WSREC Annual Report 2021-22

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ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCES 2021-22

An equal and human rights based society, where everyone is valued and can take an active role

Hello There!

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 50 years of experience in engaging with some of the most diverse communities in Scotland.

Our Mission

Our Vision An equal and human rights based society, where everyone is valued and can take an active role

•

We are working with communities across all equality strands.

•

We develop and deliver community led responses to eliminate discrimination, attain rights and remove barriers to build a fair and just society.

What We Do At WSREC we have a diverse range of projects promoting good relations, reducing isolation and challenging discrimination.

Through our training and consultancy we offer tailor-made community engagement packages, research in diverse communities within the West of Scotland and bespoke training on the Equality Act, diversity and human rights. A number of diverse organisations have accessed these services and highly praised the professionalism, quality of information and friendly staff.

Contents - Board Members 2021/22..........................................................03 - Board Members in Action........................................................04 - Executive Director’s Report.....................................................05 - Chair’s Report...............................................................................06 - Treasurer’s Report.......................................................................07 New Projects - Minority Ethnic Human Rights Project (MEHRP)............09 - Equality and Human Rights...........................................09 - EU Advice and Information.............................................10 - Women’s Civic Participation............................................11 - Employability and Training..............................................12 - COVID-19 Response............................................................13 - Refugee: Employability and Training Support...................14 - Refugee Community Integration Project.............................15 Ongoing Projects - Equality: Mainstreaming Anti-Sectarianism........................17 - Roots Scotland...............................................................................18 - Quarbani (Sacrifice) Food Initiative.......................................19 - Glasgow Community Fund......................................................20 Completed Projects - Good Community Relations Project (GCRP)....................22 - Living Equality...............................................................................23 - Cook, Grow, Sew - Branching Out.........................................24 - Shine Bright....................................................................................25 WSREC Reports - WSREC User Statistics...............................................................26 - WSREC Training and Consultancy.........................................27 - SAREC Report...............................................................................28 - WSREC Admin Report...............................................................29 - WSREC IT Report........................................................................30 - QA Apprenticeship......................................................................31 - Volunteer Journey........................................................................32 - Coronavirus (COVID 19).............................................................33 - WSREC New Premises...............................................................34 - Future Development...................................................................35 - Quality Standards........................................................................36 - WSREC Core Staff.......................................................................37 - WSREC Project Support Workers.........................................38 - WSREC Volunteers & Student Placements........................38

3 Board Reports

Board Members 2021 / 2022

Cllr Hanzala Malik

Dr. Malcolm Green

Harriette Campbell

Sharon Schlesinger

CHAIR

VICE CHAIR

TREASURER

SECRETARY

Syed Jafri

Cllr Anne McTaggart

Cllr Rashid Hussain

Onkar Singh Jandu

Antony Kozlowski

Shareen Razaq

Dr. Javed Gill

Co-opted Members

Sheela Mukherjee

Vince Chudy PERSONNEL COMMITTEE CHAIR

Haroun Malik

4 2021-2022 Annual Report

Board Members In Action

WSREC Board and Staff at Shuna Street Launch

WSREC Executive Director and Chair at Shuna Street launch

Meeting of WSREC’s Board of Directors

WSREC Deputy Director and Chair at Shuna Street Launch

WSREC Board and Staff cutting Shuna Street ribbon

5 Board Reports

Executive Director’s Report This is my nineteenth and final report as Executive Director. As I retire at the end of April 2022, it is my pleasure to report on what could be seen as one of the most challenging periods in WSREC’s history The unprecedented global pandemic highlighted inequalities that communities faced on a daily basis.

The pandemic, which led to national and international lockdowns, is now coming to an end after almost two years. As the vaccinations rolled out, WSREC helped raise awareness to the communities we serve, where literacy and lack of information can often be a huge barrier.

Through the pandemic and staff working from home, our longstanding lease with City Property came to an end.

WSREC finally said goodbye to our home in the Napiershall Street Centre, where we were based for over two decades.

We are currently refurbishing our new office, based at 201 Shuna Street, as substantial repairs were required before moving in. These repairs were delivered over two phases to ensure the office is ready to be occupied and compliant with health safety regulations. A small launch of the office was undertaken in December 2021, after completion of phase 1 repairs, and work on phase 2 is currently ongoing.

It is envisaged that the office will be fully operational by end of July 2022.

Going forward our aim is to have in place facilities to provide services online if requested, but the default will be to provide services face to face. In relation to staff, a ‘blended’ approach is being adopted and WSREC has implemented new policies and procedures which will provide staff with the opportunity to work from home, through flexible working patterns, to promote a better work-life balance.

We have also embarked on a quest to fully upgrade our IT equipment and infrastructure. With arduous work from staff, WSREC has secured funding and a contract is now place for new IT systems and equipment, which should also be installed and ready for use by end of July 2022.

Throughout the year, via ongoing consultations, WSREC has continued to provide data to local councils and the Government on how communities and equality groups are suffering, via health and other inequalities, as a result of the pandemic and COVID-19.

We have continued to support asylum seeker and refugee communities with advice and information on welfare rights and housing, helping to reduce isolation. We are also preparing for the arrival of refugees from Ukraine who, due to the conflict, will soon be arriving in Glasgow, as Scotland becomes the ‘super sponsor’ for Ukrainian refugees.

Over the past year, WSREC projects have collectively provided 2,088 individuals with advice, information, and support via online, telephone and occasional in-person sessions. We also provided community engagements workshops, training, information sharing, partnership referrals through our social media platforms reaching a wide range of individuals from diverse communities. A breakdown and analysis of advice and information is on page (26) of the annual report.

Staff and Board members have continued to represent WSREC through participation in a broad range of fora and networks. This has enabled us to be the voice of our communities, raising awareness of barriers and promoting positive action. WSREC consistently, and at every opportunity, aims to raise awareness of equality issues at grassroots and strategic policy level such as local councils, Scottish and Westminster Governments.

This has also been clear as members of the Scottish Alliance of Regional Equality Councils (SAREC) and through the Scottish Governments Cross Party Groups on Racial Equality and Tackling Islamophobia. WSREC is also represented on the Boards of Central Glasgow Citizen Advice Bureau, Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum, and Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to WSREC’s Board of Directors, our many funders, partner organisations and individuals for their support and assistance in making it through what has been another challenging year.

