WSREC Annual Report 2013-14 by West of Scotland Regional Equality Council

Our vision: "We see an inclusive society free from discrimination."

Table of Content

Introduction to West of Scotland Regional Equality Council

The Board Members

The Chairs Report

Executive Director’s Report

Treasurer’s Report

Projects

7-20

Branching Out

Challenging Sectarianism Across Generations

Cook Grow Sew

Embrace

GCRP

11-13



Hate Crimes



Central Eastern European



Capacity Building for Minority Ethnic Communities In Renfrewshire and Inverclyde

Living Equality

Minority Ethnic Silver Surfers

Qurbani

Roots Scotland

Roma Youth Project

Stepping In Diversity

Warm ‘N’ Dry

Admin Report

Healthy Working Lives

Sickle Cell Awareness

Enterprise and Marketing

Statistics

New Areas of Work

Scottish Alliance of Regional Equality Council

Staff

to Introduction uncil o C y t i l a u q E gional e R d n a l t o c West of S West of Scotland Regional Equality Council (WSREC) is working towards a fairer society, where people can live, learn and work free from discrimination or fear. WSREC has over 40 years experience of engaging with some of the most diverse communities in Scotland.

Our vision: "We see an inclusive society free from discrimination."

Our Aims: 

To work towards the elimination of discrimination in all forms in the West of Scotland



To reduce inequalities and promote a culture of human rights



To promote good community relations, between all people of all communities living in the West of Scotland

What We do At WSREC we have a diverse range of projects working within the communities, promoting good relations, reducing isolation and challenging discrimination. Secondly we run a drop in service and Advice Surgery for the Hungarian, Romanian, Polish and Lithuanian community. Through our Training and Consultancy we offer tailor-made community engagement packages, research in diverse communities within the West of Scotland and bespoke training in the equality act, diversity and human rights. A number of diverse organisations have used these services and highly praised the professionalism, quality of information and friendly staff. “We were delighted to have worked with WSREC on our kidney/heart health project in Glasgow focusing on the South Asian community. They were a very reliable, professional organisation that facilitated key contacts and networks to be developed and enabled our project objectives to be achieved successfully.” Neerja Jain Health Improvement Project Manager at Kidney Research

The New Logo Within this financial year the logo was updated. Why the new logo? We thought it was time to update our old logo as within the last couple of years our organisation has grown and evolved. Our new logo looks more inviting, contemporary, clean, ever-changing and progressing to meet our vision, which is: "We see an inclusive society free from discrimination" by thinking outside the box. When asked, staff and communities described the organisation as colourful, fun and diverse and we believe our new logo represents that. We would like to thank staff, the board and the Enterprise and Marketing Officer for their contributions.

Previous Logo

New Logo

bers m e M d r a o B The

2013-2014 Board Members

Hanzala Malik MSP

Dr Malcolm Green

Harriette Campbell

Sharon Schlesinger

Chair

Vice Chair

Treasurer

Secretary

Anne McTaggart MSP

Syed Jafri

Tunweer Malik

Dr Akhtar-Saeed Bhutta

Onkar S Jandu

Rashid Hussain

Haji M Munir

Vince Chudy

Neil Johnston

rt Chair’s Repo WSREC has been and is still very much concerned with the issue of employability for minority ethnic communities in a continued climate where all sectors, including public authorities and private industry are going through hard times. Minority communities are further disfranchised from the labour market as well as colleges and Universities. WSREC has been attempting to address this issue by way of promoting and providing opportunities for communities to volunteer to update their skills and experiences in the coming year so that they are job ready. I am pleased to report that WSREC was able to work in this area through its various projects through 2013-14, thus helping to provide opportunities to many individuals as possible. I have asked our Board and staff to look further into this area in a bid to keep this in relation to maintaining and increasing WSREC‘s work in the coming year. I am delighted to welcome you to the West of Scotland Regional Equality Council’s Annual Report. The report reflects our on-going development in providing services in relation to all of the equality legislation and its protected characteristics which allow equal access to services and activities while maintaining our commitment to existing and new and emerging communities that require culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate services.

As I reported last year WSREC’s Board of Directors along with our team of staff have taken great delight in the achievement of our existing and new projects; such success reflects well on the organisation as a whole. This has been recognised by new projects coming on stream and recognition by other organisations in the sector wishing to partner with us to do pieces of equality related work. The Board are proud of the on-going work such as successfully achieving the ‘healthy working lives’ standard which Like all communities one of the challenges WSREC’s stakeholders continues from the previous outstanding work of obtaining both the face has been welfare reform changes already in place and Investors In People (IIP) and European Foundation for Quality reforms that are now taking place throughout the UK. As predicted Management (EFQM) quality standards. there have been sweeping changes and cuts to all types of benefits it is widely believed that these are ill conceived, poorly thought through, and potentially dangerous for the devastating These achievements have been the result of teamwork involving consequences they will have for many of our most vulnerable WSREC’s Board of Directors, staff and WSREC citizens in the west of Scotland with the biggest draw to new member. Therefore, I look forward to continuing to work with the Board, our staff, volunteers and most importantly the communities communities. and organisations out there that genuinely wish to engage with us to continue our work in the field of equality for all. Research has shown that benefits changes generally are a great In conclusion, I would wish to record my thanks to the Board, staff upheaval and stressful for all individuals, however it is even more and our partner organisations in yet again making it another difficult for vulnerable groups i.e. the disabled, elderly and minority successful year. ethnic communities. It is estimated that in Scotland £4.5 billion to 2014-15 will have been cut from the benefits bill. WSREC has and will continue to work with partners and other like minded Hanzala Malik MSP Chair organisations to look into ways of supporting people and challenging unfair reforms wherever possible. As a Board, we were determined to, and have been successful in identifying the needs of communities across the West of Scotland. We have been able to identify and shape the opportunities available and in particular, to align WSREC services to the changing needs of the communities in our area of operation. These are reflected in the number of varied WSREC projects that we took on and are on-going.

