoing group working in coordination with local councils will effectively address these concerns.

Through summer 2020, we have seen some of the limitations of our society and the way it functions frequently on systemic inequalities. We have an opportunity to address this in cooperation with recovering from the effects of covid-19, ambitiously tackling climate breakdown, supporting displaced people experiencing geopolitical instability and displacement, and making our communities more resilient across internal changes in the face of our society.