It has also been a privilege to work with such a talented and dedicated team of staff and volunteers, without whom the work that we deliver for our communities would not be possible. I am proud to have worked with WSREC over more than two decades and wish it continued success as it moves into the new offices and beyond.

Mohammed Razaq Executive Director

6 2021-2022 Annual Report

Chair’s Report It has been another challenging year with the effects of the Global Pandemic – COVID 19 having a distressing impact on diverse communities across all equality groups. Those who were disadvantaged to begin with have been further impacted with longer lasting effects of COVID 19, poor mental health, a visible decrease in employability, food and fuel poverty requiring greater social and community led action at grassroots level. The only way to achieve this is to highlight the disparities at strategic and national levels calling for an increase in resources to capacity build communities’ access to basic human rights and equalities.

The recent war on Ukraine has unnerved the world and once again, the outcome is individuals and families who have suffered greatly with the ongoing conflict. The anguish of the refugees is acknowledged and we have found many of those being offered refuge are by countries that are already facing social and economic challenges themselves.

As an organisation, we welcome all refugees and are expanding our services to support those suffering as a result of the war on Ukraine.

Regrettably, this war has heightened the inconsistencies that should be recognised and offered to all who face adversities through conflict. The Ukraine refugee crisis has inadvertently exposed further institutionalised racism and contradictions in the definition of basic human rights.

Even the fundamentals of being able to leave the war zones highlighted that people of colour faced inequalities when accessing basic transport and other services. This has been harrowing to witness and reinforces the message to wider communities, that we are not all equal.

Furthermore, mainstream media has described the refugees as ‘civilised people’ and the ongoing coverage in Western media along with global political decisions are now largely dependent on ethnic backgrounds.

Other conflicts in Syria, Somalia, Kashmir, Palestine or Afghanistan for example do not receive the same level of media coverage and a prime example is the war on Yemen which is in its 8th year with over 400,000 killed and 4 million displaced.

The fallout of the war has had a vast knock-on effect to the nation and as a result the increase of fuel and energy is now one of the top concerns of the minority ethnic communities we support. The ‘eat or heat’ choices are continuing to make life hard for poor and destitute migrants. It will be vital that we look for ongoing resources to complement our existing services that look at poverty, discrimination and mental health. Encompassing employability and advocacy support to provide a holistic service. With this note, I present the WSREC annual report which has tackled many of challenges that are currently being faced.

With continued restrictions and lockdowns, our staff have been delivering crucial services to its communities, meeting WSREC’s vision of ‘An equal and human rightsbased society, where everyone is valued and can take an active role.’ And I thank the WSREC Board of Directors, staff and volunteers for their commitment and arduous work. All efforts are recognised and without their contribution we would not have achieved all that we have.

Hanzala Malik WSREC Chair

7 Board Reports

Treasurer’s Report This is my thirteenth year as treasurer, and the second year that we have faced the challenges of the Covid 19 pandemic. We are thankful to funders who have continued to offer grants to support communities during the many lockdowns.

I can report an income this year of £568,867 from £476,044 the previous year this is an increase of £92,823 (>19%). We have maintained relative financial stability by securing additional funding for some ongoing and new projects.

The income and expenditure statement shows income for the year as £568,867 whereas total expenditure as £462,699. Staff have continued to work hard to make savings by negotiating contracts for equipment and services, and keeping a tight control on costs of regular re-occurring items.

WSREC successfully completed its final year of the 2-year grant funding from the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund totalling £198,560 (2020-2022) for our Cook, Grow, Sew - Branching Out project work.

I am pleased to advise that we were successful with grants for new projects, a few of which are noted below: •

•

•

Minority Ethnic Victim Support Service (MEVSS) funding is administered by the Scottish Government.

We have received funding of £207,156 until the end of March 2025, to offer minority ethnic victims of crime increased opportunities to access services to improve their physical and mental health Minority Ethnic Human Rights Project (MEHRP) funded by the Scottish Government and administered

by Inspiring Scotland. This project replaces our Good Community Relations Project and Living Equality project, with funding of £436,227 until the end September 2024.

Integrated Communities: Regfugee Employment & Training Support (RETS) / Refugee Community Integration Project (RCIP) projects work with refugee and asylum seeker communities

Also, our existing projects, EMAS (‘Equality: Mainstreaming Anti-Sectarianism’) received funding of £20,000 and Roots Scotland project received £52,000 for further one year.

I am also pleased report that we were able to obtain resources (£39,000) with a mix of grant and donation to fully upgrade our IT equipment and infrastructure, it is hoped that the upgrade will be completed by end of July 2022.

After 2 years, WSREC was again subject to a ‘full audit’ of its financial accounts, due to our income threshold

surpassing five hundred thousand pounds. WSREC also continues to be fully compliant with auto enrolment legislation for pensions. And I am pleased to report that negotiations have concluded for WSREC to exit the challenging Strathclyde Pension Scheme.

I am delighted to note the support of WSREC’s Board and staff in seeking improved and better avenues of support and development to maintain the organisations financial position.

Harriette Campbell Treasurer Summarised Statement of Financial Activities for the Year End 31st March 2022 Income Grants Other Income

2022(£) 553,987 14,880

2021(£) 465,752 10,292

Total income

568,867

476,044

Expenditure Charitable Activities

(462,699)

(460,893)

Total Expenditure

(462,699)

(460,893)

106,168

15,151

3,000

(66,000)

3,680 112,848

54,529 3,680

Net Movement in Funds Actuarial gains on defined benefit pension scheme Funds Balance brought forward Balance carried forward

Abbreviated Balance Sheet at 31st March 2022 Fixed Assets

96,364

9,643

Current Assets

100,810

90,467

Current Liabilities

(15,576)

(18,430)

Net Current Assets Less: Pension Reserve Fund Net Assets/(Liabilities)

181,598

81,680

(68,750) 112,848

(78,000) 3,680

9 New Project Reports

Minority MinorityEthnic EthnicHuman Human Rights RightsProject Project(MEHRP) (MEHRP)

The MEHRP project started in October 2021, and is made up of 5 different strands - (1) Equality and Human Rights; (2) EU Advice and Information; (3) Women’s Civic Participation; (4) Employability and Training; (5) COVID-19 Response.