ort

’s Rep r o t c e r i D e v i Execut

It gives me great pleasure to introduce this year’s annual report Eastern European migrant which gives you an overview of the work delivered by the WSREC communities. team this my 11th year as Chief Officer of the organisation. WSREC has strengthened its As a matter of course in 2013/14 we have responded successfully existing partnerships and to the challenges of our operating environment and have made continues to increase its work good progress toward the objectives of our Business Plan. We and has built new partnerships continue to move towards a more joint, partnership working and with Queens Cross Housing shared delivery model with other indigenous and minority ethnic Association, Remploy and voluntary and private sector organisations. We are reaping the Glasgow Central Mosque’s rewards of this added value to our work, allowing us to offer our Elderly group. WSREC is in its 3rd year working with Equality stakeholders increased and a much improved service. Network Scotland as member We have had success in sustaining and providing new services for of its Intersectionality Group additional minority communities for example our successful Roots making positive contributions Scotland project is to continue till 2017 and our new ‘Imams to its work. Against Forced Marriages Project’ and ‘Minority Ethnic Silver Surfers (MESS) project’. WSREC continues to having success in I am pleased to report after WSREC obtaining 2 ‘Quality standards influencing funders and grant making bodies that these are the type Awards’ the European Foundation for Equality Management services that should be prioritised. That these give them value for ‘commitment to excellence’; also the Investors in People at Bronze level and Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) approved centre money and tackle the issues that they are wishing to tackle. status. We have another success under our belt by obtaining a In terms of growth, this year has continued to be as successful as ‘healthy working lives’ standard after our assessment in April 2013. the last and continues from the trend of the last 6 years. WSREC has maintained a high number of staff employed between full-time, part-time and sessional workers it has averaged 30 employees WSREC’s vision and ‘equality for all’ message continues to be working at any time this year. taken forward through its many projects; partnerships; The year has seen added a number of new projects apart from the its training provision, and also through responses to many ones mentioned above for example: Branching Out (to reach out to consultation over the year. minority ethnic individuals seeking backgrounds to improve their quality of life through a programme of interactive learning and confidence building in the natural environment) and Challenging We have also secured funding from the Climate Change Fund to Sectarianism Across Generations project (to create a wider work towards minority ethnic communities being better engaged in understanding of how the extended family has influence on how the issue of climate change through increased understanding and sectarian attitudes and behaviour are constructed and increase awareness. We are, however, in good financial health and have knowledge amongst young people of how sectarianism in Scotland sufficient resources to deliver our services for the coming year, though it is vital that we stabilise and re-build our reserves so that exists and how it can be challenged”). any risks during this period are minimised. As per our vision of ‘an inclusive society free from discrimination’ we are establishing more ambitious and varied projects. Over the It has to be said that an organisation is as good as its staff and I period as an organisation we have significantly increased our ca- have the privilege and a pleasure to report that WSREC has a pacity to assist individuals and organisations therefore, enabling great team in its staff compliment which has for the last number of diverse number of communities to benefit and add to their aware- years in all projects achieving their respective outputs and outcomes and in many cases being overachieved. This is ness, ability and skills. testimony to the success of ‘team WSREC’ work ethos and I have great pleasure in reporting that this has to be seen as sixth commitment to the organisation and the communities served. consecutive year of success for WSREC with service delivery reaching and supporting 1,281 individuals with advice and I wish to convey my sincere thanks to all staff for their hard work information. We continue to reach substantial number of our and dedication during the period. Thanks goes to our many existing groups and new communities with increased outreach volunteers; placements; Board of Directors; partner organisations, surgeries in wider parts of our area of operation and with new funding bodies and individuals for their support and assistance in making yet another enormous successful year for the organisation. culturally sensitive services being developed. The report on client work analysis on page 23 shows there is a significant amount of work being carried out and the dominating community accessing WSREC services continues to be the

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Mohammed Razaq

Executive Director

port e R ’s r e r u s a Tre I also have to report as customary that during the year WSREC has identified various gaps in services for our stakeholders. As a result a number of bids were made and we were successful in obtaining funds totalling £99,797 from Scottish Natural Heritage, Heritage Lottery Fund; Gannochy Trust and JTH Charitable Trust for the Branching Out project till November 2015 for minority ethnic communities we work with to actively engage and enjoy Scotland's Natural Heritage. This along with a grant from Climate Change Fund £99,344 till March 2015 for minority ethnic communities to be better engaged in the issue of climate change through increased understanding and awareness We were also successful with funding from the Home Office to run a project to work with Imams in Mosques across Scotland to interact on the issue of forced marriage. We were successful with It gives me great pleasure to be giving the finance report as the a number of other bids to run new and enhance on-going projects. treasurer for the sixth year running and to be able to report that we WSREC has already confirmed continued 3 year grant funding have been able to substantially increase our income by 11% from from, Historic Scotland totalling £136,000 (2014 -2017). previous year from £440,671 to £488,785. We have more than maintained financial stability by securing funding for additional There are a number of live applications awaiting decision and some are being prepared in relation to social equality & exclusion projects. within the minority communities. The income and expenditure statement shows income for the year delighted to note the support of the Board as £488,785 where as total expenditure has been £469,051 a Once again I am surplus of £19, 734. Staff salaries and related costs account for who have risen to the challenge in partnership with staff in seeking £345,087 (71%) of total expenditure with the balance of £143,698 other avenues of support and development to enhance our (29%) being administrative and running costs, this represents an financial position increase of £36,166 (33%) from £107,532 last year. This increase Harriette Campbell Treasurer in cost is largely due to new projects started within the year. Summarised Statement of Financial Activities for the Year End 31st March 2014

Incoming Resources Grants Services Other income Total Incoming Resources

2014 (£)

2013 (£)

481,939 6,846

432,519 445 7,707

488,785

440,671

2014 (£)

Resources Expended Charitable activities Governance costs Total Resources Expended Net Movement in Funds

(464,517)

(407,349)

(4,534)

(3,448)

(469,051)

(410,797)

______ 19,734

______ 29,874

52,604 72,338

2013 (£)

Fixed Assets

3,013

2,251

Current Assets

78,743

58,318

Current Liabilities

(9,418)

(7,965)

Net Assets

72,338

52,604

For further information the full financial statements can be obtained from the Secretary of the Council, 39 Napiershall Street, Glasgow G20 6EZ. West of Scotland Regional Equality Council has charitable status and is required to prepare accounts in accordance with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006.The above is an abstract of the independently examined accounts of the West of Scotland Regional Equality Council approved on 8th May 2014.

Funds Balance brought forward Balance carried forward

Abbreviated Balance Sheet at 31st March 2014

22,730 52,604

Branching O

Branching Out is a new and innovative project which is working to create greater opportunities for minority ethnic communities, in particular but not limited to, refugees, asylum seekers, new Branching Out – to Touch… to Smell… to See… migrants, women, young people and older people to access and be for Minority Ethnic Communities exploring Scotland’s engaged in Scotland’s wonderful natural heritage. This will include Natural Heritage. supporting individuals to volunteer in the natural heritage sector, supporting organisations to participate in natural heritage activities and bring together natural heritage organisations through a project steering group to support the long term sustainability of project activities.

“Minority Ethnic Communities Exploring Scotland’s Natural Heritage”

Scotland’s Natural Heritage places: from Towns and Cities... Woods and Forests... Rivers and Lochs... Hills and Mountains... Seas and Coasts…

Community Champion/Volunteering Currently the project is looking for dynamic individuals who will take up the mantle and become their communities ’Community Champion’, this will be paid sessional work. If you love the countryside and are passionate about wildlife and feel you can lead your community to explore Scotland’s Natural Heritage then register your interest with the Branching Out Team. Why don’t you volunteer and build your skills and knowledge learning about the woods, wildlife, and Scotland’s natural landscape.

Javed Sattar

Project Coordinator

Asifa Hafiz

Development Assistant

Challenging

erations n e G s s o r c tarianism A

Sec

Challenging Sectarianism Across Generations began in July 2013 celebrated. and will run until March 2015.The project is Scottish Government To check the short films made by GSAG please check the WSREC funded with the funds administered by the Voluntary Action Fund. YouTube Channel. All the project resources are freely available for interested parties.

Project Aims The project aims to challenge and reduce intra-Christian sectarian beliefs and behaviour in the West of Scotland, with particular on the impact of the issue on family and community life with 3 key outcomes: 

Improving understanding and awareness of the issue



Increasing community understanding of its impact on ilies and communities



Young people are more aware of sectarianism in Scottish society and have increased knowledge of how to combat it

Tiff Griffin

Project Coordinator

Monique Campbell

Development Assistant

fam-

Project Activity Project activity this year has centred on the delivery of research work into the issue and also the development and delivery of community education. In August research work was put to tender and since then work has been undertaken by a freelance research company, looking at the impact of sectarianism on family life. This part of the project will deliver both a report to add to the understanding of the issue and a focus group to discuss the report, with participants drawn from the local community. Additionally, we are working in partnership with Engender to deliver an additional focus group to broaden understanding of regional differences in the issue and the impact on women in the community. The main output of the project in 2013-2014 has been to develop resources and deliver community education on the issue in the West of Scotland. Beginning with developing interactive, discussion -based activities for children aged 7+ we added a video and piloted these across schools in 3 targeted council areas- St Saviours, (Glasgow), Golfhill Primary (North Lanarkshire) and Paisley Grammar (Renfrewshire). From these pilots we reached over 150 young people and developed the resources into a resource pack for youth practitioners, with accompanying guidance in their application with young people. This has been circulated to councils in the three council areas nominated with the addition of East Dunbartonshire. The video created and developed by project staff looked at sectarianism in a local and global context, exploring both the historical roots of the issue in Scotland and how it has been experienced by other communities worldwide. This allowed us to engage with diverse groups in schools and give them the chance to participate more fully, growing a sense that sectarianism is an issue for the whole community to address and play a role in challenging. In this way the project also contributes to the wider ethos of the organisation, encouraging communities to see sectarianism as a hate crime and promoting safer communities where diversity is

Photos by Monique Campbell

Cook Grow

Sew

Cook Grow Sew Project is funded by ‘Keep Scotland Beautiful’ Climate Challenge Fund from October 2013 till March 2015. The project was set up by WSREC through the evidence of a previous project (Warm ‘N’ Dry), it indicated that ethnic minority communities wanted to engage more in environment issues and develop their skills further, in tackling climate change and carbon emission reduction.

target of 9 participants. The session was very productive, it was encouraging to see all participants enjoy the workshop. Feedback from the evaluation was as follows: 100% participants enjoyed the workshop and felt it was ‘good’ and 88% rated the workshop as ‘excellent’. These finding will help us to improve and increase the excellent rating in future classes.

Aim Cook, Grow Sew project is working to support minority ethnic communities to engage in activities that will reduce carbon emission and benefit the health and wellbeing of communities involved. The project also aims to raise awareness and increase community understanding of climate change and carbon emission reduction. Households are being supported to become more energy efficient and engaging individuals from minority ethnic communities in activities including grow your own workshops, cookery and sewing classes and cycling workshops. These activities intend to encourage behaviour change and lead to a reduction in household and personal carbon emissions, participants are gaining in-depth knowledge on fuel poverty issues, The home energy visits will begin soon and we already have 10 the health benefit of local and seasonal produce, healthy diet and people interested in these and it is envisaged that the se visits will basic sewing skills (fixing and altering clothes, repairing and take place early April. stitching, and recycling)

So Far Within the first 3 months we have made good progress in terms of making links with the partners who have indicated their interests in terms of collaborating and engaging with our communities through giving either venues or workshops as well as assisting the project

Growing your own and Cycling workshops are due to start in April 2014, with sewing classes commence in September 2014, if you are interested in any these then please do contact the team. Check our website cookgrowsew.co.uk for more details.

with recruiting participants. Activities that have been already commenced have successfully attracted good number of participants. For example, the cookery class in its first session started on the 13th of March, it met its

911

Timothy Mwakasekele

Project Coordinator

Aleksandra Pawluk

Community Activity Officer

Embrace Embrace (Empowering Roma Communities) project provides opportunities for young Roma people to learn new skills, have their voice heard and live a healthy life. The project is supported by Young Start. Embrace supported young Roma people in creating their own local exhibition twice last year in Govanhill Baths and Go Slow Café. We are very proud of all the young people that took part in the photography projects as they have done an excellent job! “It’s always such a shame to pick just two [photographs] per participant as they often have a whole stock of great work which could warrant their own individual exhibition.”

straight after the New Year 2014 and finished by a public performance at the end of March 2014. Taster of the music recordings will be available on WSREC webpage, WSREC YouTube Channel and Embrace Facebook later this year.

Short Films We also made five short films in the last year. First couple of films are taster sessions. ‘I am Roma’, is a personal documentary of first Roma girl starting a college in Glasgow. ‘New Girls’ is a video done by Holyrood Secondary School pupils where WSREC (Embrace project) features as a local charity working with Roma young people. This video was nominated for an award in Determined to Make Movies 2013 and won Best Business Partnership Movie. Last one, ‘I ll Never Drink Again’ is an awareness rising video about youth and alcohol. This video has been screened on 27th March 2014 on a public event for young people as part of Off Sales diversionary programme for local young people. Plans are in place to make a documentary about Govanhill and we also plan to make a video about Glasgow International Roma day 2014. All movies with exception of I am Roma will be available on WSREC website, YouTube page and Embrace Facebook page late this year.

Lisa Craig, photography tutor

Participant, 14 years old explores Scotland nature Cookery Classes through the photography Embrace project lenses. successfully finished their cookery workshops organized for young mums and their children. The first pilot project in “I think the photo club was very interesting and I liked Autumn 2013 lasted coming along to the sessions. My favourite parts of it for 6 weeks and were being able to take pictures with a professional was followed up by Cultural Cookery weekly workshops organized camera.” by Hidden Gardens taking us up to Christmas 2013. This has been Violence Against Women followed by another phase organized solely by local (Romanian A 16 days campaign against violence against women was support- and Scottish) mums, with no bilingual staff or a tutor. All the phases ed by young people in Govanhill in Autumn 2013 through photog- saw on average 8 mums and their children per week where recipe raphy project and with additional funding from South East Integra- and language exchange took part between the Romanian and Scottish mums. A bilingual cook book with Romanian recipes tion Network (SEIN). translated into English and Scottish recipes translated into Co-operation with Alan Bryden Romanian have been created as part of this project with an extra Embrace project has also engaged with local artist Alan Bryden funding from SEIN. All shopping and cooking focused on and supported his already ongoing music group for six months by budgeting, using local shops including farmer’s healthy Locavore providing a bilingual worker that eased the engagement with the shop, and using seasonal vegetables. young people. The end of our co-operation has been marked with a public event in autumn 2013 where young people showed what they learned. Our evaluation session revealed that young people valued mostly the fact that they could express their identity through music in a safe environment and learn new skills (beat box). Young girls suggested girls only music group which has been set up

Eva Kourova

Project Coordinator

Crim GCRP—Hate

GCRP uses forum theatre inspired workshops, integration activities and training as a means of supporting young people to challenge hate crime. Using a range of specially designed resources, the workshops offer an opportunity for young people to think critically about what prejudice is, why it occurs and what can be done to prevent it. They are open to young people of all ages and have taken place in youth groups and schools across Glasgow and beyond.

“The delivery of the training was excellent. Both trainers were fantastic – very informative, knew their stuff and were very good at getting everybody involved in the conversation, so I’m delighted.”