Over 3 years, the project will deliver bespoke activities for disadvantaged minority ethnic communities in the West of Scotland through the provision of information and advice on welfare reform, housing, financial entitlements, creating employability pathways, training to wider services, and encouraging civic participation.

Equality Equality and and Human Human Rights Rights

Since this project started:

82

This strand of MEHRP •

provides an equality and human rights advice and information service, which service users can access through individual appointments or adult education group work;

•

delivers equality and human rights training for organisations so that they can support people with protected characteristics to become aware of, access and uphold their rights and protections;

•

develops case studies about the experiences of people with protected characteristics from our equality and human rights service and uses them to inform wider policy and practice.

“Thank you so so much for taking your time to help me and my family, your support means a lot for us to get through this difficult and critical time, words cannot express how much we need and appreciate your advice and support.

“Very clear training and reinforces everyone’s responsibilities and not just one staff member. Our awareness and actions need to be embedded into our practice.”

“Your prompt and professional and personalized help and support really means a lot for us, giving us the courage and hope to move on in life.”

Funded by

“Just wanted to say thank you so much for such a fantastic session today, it was so informative, and people were really engaged.”

“Really enjoyed the session, a great learning environment and great encouragement from the trainer.”

people have accessed advice and information through adult education workshops;

12 people have accessed advice and / or information on a one-to-one basis;

3 organisations have received equality and / or human rights training.

“I did not know how to write a complaint letter. With template letter and the example given, I will be able to write one myself. I learned also that I can seek support from WSREC if I am scared to handle the complaint alone.”

“Thank you very much. Your letter has made a difference. You explain everything very, very well. Thank you very much for the support.”

“I now know a lot more than I did prior to the course.”

Administered by

Ben Williams Project Co-ordinator

10 2021-2022 Annual Report

EU Advice and Information Equality and Human Rights

Jurate (Lithuanian Support Worker) had a chance to introduce herself, WSREC and our project (MEHRP) to the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nauseda, who was in Glasgow to participate in COP26.

The Minority Ethnic Human Rights Project (EU Advice) is set to deliver advice and information surgeries to Central Eastern European individuals on topics around the EU exit and settlement scheme, welfare, and housing, as well as financial attainment.

In addition to the above, the project has begun to develop its online presence by increasing its Facebook posts and producing a quarterly newsletter.

The post EU Exit immigration landscape now governs migrants’ entitlements to welfare, work, and housing.

EU migrants need to prove their immigration status when applying for benefits, looking for work or searching for a home. Yet many still have queries with their applications, pending applications or lack of applications.

Which is where our partnership with the Citizens Rights Project has been essential. Both of our advice workers are qualified as EUSS-Level 1 immigration advisers, providing them with the necessary knowledge to continue giving high quality, reliable advice on migrant’s rights to entitlements in the UK.

Since the start of the project:

158 individuals have received support

268 enquires were dealt with

185 hrs were spent supporting clients

1,500 individuals were reached through our Facebook posts

>95 families read our first multilingual newsletter

Funded by

Administered by

Mira Waligora Project Co-ordinator

11 New Project Reports

Census session with women’s group

Women’s Civic Civiv Participation Participatiollil This strand continues on from the previous Minority Ethnic Women’s Civic Participation Project (MEWCPP). Over the past 9 months, the project has continued to transform Minority Ethnic women’s lives by building their capacity through training, learning and awareness sessions.

Members have continued to receive weekly English Conversation sessions, and this has further improved their abilities in reading, writing and speaking. These sessions have covered topics such as; present and past tense, figure of speech, conjunctions, compositions, reading and comprehension, writing formal and informal letter, quick thinking questions, essay / descriptive writing.

Members have also received the following training, improving their confidence and increasing their interest and participation in public engagements • • •

Listening skill and note taking IT and modern technology Coaching and mentoring

• • •

Induction to civic engagement Preparing for meetings Public speaking

COP 26 in Glasgow More experienced members volunteered at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. The event which was held from Sunday 31st October 2021 to Friday 12th November 2021 hosted many world leaders and dignitaries from around the globe. Members joined the COP26 volunteer portal to select the tasks, slots and shifts that suited their skills as individuals.

The event was an opportunity for MEWCPP members to experience working with professionals on a platform that is globally recognised.

Some of the volunteers had testimonials of their attendance.

“It allowed us to make our voices more visible and forge links with Civil Society”

Funded by

“I now feel powerful, as part of the Global Community. It has increased my knowledge and connected me with Networks more than ever before”

“I enjoyed volunteering for cop26 as it took me out of my comfort zone”

Administered by

Scottish Census 2022 Our members joined their counterparts across the board to attend CENSUS 2022 awareness sessions. These sessions created opportunities for ME women to learn how to complete the form with little or no assistance.

120

women received group support to better understand Census and its importance

4

sessions were delivered to women’s community groups

7

women received support on a one-to-one basis The awareness session is very helpful, I looked at the Census Forms and could not understand. Now I do that these are 3 types of questions. Personal, family and guest. It was very confusing” “I have lived in Scotland for 25 years and first time I came to know about Census and the benefit of the info we give”

Over the past 9 months:

9 ME women have been recruited, trained and capacity built to enable them actively to join civic participation structures

36 English Conversation sessions have been run for the new members

7 Syrian women received English language sessions on a weekly basis

53 senior members have received training on mentoring and coaching

Bushra Iqbal Project Co-ordinator

12 2021-2022 Annual Report

Employability and Training Traininiiii This strand supports ethnic minority communities within Renfrewshire and Glasgow in pathways to: Modern Apprenticeships, Employment, Volunteering and Work Placements. It also provides support towards education and training, SQA accreditation and facilitates discussions between our clients and would be employers.

The project has also been recruiting and signposting potential volunteers to various opportunities.

Other areas of delivery include: •

training

•

one to one employability support

•

support in completing applications for Apprenticeships

Working in partnership our services users have had access to training including: •

outdoor first aid training

•

mental health training for managers

•

suicide prevention awareness training

•

mental health and wellbeing in the workplace

Since the project started: “Volunteering has helped me combat depression, It has also increased my social skills. Volunteering also gave me the opportunity to practice vital skills such as: teamwork, problem solving, project planning, task management”

3 students have been supported and are currently on placements

I’m happy and coping with the ongoing covid-19 and other challenges with the help of my volunteering role which helped me to build a network of friends and family that took me away from isolation. It has also helped me to support others using my IT skills’

Funded by

Administered by

Johannes Gonani Project Co-ordinator

13 New Project Reports

COVID-19 Response Responsei This strand aims to support minority ethnic families to recover from covid 19, as well as increasing their awareness of mental health and well-being. We also supports minority ethnic individuals to integrate back into society after long periods of social isolation.