While the workshops have remained an integral element of the project – with 164 young people participating – the focus over the past year has primarily been on developing training. A ‘Challenging Hate Crime’ training pack has now been created combining a range of activities and experiences from the past five years with newly developed resources. The training will be delivered over the final year (2014-15) so that an increased number of youth workers and teachers feel equipped to challenge the causes of hate crime with young people.

Activities Examples of the activities in this pack include a migration jigsaw and the project’s more recent LGBT resources. The migration jigsaw involves young people piecing together true stories of migration, both forced and voluntary, in order to explore different perspectives of Glasgow’s diversity. The LGBT resources include a giant world map examining discrimination, a timeline assessing past and potential future developments in LGBT rights and an activity in which young people analyse the case of an asylum seeker fearing persecution because of his sexuality.

Feedback from the initial pilot training sessions has included:

“I was quite surprised by how I felt about the training. It was very different to what I was expecting. I’ve really learned a lot and it was enjoyable.”

Partnerships In addition to the workshops and training, GCRP’s integration activities have continued apace through its partnerships with LINKES and DreamMakers. 70 young people accessed the drop-in sessions, which run twice weekly as part of the LINKES project in the Lincoln Avenue and Kestrel Road flats. Using art, sport, music and games, these sessions combine fun activities with informal learning opportunities to bring together a highly diverse group of young people. GCRP also continued to work with a group of Roma and non-Roma young people from last year’s DreamMakers project, travelling with them to London so that they could curate and launch their work. The exhibition – exploring identity, community, dreams and aspirations – ran at 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning in Herne Hill over the summer and was visited by over 500 people. This ongoing UK wide collaboration also saw GCRP facilitate two theatre based workshops in the Tramway as part of the ‘To Gypsyland’ exhibition by Delaine Le Bas.

Benjamin Williams

Project Coordinator

Monique Campbell

Development Assistant

GCRP—CEE Set up in 2008, GCRP has been key provider of advice, support and development services for the Central and Eastern European Migrant Communities across Glasgow and the West of Scotland. The last six years have seen the project deliver a number of initiatives including community events, drop-in sessions and information sharing. This work is undertaken by a mixture of volunteers and professionals, both within communities they represent and/or in their respective disciplines. What has not changed is the objective of the project, which is to empower C&EE migrants by informing them of their rights and responsibilities. An equally important objective is to promote awareness of the challenges migrants face in their day-to-day lives, in the hope that discrimination (whether it be direct or indirect) will no longer be an obstacle for them.

In addition the project supported an event for the Hungarian community, the objective being to publicise the support available by the GCRP for members of the Hungarian community.

In the year 2013/14 additional funding (from Awards for All) allowed the project to expand the drop-in clinics previously available to the Polish and Lithuanian communities to now include the Romanian, Croatian and Hungarian communities. Over the last year over 550 enquiries were made with employment, debt and benefits being the most frequently asked about issues. A welcome pack (containing practical information on living in Scotland) for the Croatian community was produced, to coincide with Croatia’s entry into the European Union last year.

The GCRP is supported by three volunteers (Piotr Maluskiewicz, Ramute Lagunaviciute, and Kristiina Silvan) whose work has proved to be invaluable in assisting the project to achieve its objectives. Work they have undertaken has included helping with the production of GCRP Central and Eastern European Migrants

With welfare reform being an issue widely debated in recent months, it was appropriate that the project should organised workshops around this issue. Two “Welfare Reform” information workshops were held for the Polish and Lithuanian migrant communities, with the Maryhill & Possilpark Citizens Advice Bureau assisting the GCRP with the specialist input required. To supplement the workshops, a short information clip was produced entitled “Welfare Reform – Bedroom Tax”. Separate versions in Polish and in Lithuanian were uploaded to WSREC YouTube Channel.

Information events have been particularly popular, with three such events delivered last year. The “Changes to Accession Rights” event was held at the Romanian Orthodox Church and at Govanhill Victoria Halls for the Romanian and Romanian Roma communities respectively. In total over 250 attendees were present, with completed evaluation forms indicating that the events were found to be informative and beneficial.

E-Bulletin, providing information on project work, achievements and events & trend in advice delivery. Other work has included the production of video clips providing advice. One of our volunteers Ramute Lagunaviciute has now become a Community Champion. She has been successful in forging links with various service providers and together with the Lithuanian Advice Worker and Project Coordinator; they are in the process in engaging with the Lithuanian community and establishing a community group. In addition she has assisted the project in organising and facilitating events for the Lithuanian community. The project has embraced the trend towards social networking, with Facebook pages being set-up for the Polish, Romanian, Lithuanian and Croatian communities in their respective languages. Also successful was the “Community Safety” event for the Lithu- These pages detail events, project activities and information for anian community, held in the Napiershall Street Centre. This com- those who have joined the pages. prised of information stalls with representation from Police Scotland, Community & Safety Services Glasgow, Victim Support and Roshni. Joanna Kieran Project Coordinator

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nities u m m o C P c R i C n G ority Eth n i M r o f g in ild Capacity Bu erclyde v n I d n a e r i h In Renfrews It has been another good year for GCRP, which aims at building on capacity for communities in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire. Funded by the Scottish Government and following last year’s successful event in partnership with Renfrewshire Council; links were developed. In the last year, the project has continued to support the Diversity, Equality and Alliance in Renfrewshire (DEAR) group by attending regular meetings and supporting annual reviews in identifying positive change towards equality and community planning. The project has supported smaller groups such as REEM and AACR to recognise potential by offering fundraising and budget workshops and also supported events such as the Summer Carnival which was a first for Paisley and celebrating Black History Research Month with AACR through a workshop. Additionally funding was gained from the Renfrewshire Council Change Fund to carry out a research into South Asian older people and barriers to access services as day-care centres. The research was carried out with communities highlighting that there is a need for services for older people and further work will be carried out to establish what methods can be adopted in the future to encourage integration. An end of research event was held in partnership with ROAR with activities organised for older people. This year the project plans to concentrate further efforts in establishing work within both Inverclyde and Renfrewshire through partnership working.

Capacity Building An opportunity was provided for small organisations to apply for small grants to develop services for their communities. As a result, a Scottish Traditional Christmas was organised and diverse communities attended.

Raising Awareness Earlier on this year the project attended and was part of the facilitation of the ‘Advancing Our Relations’ event which was held in Paisley. The event showcased the continued efforts groups need to make to encourage equality and human rights. Continued effort and links are being made in establishing a Ethnic Minority Network Forum and workshops have taken place looking into barriers in accessing services for minority ethnic communities that fall under multiple protected characteristics. The meetings have been taking place in the University of The West of Scotland (UWS) and feedback has been positive thus far. Further work on encouraging participation from both Inverclyde and Renfrewshire will be carried out in the current year.

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Ghzala Khan

Project Coordinator

Johannes Gonani

Development Assistant

Javed Sattar

Development Assistant (Older People Project)

lity Living Equa Funded through the Scottish Government till March 2015 the main aim is to support public, private, voluntary and community based organisations to positively advance the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) across the West of Scotland.

Project Structure Project structure is to: Recruit community champions, experts to set up an Equality Response Forum, and support the Public Sector on their Equality Duty in Procurement and other areas of development.

Support 9 Volunteer for the ‘Equality Response Forum’ “Academic Diversity Experts” were recruited and trained to support Public Sector Organisations (PSOs).

Two Community Champions (CC) were recruited and trained to engage with Public Sector Organisations( PSO) also awareness raising has taken place of CC on diverse community issues and capacity building Community Planning Partnership, Equality Act 2010 and related equality legislations. “I think being a volunteer for WSREC enabled me to see from the insider perspective how third sector organisations work. I also learned a lot about Public Sector Equality Duty, a duty I haven’t heard about before joining the organisation….I also had training on Community Planning at Glasgow City Council.” Quote from CC, Marta Kulesza

To support the Forum training was provided on Equality Impact Assessment (EIA). The Forum constructed a template for each of the Equality Strands to focus on the EIA papers. It is hoped that the Forum work will have a positive impact and reaches beyond the documents, but moreover causes positive organisational change. So far 2 organisations have been given assistance by the Forum one of them being Police Scotland for example to engage Muslim women in order to meet their “Safer Community Objective” advancing PSED.

Conference A successful conference was organised in September 2013 combining the private sector and public sector agencies on ‘how to embed equality practice into the public procurement processes.

Conclusion

PSED work with Private and Social Enterprise organisations is on-going the project has formed links with Local Enterprise Networks in view to assisting them with the PSED progression. Awareness sessions have been delivered to Ayrshire Children’s Services and Queen Cross Housing Association in relation to EIA and PSED.

A guideline booklet produced by the project was shared with attendees. Within the Public Sector participant’s there was a considerable amount of enthusiasm for embedding equality into the procurement process and were keen about adopting a process that offers equal access to small, voluntary sector or protected characteristic led businesses, this will hopefully help to create economic benefits locally for smaller minority community suppliers.

Bushra Iqbal MBE

14 16

Development Officer

fers r u S r e v l i S c ni Minority Eth MESS Project is led by Javed Sattar and Mohith Lakhanpal who insurance, setup email address, how to setup Facebook and has assisted in designing Training Manuals, teaching individuals in introduction to social media websites, how to setup Skype to Skype a class environment and also one to one. Funded by Voluntary and introduction to online banking. Action Fund.

Volunteers

Aims

6 volunteers have been be given specific training by ACE IT based in Edinburgh on how to teach older people IT on Laptop and Tablets.

The project has two key outcomes namely:

Minority Ethnic Older People – with particular focus on South Asian communities - in Glasgow are less isolated Marketing and are using technology. The project produced various marketing flyers with sincere thank  Minority Ethnic Older People – with particular focus on you going to one of WSRECs volunteers Rana Judge. His canny South Asian Communities - in Glasgow have increased face and expression was ideal. An article was also written in Awaz support to live a more independent life. Newspaper and ID Scotland magazine. The radio advert along with The project aims is also to ensure individuals are better prepared the magazine and newspaper articles were all given in-kind and to work with minority ethnic older people through volunteering and reached our target audience. 

Minority ethnic older people have increased confidence in using Media Partners day to day technology and keeping in touch. This is being done by individuals empowering minority ethnic older people by sharing best practices and IT skills; enabling minority ethnic older people to connect with the wider world. The project is aimed at individuals over the age of 55 years who have limited or lacking confidence in using the family laptop or their families have purchased or handed down their Smartphone, young members of the family have less time to give...one key work is Patience.

Classes The MESS Project is running classes in two locations; one is at WSREC office in the evening and also has a drop in centre and the other is with our partners Awaz FM where additional three classes are run. Awaz FM being on the south side suits most of the individuals who attend. The current ratio is 60% woman compared to 40% men. The classes teach basic computer knowledge to searching internet, how to access shopping sites like Asda and Tesco, how to look for and book flights (as an example the class chose Emirates and Easyjet and BA), how to shop for cheap

Conclusion The project learning so far has been that some individuals have no knowledge of computers and others with some degree and others just wanting to further their basic knowledge, others are just using handheld devices. The uptake of this project does identify a need for a further long term rollout of this kind training. It is anticipated this pilot project will achieve more that its objective.

Javed Sattar

Project Coordinator

Mohith Lakhanpal

Development Assistant

Qurbani “If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one” Mother Teresa Positive partnership goes from strength to strength between West of Scotland Regional Equality Council (WSREC) and Lodging House Mission (LHM) to help the destitute communities in Glasgow during the celebration of Eid Ul-Adha "Festival of Sacrifice" and spills into Edinburgh through Fusion Scotland. Qurbani means sacrifice in Arabic and the celebration of Eid Ul-Adha commemorates the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son (Ismail) as an act of obedience to God however found in place a ram which was sacrificed instead. This celebration takes part during the month of Zul Hajj when millions of Muslims pilgrimage to Mecca.

FM (local Asian radio station) in helping raise awareness in the community, majority of Glasgow’s Halal butchers who put aside the meat and packed it for pick up, Mr Shezad Hussain/Mr Ehsan Ul Haq from Snax4u whose valuable input on the day allowed us to deliver to LHM, Scottish Police Muslim Association and Ather Bashir of Fusion Scotland for their support during the year to help put in place the project in Edinburgh this year and not to forgetting our many volunteers” Nail Watton (Project Leader) stated:

“The Lodging House Mission are delighted to receive the meat from the celebration of Eid Ul-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice). This is the fourth year we have received the meat and we are very grateful once again the Muslim community for their continued support. We received approximately 215kg of meat and this allowed us to provide over 550 free meals to some of Glasgow’s most vulnerable The meat from the sacrifice of Eid Ul-Adha is mostly given away to and excluded citizens. The partnership between WSREC and LHM others. One-third is consumed by immediate family and relatives, over the years has been allowed a better understanding of faiths to one-third is given away to friends, and one-third is donated to the develop and we look forward to continuing this work in the future” poor. In the past, it has been difficult to distribute to the poor in Glasgow; due to health and safety issues and a lack of awareness which resulted in families offering sacrifices in other parts of the world with the understanding that the meat would be distributed accordingly. The set up of the Qurbani (Sacrifice) Food Initiative continues to change and for the fourth year running Glasgow’s Muslim community have come to support some of the most vulnerable and excluded communities with donated sacrificial meat amounting to 215 kilos. This translates to over 989 meals for the client group of the LHM – A huge achievement! This along with support by WSREC’s project to Fusion Scotland allowing for the project to be replicated in Edinburgh and its communities, it shows the excellent work being carried out. Project is a success and is run annually in supporting homeless & vulnerable individuals of Glasgow and now Edinburgh. Quotes from LHM clients: “I remember eating this meat last year, this is the first time since then I have tried it again, make sure you pass on my regards to the people who donated it again” Sarah 45 “The lamb in that curry was amazing. I didn’t know people from the Muslim communities donated it to us, that’s really nice of them” Mohammed Razaq (Executive Director) of WSREC said “it is a extraordinary feeling to see the positive results of a project. I am overwhelmed by the support given by the Muslim community, individuals and organisations, and in particular once again by Awaz

16 18

Stevie 61

Mohammed Razaq Executive Director

nd Roots Scotla It has been another productive year for our Roots Scotland Project. Funded through Historic Scotland, our project aims to increase awareness and appreciation of Scottish history and its environment by minority ethnic communities. The project has been steadily and surely making progress over the last 3 years with the project now being recognised by the communities we engage with. Building Links

Database which will link historic sites and museums to minority ethnic organisations and communities.