The strand services include: •

One to one surgery for individuals

•

Providing bi-lingual support

•

Workshop and group discussion

•

Family activities

Over the past 6 months, the project has povided bilingual support on issues such as: •

completing online forms, e.g. the Scotish census

•

benefit forms

•

advice and support to access local and national services such as NHS

•

access to mental health services

•

energy advice

calculations

and

completing

benefit

Part of the one-to-one support includes advocacy support. During each session, individuals are encouraged to make decisions and get involved in the process to make them understand the issue which means they will be able to deal with the same issue without needing any further support in the future.

Monthly workshops and discussions have been delivered in partnership with three community-led organisations to raise awareness of the impact of COVID 19. The workshops focused on the impact of covid 19; highlighting the mental health issues and economic issues and how we can go over them. The available support services and how they can access them also was highlighted.

Funded by

Case Study Mrs X had contacted MEHRP covid advocacy response for support. Mrs X migrated from Syria a few years ago.

She suffers from cultural and language barriers. She has been suffering from tooth pain for a few months and has not registered with a dentist as she is unaware of the support around. Her tooth pain was very severe, and she had attended an emergency NHS out of hours service at the Glasgow Dental Hospital which had carried out an emergency procedure on her and informed her she will need to register with a dentist and continue with further root canal treatments.

Mrs X informed me she is unemployed and receives Universal Credit. The support worker advised her that, if she is on an eligible benefit, then she will get support to pay for the treatment. Mrs X was not aware of this as she had assumed dental treatment required payment. She has been advised that she will need to visit an NHS Dentist and will be required to submit evidence and complete forms which will allow her the fee waived. They were unaware of the local dentists. A list of local NHS dental practices was provided for her. Once she had chosen the one nearest to her, then we contacted the dentist, explained the situation, and made an appointment for her to be seen. We also made an appointment for her with a Financial Inclusion Advisor at a local charity to have their benefits assessed and explained to her that her entitlements included further health benefits. As result, she has increased awareness about her entitlements.

Mrs X was very happy with the support they had received from MEHRP. Not only did we manage to get the treatment done but they had a benefits assessment carried out for her. This case has further highlighted to us, that there is a lack of awareness amongst ME communities on services available. They are unaware of rights and entitlements and suffer in silence. There is a gap in the service provision and a need to raise awareness.

Since the start of the project:

Administered by

27 inddividiuals have received one-to-one support

66 individuals attended a total of 3 monthly workshops

Manal Eshelli Project Co-ordinator

14 2021-2022 Annual Report

Refugee Refugee--Employability, Employability, Training, Training,and andSupport Support (RETS) (RETS)

Refugee – Employment & Training Support (RETS) Project provides capacity building training and advocacy support to refugees from Glasgow and North Lanarkshire.

Particularly, the project focuses on providing one-toone support on employability pathways and education, capacity building workshops and training on:

Over the past year:

4,180 individuals are aware of employment opportunities through social media and sign posting

•

ESOL/Digital/Mentoring/Employability skills,

•

accessing Modern Apprenticeships

•

volunteering/work placements

85

•

financial entitlements through welfare reform

•

Qualifications through SQA accreditations

diverse refugees from Glasgow and North Lanarkshire have developed their skills and competences to enter meaningful employment and education

Engaging with refugee communities from diverse backgrounds and at different stages within their employability journeys, we deliver a bilingual and culturally sensitive service which is accessible to all.

REFUGEE EMPLOYABILITY AND TRAINING SUPPORT PROJECT The project provides capacity-building training, one-to-one employability support, mentorship, and advocacy support to refugees from Glasgow and North Lanarkshire.

49 individuals from refugee communities increased their individual financial independence and resilience, gaining recognised qualifications

The project will deliver the following: • 2-week Basic employability vocabulary course.

• Employability support and workshop on CV, job applications, interview skills, job search, and confidence-building.

• SQA Employability Award Level 3 & 4 • IT/Digital workshops on MS office package and basic use of digital devices.

• Advice and information on welfare, debt, housing, and other areas.

• Mentorship to highly skilled migrants.

All workshops and short courses are FREE. Registration is required for all workshops and courses.

For further information and booking please contact Zain Ahmed: Tel: 07497 177263 Email: zahmed@wsrec.co.uk For more information please contact WSREC: Tel: 0141 337 6626 | Email: info@wsrec.co.uk | www.wsrec.co.uk wsrec71

@WSREC

Scottish Charity No: SC025038 Partnered by:

@wsrec

WSREC

Scottish Company No: SC292009 Funded by:

Session with Yemeni group

Funded by

Administered by

Anana Kayani Project Co-ordinator

15 New Project Reports

Refugee RefugeeCommunity Community Integration IntegrationProject Project (RCIP) (RCIP)

Sewing class

The main aim of the project derives from the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy 20182022, where individuals and families are entitled to basic human rights and equal opportunities.

Under the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy, the project aims to assist refugee individuals and families in understanding their entitlements and accessing wider services. Any delivery should have a longer-term impact on strategic planning and legislation going forward.

The project runs activities such as:

13 individuals increased education and learning in soft skills areas such as recycling, upcycling, food waste

5

•

steering groups

•

sewing courses

•

refurbishing / recycling arts workshops

•

photography course

•

information wellbeing

session

Over the past year:

refugees were part of a steering group to reach wider communities and services through community dialogue and discussions

18 on

mental

health

and

individuals celebrated diverse cultural backgrounds and heritage through refugee community development in areas of heritage, leisure, and art

Photography workshop Recycling arts workshop

Photography workshop

Funded by

Administered by

Anana Kayani Project Co-ordinator

17 Ongoing Project Reports

Equality: Mainstreaming Anti-Sectarianism (EMAS)

Mainstreaming Anti-Sectarianism

EMAS provides mainstreaming anti-sectarianism training, advice and information as part of broader hate crime or equality sessions so that it is “treated routinely alongside other equalities, good relations and human rights issues” (Morrow 2017).

Our training, advice organisations to:

and

information

assists

Hate Crime Training •

understand what hate crimes aggravations are, why they exist and how they operate;

•

understand ways in which sectarianism manifests itself in Scotland today;

•

understand how anti-sectarianism is embedded in the hate crime framework (within religion and race);

•

be equipped with specific actions they can take to: (a) identify hate crime, (b) support people affected by hate crime, (c) help build a picture of issues and trends which can be used to inform wider efforts to tackle those issues.

Discrimination Training •

understand different types of discrimination;

•

understand ways in which sectarianism manifests itself in Scotland today;

•

understand how anti-sectarianism is embedded in the equality framework;

•

be equipped with specific actions they can take to: (a) prevent sectarianism, (b) identify and respond to sectarianism, (c) “positively promote equality, not merely avoid discrimination” (EHRC).

Funded by

Over the past year we provided training and / or advice to:

11 organisations

9 local authority areas

Examples of feedback from participants include: “Great presentation, great visual slides, clear points in each slide not overloaded. And above all knowledgeable, clear and precise presentation with room for interaction and comments.”

“Really good delivery, I found it approachable and engaging.”

“The discussion was thought provoking, and everyone got involved.”

“[The trainer] was a very knowledgeable and engaging facilitator. The session was full of useful information and exercises. I learned a lot from the session and from the discussions that came out of the exercises.”

Ben Williams Training and Consultancy Manager

18 2021-2022 Annual Report

Roots Roots Scotland Scotland

Project staff attending the HES Corporate Launch in Dunfermline

The Roots Scotland project has continued to focus our work on bridging the gap between minority ethnic organisations and the heritage sector.

The appetite amongst the heritage sector, with regards to doing more about Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) issues has meant that we have been busy supporting 7 key stakeholders to make internal and external improvements, from an EDI perspective.

This has been achieved through training, developing policy and practice, improving recruitment processes, diversifying outreach work and more. Organisations engaged with, include: •

David Livingstone Birthplace

•

Heritage Trust Network

•

Scottish Civic Trust

•

Glasgow City Heritage Trust

•

National Lottery Heritage Fund

•

Museum Galleries Scotland

•

Historic Environment Scotland

Over the past year

5 online Conversation Cafes have been delivered, connecting key heritage stakeholders to minority ethnic organisations

18 minority ethnic organisations have been capacity built to become more active in the heritage sector

It has also been a privilege to participate in various initiatives which have focused on increasing diversity within the sector, including: •

Being part of the judging panel on Scottish Civic Trust’s My Place, My Photography Competition

•

Participation on a subgroup for communities, with Museum Galleries Scotland’s Empire, Slavery and Scotland’s Museums project

•

Being keynote speakers at Edinburgh ‘Managing Imperial Legacies’ event

•

Participating in the development of Museum Galleries Scotland’s manifesto on culture and heritage

University’s

Roots Scotland Report 2021-22 https://www.wsrec.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ Roots-Scotland-Annual-Highlights-2021-2022-FINAL. pdf

Funded by

Aneel Bhopal Development Officer

Ghzala Khan Project Co-ordinator

19 Ongoing Project Reports

Quarbani Quarbani(Sacrifice) (Sacrifice) Food FoodInitiative Initiative F O O D I N I T I AT I V E

Glasgow Central MESS team supporting Mosque clients at the Hindu Mandir

The project continued its work with Lodging House Mission (LHM) in Glasgow and Fusion Scotland in Edinburgh to help the destitute communities during the celebration of Eid Ul-Adha “Festival of Sacrifice”. The project has successfully run for 12 years Glasgow and for 8 years in Edinburgh.

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

Mother Teresa

“He is not a Muslim who goes to bed satiated while his neighbour goes hungry.”

Prophet Mohammed

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 Hajj when millions of Muslims pilgrimage to Mecca.

The sacrificial meat is mostly given away to others. One-third is eaten by immediate family and relatives, one-third is given away to friends, and one-third is donated to the poor.

“You pray for the hungry, then you feed them, that is how prayers works.”

Pope Francis

The Muslim community has come to support some of the most vulnerable and excluded individuals with donations since the project begun of:

2,890kg of meat in Glasgow alone

14,450 meals being provided

The project was supported by Diamond Weddings, Awaz FM Asian Radio Station and again Adam Razaq who volunteered during the project.

Baskets of donated qurbani meat

Mohammed Razaq delivering the donated meat to Lodging House Mission

“That’s the best meal I’ve had in LHM for ages.”

“Thank you to Mohammed Razaq and his team of volunteers.”

Mary, Service User

Partnered by

Manager, Lodge Housing Mission

Funded by

Mohammed Razaq Executive Director

20 2021-2022 Annual Report

Glasgow Glasgow Community CommunityFund Fund

Funded through the Glasgow City Council, we have successfully delivered the Glasgow Community Fund for the 2nd Year running.

Over the past year:

500 approx. indivduals were reached via marketing and community engagement

25 individuals/families received advocacy support

30 individuals benefited from fortnightly job and education club

1 emplyability and Modern Apprenticeship workshop was help, benefitting 20 individuals

1

The aim of this fund is to support core and revenue costs, allowing WSREC to increase the capacity of services offered to disadvantaged community groups. In addition, the fund enables us to offer advocacy and employability support. Over the last year, we have organised several focused events covering mental health and wellbeing, employability and Brexit. We continue to offer hate crime and 3rd party support training and one-to-one advice.

Throughout 2021-2022, we have been successful in securing match funding with a number of projects. We have recently been granted approx. £70,000 per year (3 years) for Victim Support through the Scottish Government’s Victim Centred Approach Fund. We were also successful in securing the Equality and Human Rights Fund in September 2021, over 3 years, with a grant total of £140,000 for the first year. Smaller grants that have benefitted, from our core staff funding via this fund include, building a new community garden within our new premises.

Additionally, we received funding from the GCVS Mental Health Fund to further support minority ethnic groups who have been impacted by COVID-19. For the first time, we were also successful in securing funding for a dedicated project to support Refugee and Asylums Seekers (via Scottish Refugee Council). This has been due to the contribution of GCC fund to the role of the Executive Director, allowing for the supporting of grant applications, and the Office Manager who has continuously monitored budgets and financial outcomes.