Workshop Workshops and presentations were carried out by Roots Scotland volunteers and included delivery to a Polish ESOL group in Coatbridge, Al Meezan and YWCA.

Over the last year, we continued to build links with diverse individuals and groups in the West of Scotland. We visited Eglington Castle and Country Park in the summer of 2013 and the day out was enjoyed working in partnership with the site through organising tours and walks. We empowered older people from West Dunbartonshire to access our services and a day trip to Loch Katrine was arranged in August. We also arranged a Roots Scotland Trip to Summerlee Industrial Museum where participants got the opportunity to travel on a tram, visit a mine and experience a variety of old cottages turned into homes from the 19th to 20th Century. This trip also welcomed a group from Deaf Connections who engaged and enjoyed the day immensely.

End of Year Event Our end of year event was held at the beautiful Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Key heritage groups were invited to meet some of our communities and had an introduction to some of the tours that take place.

Further Funding We have also received fantastic news from Historic Scotland and note that we have been funded for a further 3 years. The project will look different in the years to come so watch this space.

Partnerships The project also worked in partnership with Dumfries and Galloway Multicultural Association and also Minority Ethnic Access Development in Perthshire to reach out to communities’ out with the West of Scotland. Site visits and presentations were organised by both groups and we look forward to working with them again next year. Support was given to ISARO in West Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire Effort to Empower Minorities. A day trip to Helensburgh Castle and a traditional Scottish Christmas was organised by these minority ethnic led groups.

Publishment We have continued to publish our Historic Scotland bulletin in the last year showcasing events and activities that the communities can participate in and have developed an Information Exchange

17 19

Ghzala Khan

Project Coordinator

Suzanne Bingham

Development Assistant

Noreen Moughal

Project Assistant

Asifa Hafiz

Project Assistant

Project h t u o Y a m o R Roma Youth Project came to an end in September 2013 only to  enter a new stage in December 2013.

Visited Scottish historical, cultural and nature sites: Necropolis, Isle of Bute, Transport Museum

Community Engagement

Hosted a Romanian delegation in Glasgow



Four years of funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation created a great space for a robust community engagement with Roma young people, migrants from Central and Eastern Europe in years 2009 to 2013. All outcomes were achieved, although one or two later than proposed. Most of our targets have not only been met but they have also exceeded due to the result of passionate youth work and overall positive response from young people.

Unexpected Outcomes There were many positive unexpected outcomes during four years of existence of project. Roma Youth Project became a base for other smaller projects, provided substantial help to other Roma focused initiatives and became a vital support for service providers engaging or planning to engage with Roma people in future.

New Stage The new stage of the project is funded by Esmee Fairbairn Foundation for two years. The new stage of the project has been built on the knowledge and experience gathered from the previous three years and focuses on providing additional support to schools and parents, provide volunteering opportunities for young people, support green shoots initiatives such as Romano Lav (Roma Voice – first constituted Roma charity), challenge discrimination and support integration. Some of the activities the Roma Youth Project undertook this financial year: 

A musical ‘Music of Strangers’ was performed in local schools in early June 2013. Overall 9 shows were screened. Thanks to ConFab and Tramway.



Introduced young people to the idea of social enterprise in Partnership with SCVO.



Supported young people in attending a weekend residential team building training on a sailing boat (late summer 2013).



Visited Prague and Manchester for a study trip.



Provided communication training sessions for young people



Visited London and participated in an art exhibition in partnership with DreamMakers



Provided Hip Hop dance classes



Celebrated International Roma day

Eva Kourova



Supported local festivals and public events: Street Land, Southside Festival, Govanhill Fun Day, Hidden Gardens 10th Anniversary

Katarina Simonovicova Project Coordinator (10/13)

Project Coordinator

ersity

o Div Stepping Int

Stepping into Diversity uses creative educational activities to explore and celebrate the legacy of migration to Glasgow. A team of over 20 volunteers, from a diversity of ages and backgrounds, have collaborated to make this possible. Having participated in a number of the project’s training opportunities, they have been busy collecting oral histories, leading heritage walks and creating short films.

“I am so much in favour of breaking down the artificial barriers which cause divisions in society, and I really support your project. Thank you so much for initiating this.”

Photos by Monique Campbell

Three Strands These three strands of Stepping into Diversity are built around a unique collection of neighbouring places of worship within the city’s Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Jewish and Buddhist communities. Their close proximity combines inspiring narratives with the opportunity to connect street and story by foot.

Oral History The oral history interviews gather people’s experiences of moving to Glasgow, living in the city and using its buildings to establish community roots. Replete with poignancy, warmth and struggle, the interviews to date have ranged from the partition of India to the competing emotions of a late night arrival at Glasgow’s Buchanan Bus Station.

“I was able to see inside the Garnethill Synagogue, which I had always wanted to do but felt uncomfortable to go myself. I learnt about the history, religion and culture and was made to feel welcome, which I appreciated.”

Ongoing The interviews and walks are ongoing while simultaneously being developed into a stop motion film and photographic book. These will compliment a permanent oral history archive that will be established in physical form and online, both of which will be open to the public.

Youth Film Making

Heritage Walks

The third element of the project is the youth filmmaking initiative in partnership with Interfaith Glasgow. This has involved a team of The guided heritage walks offer an eye opening encounter with young volunteers developing and utilising a range of skills to create Glasgow’s rich cultural diversity. Incorporating the sight, sound and two short films about diverse experiences of faith. The first, ‘We people connected to seven places of worship, the walks lay bare Belong to Glasgow’, is in its final stages of production and due to the magnitude of migration’s gift to Glasgow. be launched shortly. “It was wonderful. It was the first time for me to be in any of those places….I was particularly impressed by the visit to the Hindu Temple with their millions of gods and all the images. Also the visit to the Sikh Gurdwara and the very kind hospitality was very touching.”

Benjamin Williams

Project Coordinator

Monique Campbell

Development Assistant

y Warm ‘N’ Dr Main aims of the Warm’N’Dry project were to tackle fuel poverty and help minority ethnic communities to make their homes more energy efficient. Launched in May 2012 and finished in September 2013, the project was funded by the Scottish Power Energy Peoples Trust, for a period of one year.

Fundamentals of the Project

methods work, the importance of regular meter reading and tips on how to read meters and energy bills. The pack also gives information on the Energy Assistance Package and various services and agencies providing energy advice. The packs were translated into Polish, Slovak, Somali and Swahili and disseminated to members of the minority ethnic communities and various organisations in the West of Scotland.