We have recently moved premises and the offices are currently being refurbished.

The contribution of the core revenue and capital costs has enabled us to continue working from home and refurbishing the organisation through applying for community building grants (£25,000 from The Robertson Trust).

conversation cafe was held to build connections with mainstream service providers and vulnerable, hard-to-reach communities

Funded by

Ghzala Khan Deputy Director

22 2021-2022 Annual Report

Good GoodCommunity Community Relations RelationsProject Project (GCRP) (GCRP)

Our Good Community Relations Project (GCRP) completed its’ 3-year cycle in September 2021.

Funded through the Scottish Governments Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund and administered through Impact Funding Partners and Inspiring Scotland, the project successfully reduced discrimination and hate crime, provided advice and information to Central and Eastern European communities and built the capacity of minority ethnic individuals in Renfrewshire through employability and training.

The fund has now been replaced by the Equality and Human Rights Project and we have been successful in continuing our drive to ensuring equal opportunities for all.

Over the 3 years:

>750 individuals were supported with advice and information in a number of areas

>25 training session were provided to communities on hate crime and discrimination

15 young people were supported through SQA Employability Awards at levels 3 and 4

Funded by

Ghzala Khan Deputy Director

23 Completed Project Reports

Living LivingEquality Equality MEWPP MEWPP

Our Living Equality project came to an end in September 2021.

Funded through the Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund, our 3-year delivery focused on capacity building women from diverse minority ethnic communities and protected characteristic to join public forums and civic participation.

Over the course of the delivery, our activities included: •

Training in communication, IT skills, presentations, meeting and board legislations and information on joining civic structures

•

We worked with a number of public and voluntary organisations to offer shadowing opportunities and developed the skills of our members to reach out further to share best practices.

•

We also offered mentoring and one to one opportunity to over 70 women and supported them in joining local schools, boards, and other social action forums.

The fund has now been replaced by the Equality and Human Rights Project and we have been successful in continuing our drive to ensuring equal opportunities for all as we further capacity build women to have a voice on local and national platforms.

Over the 3 years:

>320 ME women gained awareness and understanding of civic participation

>50 English Conversation sessions were delivered

>75 MEWPP members advanced through capacity building training

Funded by

Bushra Iqbal Project Coordinator

24 2021-2022 Annual Report

Cook, Cook,Grow, Grow,Sew Sew --Branching BranchingOut Out

CGS Home Growers

The Cook Grow Sew project has spent the last 6 years supporting minority ethnic communities, asylum seekers and refugees across Glasgow, North Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire to find enjoyable and innovative ways of decreasing their carbon footprint whilst saving money.

Over the 2 past years:

2,320 people actively engaged with the project

1303.1kg dry waste saved from landfill

101 households received home energy checks

185.5m

2

garden space created

£13,860 saved through Warm Home Discount

138.46kg food saved from landfill

452 tonnes CO2 saved over lifetime

CGS Final Report 2020-22 https://issuu.com/ wsrec/docs/cook_ grow_sew_-_final_ report_2020-22

We have had a great time and met some wonderful people, but the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund has finally come to an end. Despite the challenges of Covid and the office move, we gave the project one last huge push.

Energy Efficiency: A series of online workshops and one-to-one sessions designed to boost understanding of energy use and to offer handy money saving suggestions. 417.9 tons of CO2 were saved, from a target of only 129 tons!

Waste: The waste strand includes all sewing and cooking activities, as well as the quarterly swap shops and refurbishing workshops. All activities were completed, and targets exceeded by sewing workshops. Although Covid regulations sometimes restricted delivery, the activities provided were highly valued by a community limited socially at the time.

Food: This strand covers Partnership Gardens, weekly community garden sessions at WSREC and ‘What’s in the Woods?’ foraging walks. We were able to resume all outdoor activities this year, but had a lot of ground to cover due to last year’s circumstances. All activities were completed, including 10 outreach gardens in 1 year rather than 2.

YPP: We held two successful Young People’s Programmes this year. The YPP Sewing Course was very popular, as was the Youth Climate Film Project, with additional funding through Film Access Scotland and Keep Scotland Beautiful.

Funded by

Community Events: Events such as our upcycled fashion show, garden fete and Swap Shops are usually the highlights of our year at Cook Grow Sew, but of course they were a bit limited this year. We didn’t let that stop us upcycling clothes though, and produced our fashion show this year as an online photo shoot with the Urban Legacy Fashion Show for COP26.

Our heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who helped support the Cook Grow Sew project over the years.

Upcycled sewing

Zero Waste Cooking

Zero Waste Cooking

Maymoona Awan Project Co-ordinator

25 Completed Project Reports

Shine Shine Bright Bright

Shine Bright competition entry on Facebook

The Shine Bright Project started in July 2019 and has now finished at end of March 2022.

The project was delivered in partnership with local dentists and the ChildSmile team. Shine Bright’s aims were to improve oral health and the quality of life of minority ethnic individuals including infants in Glasgow.

Over the project’s lifetime:

17,000 views were acheived on Facebook

400 individuals, including children and infants, were registered with the project

100 individuals were supported to register with dental services

36 oral health awareness sessions were delivered online and face-to-face

25 oral health awareness newsletters were produced and disseminated

3 awareness events were held in collaboration with local health practitioners

50 oral health and healthy eating packs were distributed to participants

The project offered bilingual support to diverse minority ethnic communities, raising awareness of services available from local health groups and the NHS, making them more accessible. We also highlighted existing support in place through voluntary services to reduce health inequality. Our approach focused on ways to make the project inclusive of families and communities facing health and language barriers.

Due to the pandemic and lockdown 2020-2022, the project team used innovative approaches to outreach minority ethnic communities virtually. This included a direct channel for service users to reach us on Facebook, Whatsapp and Viber.

Project impact •

Bridged the gap between service user and professional

•

Reduced oral health inequality by registering service user with dentists

•

Changed service user behaviours toward their oral health by them adopted a new routine

Server user feedback “Women thoroughly enjoyed the workshop.

They found it very informative and the way you delivered the workshop was amazing.”

- Nahid, Hemat Gryffe “I am grateful to shine bright team, without their support I could not register with a dentist.”

- Anonymous “I really appreciate the shine bright service.

They are helpful and fast in response to my need.”

- Mr K. A

Funded by

Professional feedback “I’ve really enjoyed supporting this project and building relationships with populations and people who are harder to reach. You have helped bridge the gap between services and ethnic minority populations. You have supported the messages to reach people in the language which they understand and can relate to. The staff working for the project has been keen to learn the messages and increase their skills around Oral Health. Thank you for inviting us to be part of your journey.”

- Lyndsay Thomson, Oral Health Improvement Practitioner

“Shine Bright is a helpful program as they give wonderful support to their clients. I have witnessed that the patients who had been referred by them have been given good instructions for their oral hygiene. Most of the patients, who I always see in my practice, have received help with filling forms, interpretation, arranging appointments with the practice and many more. Patients appreciate finding dentists who speak the same languages as them as it makes communication between them much easier.”

- Dr. Magdoleen Siam, Dentist, LB Dental practice

Dr. Manal Eshelli Project Co-ordinator

26 2021-2022 Annual Report

User User Statistics Statistics

The data we gather within WSREC looks at how diverse our service users are and how we can improve on engaging with the wider community.

Within our data we look at: ethnicity, nature of enquiry, gender, age and local authorities within the West of Scotland.

Scottish

1%

Prefer not to say

Central & Eastern European

21

3%

24%

63

TOTAL

2088

506

Other

8% 484 Caribbean

Pakistani

1% 15

Indian

11%

ETHNICITY Middle Eastern

African

18% 376

8% 167

The majority of service users were seeking ‘Advice and Information’.

This can be attributed to the fact that WSREC continued to run successful projects (Shine Bright, the Cook, Grow Sew project and the Good Community Relations Project), which offered services, including the provision of advice and information to various minority communities withinin the West of Scotland.

543

230

As shown in the above graphic, the majority of service users were from either Central / Eastern European, Pakistani, or Middle Eastern background. WSREC continues to receive high numbers of enquiries from these groups of people, which can be attributed to the successful projects that we run which support local communities in Scotland.

NATURE OF ENQUIRY

26%

Advice & Information

Info on External Services

49%

3% 63 Info on WSREC Services

104

Other

10% 209

Training & Learning

33%

As seen in the pie chart to the right the highest proportion of service users, of those who chose to disclose their age, were from the 44-59 age bracket, accounting for 31% of service users. This was followed by the 30-44 age age bracket, accounting for 31% of service users.

In comparison to last year (20/21), among individuals who disclosed their age, the 30-44 age bracket was the most prominent, with the 45-59 age group in second place.

710

59% 1232

7% 164

MALE

FEMALE

NOT DISCLOSED

0

689

AGE

In comparison with the last year (20/21), the number of females increased by 8% from 51% to 59% and the number of males decreased by 8% from 42% to 34%.

34%

1023

5%

GENDER

4% (84) 11% (230) >65

3% (62) 60-64

Prefer not to say

6% (125) 18-24

9% (188) 25-29

36% (752) 45-59

31% (647) 30-44

27 WSREC Reports

WSREC WSRECTraining Trainingand and Consultancy Consultancy Due to the pandemic, we continued to deliver our Training and Consultancy service online.

The appetite amongst organisations in relation to doing more about EDI issues has meant that we have been busy supporting various groups, across different sectors, in order to help them make internal and external improvements from an equalities perspective.

This has been achieved through training, developing policy and practice, improving recruitment processes, advice on how to diversify outreach work and more.

In the past year, we have provided training and / or advice (on either a project funded or commissioned basis) to the following organisations: British Red Cross, Children in Scotland, Cobry (an official Google Cloud Partner in the private sector), David Livingstone Birthplace, Glasgow City Council, Govan Community Project, Historic Environment Scotland, I Am Me Scotland, Isaro Community Initiative, Kairos Women+, Massive Outpouring of Love (MOOL), North Lanarkshire Carers Together, Open Book, Place2Be, Renfrewshire Leisure, Scottish Civic Trust, Third Sector Interface Children’s Services Network, Unity Sisters, West Dunbartonshire Council.

Our tailored approach, according to sector and area of work, has allowed us to provide the appropriate advice and support for organisations to help them become more equitable, diverse and inclusive. Examples of feedback from participants has included:

“A great forum for learning and honest, open discussion and reflection. [The trainers] are exceptionally gifted in listening to and absorbing information to help identify issues and priorities. Also very good at providing advice and guidance.”

“I’m really glad to have taken part in these sessions! They have been extremely educational and thoughtful. Thank you!”

“This was really fantastic training. It was great to get an overview of institutional racism and of the 2010 Equalities Act - I felt like this helped make us all on the same page. The links and resources listed in presentation also seem really useful and insightful - often when I’ve tried to do this learning on my own it can be a bit overwhelming to find the right resources, so it’s great to have a ‘starter set’ so to speak.”

“There has been a marked difference in applications from minority ethnic groups, which we are attributing to you and the input and feedback that you gave. It was really helpful.”

“I thought the training was excellent. You made clear reference to our policies and projects as an organisation which made the training feel bespoke and relevant, not a one-size-fits all piece! Thanks so much.”

For training enquiries and bookings please contact: advice@wsrec.co.uk or 0141 337 6626

Aneel Singh Bhopal and Ben Williams WSREC Training and Consultancy Service

28 2021-2022 Annual Report

Scottish ScottishAlliance Allianceof ofRegional Regional Equality EqualityCouncils Councils(SAREC) (SAREC)

WSREC is one of the four founder members of this national organisation. Others include Edinburgh and Lothian, Grampian and Central Scotland.

The main activities of SAREC include: •

Offering assistance to individual Regional Equality Councils to ensure they are well resourced and supporting them in raising funding for specific projects

•

Influencing policy and establishing relationships with the UK and Scottish Governments, as well as with key stakeholders in the public, private and voluntary and community sectors.

•

Building effective links between minority and majority communities across all equality dimensions

•

Supporting and collaborating on equality training provision

Partnership: We previously carried out research into hate crime and underreporting, which was funded through Awards for All. This report was disseminated widely across Scotland and was utilised by Lord Bracadale for his hate crime legislation review. SAREC, again with the support of Awards for All, took on another piece of research - ‘Experiences of Chinese, East and South-East Asian Communities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland’. This was completed and distributed in March 2021.