The project worked with the Polish, Somali and Slovak and Czech speaking Roma communities in the West of Scotland, helping them to understand how to save energy at home, spend less money on fuel bills and gain understating of energy efficiency. In order to assure long-lasting effects of our work we aimed to create sustainable links between the communities we worked with and mainstream services and agencies providing energy advice. In order to do so, we have created partnerships with organisations Experience Gained like Solas, G.Heat, ESSac and the North Lanarkshire Council The experience gained through our work with the Warm’N’Dry Domestic Energy Unit. project enabled us to create a training pack, which can be used as Events a tool by minority ethnic organisations to educate their communities Together with energy advisers from those agencies, we hosted and raise awareness of energy efficiency. As WSREC had learnt a eight events for ethnic minority communities in Glasgow, West lot in the process of running the Warm’N’Dry project, we wanted to Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire, during which make sure that the knowledge and skills gained were passed on to we talked about energy efficiency and fuel poverty, gave advice on other organisations. We organised two training sessions for efficient energy use at home and provided information on help minority ethnic organisations, during which we used our training available for those who struggle to pay their bills. We also made pack. Using the knowledge from the training session and the pack appointments for house visits during which using hand-on they will be able to educate their communities and raise awareness approach we explained the best ways to use energy at home, of energy efficiency. including effective use of heating systems, helped the clients to Acknowledgement liaise with their fuel providers and helped them to apply for financial help like the Warm Home Discounts. We visited 23 households, I would like to thank our committed staff members – Samiha Iman some of them a number of times and helped our clients to make up and Zuzana Hanzlova as well as our partners from G.Heat (David Kennedy), Solas (Jim Percival), ESSac (Lilan Delanaey) and North to £8,700 of savings for the coming year! Lanarkshire Council Domestic Energy Unit (Stewart Watson) for Information Pack their fantastic work and support. We also published an information pack, which contains advice on Development Officer (09/14) issues such as: how to use less energy at home, how to switch an Anita Lenyk energy provider and chose the best tariff, how various payment

Admin Repo

It has been another busy year once again for the expanded admin wish and emails can also be accessed remotely out-with the office. team supporting the various projects currently running at WSREC. Jordan Mains (placement from GCIL for 18 months) joined the Our Office Manager Farrah Rashid has been looking after the ad- team as a clerical assistant and supports general administration min support staff. This year the admin department have sup- tasks. ported 11 projects with day to day support and organising reIn addition to support the admin team, there is also a steady flow of quired in keeping the projects up and running and dealing with any volunteers throughout the year, their commitment allows WSREC issues they might have. The admin work involves mostly answerto utilise their skills in admin and project staff thereby enhancing ing phones, keeping records of enquiry particulars, updating datathe smooth running of the office. bases, carrying out any specific tasks required by project staff like helping to organise events, book venues, secure performers etc. During the last number of years WSREC’s IT systems and equipment have been renewed, upgraded and expanded to cater for the increasing number of projects. Our computer systems are all up to date and we have a central server with hot desking facilities so staff can access their user accounts from any PC they

“The help of all our colleagues including volunteers is greatly appreciated”

Farrah Rashid

Office Manager

made. These included taster sessions in Yoga, Tai Chi, Boxercise and Shabam. We also started to grow our own within the WSREC WSREC has always been committed to promoting health and well- community Garden. To support relaxation we introduced blocks of being amongst all staff and in the last year, we worked towards ‘head and shoulder massage’ and introduced fruit smoothies after getting this recognised. Working towards our Healthy Working staff meetings. Lives Award has been a great experience for staff. Not only have we streamlined our existing policies and developed new ones, we We are now aiming to work towards Silver Award and continue to have also encouraged our staff to live healthier lifestyles and have introduce health and wellbeing information to staff. WSREC staff recognised that small positive changes can make a vast improve- would like to thank everyone at the Healthy Working Lives Team for their support and encouragement throughout the award and the ment on individuals achieving a healthier work life balance. NHS health Improvement Grant that supported the activities. In April 2013 we achieved our Healthy Working Award at Bronze level through showcasing some positive changes that we had

Healthy Working Lives

Sickle Cell Awareness

For further information www.acwascotland.co.uk

Sickle cell awareness campaign project by African Caribbean Women’s association (ACWA) funded by Awards for All was hosted by WSREC. It hosted the first conference in 1998 and a second in 2008. Sickle cell anaemia is an inherited disorder of the haemoglobin in the red blood cells. The aim was to bring the communities, health and social care professionals to discuss ways of addressing the growing needs of those affected by this condition in Scotland.

eting

nd Mark a e s i r p r e t n E

Hi, I am Mohith (pronounced as Mohit) a marketing student from Glasgow Caledonian University, I was one of many interns who worked and helped West of Scotland Regional Equality Council (WSREC) in 2013. I applied through Third sector Internships Scotland who funded me and WSREC. I would like to thank Third Sector Internships Scotland for all their support and training.

“If you want to improve and gain new experiences then I recommend volunteering or doing an internship with WSREC. It is never dull but colourful at WSREC”.

Why I chose to apply for West of Scotland Regional Equality Council? There was 4 main reasons why I applied, the main reasons where: I wanted to improve my soft skills, put all I have learned and the experiences into one big project, see them intertwine and see what areas I needed to improve on. The final reason was I liked the whole ethos of WSREC and what they stood for; they seemed colourful, diverse, ambitious and always wanting to improve and evolve. The project I was doing showed that and I was over the moon to get the internship.

What was the project about? The 3 and a half month project was to look at all the services that WSREC offered that was not funded based, like its training and creating events for clients such as Kidney Research and to see how effective they were. Like many charitable organisations there has been a switch to become more of a social enterprise, as funding is reducing and it is harder to get. I was there to see with a fresh set of eyes on what WSREC could offer and help WSREC to generate more income that was not funded based, as they wanted to become more financially independent and have more control on how they would get to their vision.

New Role

What WSREC and the last few years has taught me is that the harder I work the luckier I get and that is so true, as I have been kept on after my internship and now I am the Enterprise and Marketing Officer. As the Enterprise and Marketing Officer I help with creating the marketing strategy, managing all the social media pages, help with the website, help creating logos and any print campaigns and giving out general advice to staff about any marketWhat the project entailed? ing issues. The enterprise side of things involves the progression of It entailed a lot, from desk research to first hand research creating more income that is not funded based. (interviewing staff) to data basing to doing a report to doing a presentation to recommendations. As you can tell it was non-stop, but I loved every minute as it was diverse and I was not doing any Mohith Lakhanpal Enterprise and Marketing tea/coffee runs. The best part of the internship was the staff; they Officer were caring, did not make you feel like you were an intern and valued your opinions.

The Experience I barely got in the house after the interview when the phone rang to say I got the internship. I had the biggest smile that day and I still do right now as I have loved every minute of it, it has been stressful and hard work but it has made me stronger and better.

Statistics Nature of Enquiry

No.

Ethnicity

No.

Advice & Information

804

African

2.6

Info of External Serv

210

Bangladeshi

0.1

Info on WSREC Serv

Caribbean

Other

307

Chinese

1.2

Central Eastern European

627

48.9

English

1.7

The amount of Advice & Information enquiries have lowered by 33.3 % from last year but all other categories have increased.

Indian

3.9

Irish

0.1

Age Range

Total

1281

100

No.

Middle Eastern

0.5

< 17

0.3

Mixed Heritage

7.7

18-24

Not Disclosed

0.6

25-29

359

Other

2.3

30-44

583

Pakistani

6.4

45-59

187

Scottish

6.7

60-64

Welsh

> 65

0.7

Total

1281

100

Not Disclosed

1281

100

Total

Central and Eastern European users decrease from 54.1% to 48.9% from last year. Figures also show a increases of not disclosed users from 0.7% to 7.7% also there have been a number of increases from last year.

The 30-44 age range still dominates. 25-29 age range has increased from 15.3 % to 28%.

Local Authority

No.

Gender

No.

Argyll & Bute

Male

612

East Ayrshire

Female

651

East Dunbartonshire

0.9

Not Disclosed

East Renfrewshire

Glasgow

1245

97.1

Inverclyde

0.3

North Ayrshire

North Lanarkshire

0.3

Renfrewshire

South Ayrshire

Total

1281

100

There has been a increase of 13.5% males in this category from last year.

Disability

No.

Yes

1.5

South Lanarkshire

240

18.7

West Dunbartonshire

0.3

Not Disclosed

1022

79.8

Not Disclosed

0.7

100

Glasgow still remains the dominant authority or user base, however Not Disclosed has decreased by 8.5% from 9.2% last year.

Total

1281

Disability shows an increase of 2.1% for No.

f Work

New Areas o

Last year Concerns Were Raised by Staff    

The lack of ethnic minority representation in Modern Apprenticeships Schemes

The lack of culturally sensitive support on money advice and welfare benefits Digital exclusion of ethnic minority communities in particular of Chinese, Polish and South Asian background The lack of advice on employment and training on Jobs Lack of support into employment for disabled within the minority communities

WSREC experience and government statistics show a very low take up of the scheme from ethnic minority communities and the government have been unable to tackle this issue. WSREC is in dialogue with the Scottish Government in ways of working in partnership to changes this very grave situation in particular for young people.

WSREC worked hard to bring resources to address the above issues and I am pleased to report that we managed to obtain Conflict Resolution resources to work towards addressing issues 1 and 2. Much has been made of mainstreaming equalities within policy and We have Money Advice Works (MAW) project in partnership with practice of public authorities and agencies however, this has left Queens Cross Housing Association working on supporting many individuals with no help or support from all protected individuals with money advice and digital exclusion. The ‘Minority characteristic facing harassment and discrimination and in Ethnic Silver Surfers’ project (MESS) helping the south Asian particular racial discrimination and harassment. elderly with mastering new technology like browsing the Web and the use of smart mobile telephone. Over the years there have been dwindling resources for this type of work being made available not only by governments, statutory Unfortunately no headway has been made with the issues 3 and 4 bodies but charitable trust also. Individuals are suffering and have and these were issues that were identified the previous year nowhere to go for help and support. however we are not sitting on our laurels and have applied for support for both areas from funders and hope to hear of the Our senior Officer Mohammed Razaq has been raising this issue outcome of the applications later in the year. In relation to bullet within the equalities community and also with the head of equalities number 4 we have partnered up with Remploy in this area of work. in the Scottish Government. Staff and WSREC Board members have again this year been looking at areas of concern or development for the coming year and the following has been identified:-

Scottish Alliance of Regional Equality Council During the year WSREC has continued to support SAREC into its It is envisaged that this will not only provide services of a REC in all 8th year of operation including responsibility of providing for the 2nd parts of Scotland but increase the membership of SAREC, bringing year running a chair for the organisation through Dr Malcolm Green. much needed support for all and in particular for individuals and equality groups in areas not served by existing REC’s. Positive piece of work that has been on-going to capacity build or assists groups and organisations to become REC’s in areas Funding obtained through application by WSREC has been utilised geographically not covered by the four existing REC’s. Also during and take the forward the organisation and a ‘Hate Crime’ the year WSREC staff and board members supported SAREC with Conference is planned for later in the year which will have Doreen workshops at the Scottish older Peoples Assembly in Edinburgh Lawrence as its keynote speaker.

Staff reas of Work New A We would like to thank our expanding WSREC family for their hard work, dedication and commitment to West of Scotland Regional Equality Council and the wider community.

Sessional Staff and Placements Sophina Ahmed

Noreen Akhtar Moughal

Johannes Gonani

Katy Mitchell (Work Placement)

Nikola Krugova

Ana Pric

Samina Iman

Eva Kilborn

Alexander Stewart

Jurate Pilepolyte

Zuzana Hanzlova

Ovidiu Spatacian-Tarnu

Eszter Tarcsafalvi

Lisa Craig

Katarzyna Prochalska

Michaela Styrykova

Marcela Adamova

Ramute Lagunaviciute

Dilmeet Sangha

Calina Toqir

Tajinder Chana

Xiao Zhou

David Balog

Shan Chen

Safraz Hussain

Maryanna Law

Yu Hong Lee (Student Placement)

Volunteers Barbora Dinzikova

Michal Hagyari

Helen Hughes

Ambika Lakhanpal

Kristina Silvan

Runima Kakati

Anana Kayani

Roxana Chirilas

Aileen Lytton

Khudaja Afzal

Fei Qiong Wei

Gill Maxwell

Rana Judge

Greg Absler

Frankie Miller

Priti Dube

Christine Alexander

Francesca Pisanu

Razwana Gul

Nadezhda Antonova

Monica Pitt

Mohammed Waheed

Madhavi Latha Apparala

Isabel Smyth

Geetha Marcus

Veronique Boum

Syed Alireza Tabatabai

Jana Muzikova

Stan Campbell

Jekaterina Tihhonova

Shamaila Sattar

James Curran

Gill Young

Emanuel Covaci

Sharon Dunn

Michela Sirykova

Hannah Walters

Isobel Gill

Piotr Malushiewicz

Mohammed Razaq

Michael Wilson

Executive Director

Deputy Director

Projects Manager

Office Manager

Jordan Main

Choi Tin Lee

Joanna Kieran

Eva Kourova

Clerical Assistant

Farrah Rashid

Ghzala Khan

Project Co-ordinator

Shahbaz Mahmood I.T Officer

Tiff Griffin

Mohith Lakhanpal

Janila Stanley

Enterprise & Marketing Officer

Admin Assistant

Bushra Iqbal

Benjamin Williams

Project Co-ordinator

Development Officer

Project Co-ordinator

Yasar Khan

Monique Campbell Development Assistant

Javed Sattar

Timothy Mwakasekele

Anita Lenyk

Katarina Simonovicova

Adeel Ibriham

Project Co-ordinator

I.T Officer

(till Sept 2013)

(till June 2013)

(till October 2013)

Suzanne Bingham

Asifa Hafiz

Aleksandra Pawluk

Development Assistant

Community Activities Officer

West of Scotland Regional Equality Council

Tel: 0141 337 6626

39 Napiershall Street, Glasgow, G20 6EZ

Fax: 0141 339 2647

Scottish Charity No: SC025038

web: www.wsrec.co.uk

Scottish Company No: SC292009

email: admin@wsrec.co.uk

“Friendly”

“A big family”

“Welcoming”

“Colourful”

“Fulfilling”

Designed internally by the Enterprise & Marketing Officer

WSREC is registered in Scotland a company Limited by Guarantee No: SC292009 & is a registered Scottish Charity No: SCO25038

JYH Charitable Trust

To make a donation please make cheques payable to: West of Scotland Regional Equality Council Limited or donate via the BT My Donate website

WSREC Annual Report 2013-14

Articles inside

Statistics

Enterprise and Marketing

Warm ‘N’ Dry

Qurbani

Roots Scotland

Stepping In Diversity

Minority Ethnic Silver Surfers

Roma Youth Project

Living Equality

The Chairs Report

Treasurer’s Report