SAREC contiues to strive in supporting victims of crime and hate crime, and in particular, support staff that will capacity build the organisation.

The Secretariat function for SAREC has been with GREC since August 2019.

Mohammed Razaq Executive Director

29 WSREC Reports

Admin Admin Report Report

The Admin Team consists of the Office Manager, Administrative Assistant and IT Resource and Administration Officer.

This year has been very challenging due to the COVID 19 restrictions. WSREC staff have all been working from since 20th March 2020 and all staff were provided with the relevant equipment to allow them to continue working from home.

During this time, the admin team have continued to support projects with their day-to-day work and requirements. Admin has assisted projects with Zoom and MS Teams to deliver project outcomes. The telephone system has recently been upgraded to Avaya Cloud which allows calls to be diverted to the team and redirected accordingly.

Majority of the team’s work has continued successfully from home and just some of the tasks are as follows: • • • • • • •

Accounts and Budgeting HR support including payroll administration in partnership with GCVS Correspondence and support for WSREC’s affiliated organisations IT, Website and Network support to all staff Social media and posting Digitally produce WSREC’s Annual Report Provide administrative support for Board of Director and AGM meetings

Volunteers and work placements are always welcome in addition to WSREC’s Admin Team although this has been challenging this past year. The team looks forward to welcoming volunteers and placements soon.

Farrah Khan Office Manager

30 2021-2022 Annual Report

IT ITReport Report

Over the past year, we have continued to work from home, both due to COVID restrictions and because we are in the process of moving into our new office. Due to this, staff have continued to use laptops, all-in-one PCs and iPads to work from home.

Staff continue to use their work mobile phones, our new VOIP telephone service (Avaya Cloud Office), and online platforms such as Microsoft 365, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, to communicate with clients and other staffe and to complete our day-to-day work.

The office move presented an opportune time to upgrade some elements of our IT infrastructure. As we have upgraded a lot of our software over the previous year, our next focus was on hardware. Therefore, with the assistance of Leisure Connect (who will be carrying out the work), we applied for the Digital Boost Grant and were successful in obtaining £19,454 (50% of the total costs) towards the cost of these upgrades. The main upgrades that will be carried out include: •

23 new All-in-One PCs to replace existing in-office PCs

•

a new server / server infrastructure

•

Wireless Access Points to ensure internet connectivity throughout the office

•

data point cabling work to provide network connectivity

As part of the Digital Boost Grant, we are also working on completing a Cyber Security Pre-Assessment which will give us a better idea of any system vulnerabilities and allow us to take steps to mitigate these.

Ashleigh Alexander IT, Resource and Admin Officer

31 WSREC Reports

QA QA--IT ITProfessional Professional Apprenticeship Apprenticeship

Last year I was recommended to take part in the QA IT Professional Apprenticeship by my Manager. My immediate reaction was NO but after some encouraging words I decided to go on the course, and I can safely it was the best decision.

The course included Windows and Networking which gave me new skills and information.

Not only did I learn new skills that will come in use at WSREC but in the future too. I gained increased confidence during the course which has encouraged me to go on and sign up for level 8 of the same course.

The tutors supported me throughout the course and made it seem easy and stress free so I would recommend the course to others.

I was able to work duties and attend the course at the same time and that credit goes to WSREC who supported me and gave me flexibility and time to carry out both.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank WSREC for believing in me and supporting me.

Zain Ahmed Administration Support Officer

32 2021-2022 Annual Report

Volunteer Volunteer Journey Journey

I am Divya Vijayanarayanan and I am from India. I had been searching for jobs and then, I joined West of Scotland Regional Equality Council as a volunteer Admin Assistant within New Moves – Volunteering Project.

As a volunteer, I learnt new skills such as arranging Zoom workshops, update project database and assisting online meetings and training sessions to administer services.

I have been volunteering with WSREC Since February 2021 and have been truly inspired. I started helping with Employability session for ESOL learners, which helps me to gain more experience and skills. I wanted to use my skills in a different way and for people that really will appreciate it, and it has been the best decision of my life. Supporting the ESOL learners to get job opportunity and fulfill their dream is very satisfying. I was totally impressed with the aim of the organisation, which is to eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, promote human rights, and promote good relations between all communities in the West of Scotland and beyond.

I have also gained good relationship with the colleagues and other leaners.

Being a volunteer, we are valued and recognised for our contribution to the organisation. I should say that I am very satisfied what I have been doing and pleased to work within WSREC staff. I have been respected, cared, supported the whole time. I believe I have improved my knowledge, skills, and attitude drastically and volunteering has helped me a lot. I must thank my line manager, who gave me this opportunity to volunteer at WSREC. These experiences are going to be a huge benefit for my future life, and I’m truly happy to have the chance to meet so many interesting people.

Divya Vijayanarayanan IT Support Assisstant

33 WSREC Reports

Coronairus Coronairus (COVID (COVID19) 19)

The pandemic COVID19 has been the most unprecedented challenge faced globally in recent times. At the time of writing this report (March 2022), globally there has been 471 million cases and sadly 6.08 million deaths reported.

In the UK, the statistics show that 20.2 million people have suffered the effects of COVID19 and a further 164,000 have died. Breaking this down even further, Scotland’s statistics highlight that 1.66 million people have contracted COVID19 and 11,098 have lost their lives to the virus.

Very early, it became apparent that black and minority ethnic communities were at a greater disadvantage to contracting COVID19, having long COVID and the death rates in comparison to wider communities were high too. There was research to conclude this, and many have stated that these are due to:•

Lack of language/awareness of the virus.

•

Many communities living in poverty or have a low socio-economic status.

•

Poor housing standards and often crowded due to living in larger families, making it very difficult to isolate.

•

Types of employment such as frontline workers/transport/care sector exposed to the virus more.

•

Cultural attitudes to the virus attributes mainly due to misinformation shared.

•

Underlying health conditions that have resulted in longer effects post catching COVID19.

This has impacted our services users (including children) greater than envisaged and has resulted in, already disadvantaged communities, becoming more vulnerable and isolated and facing extreme levels of poverty. We have found that poor mental health and wellbeing along with financial and digital exclusion has become more evident in the last year and that the effects of this pandemic will continue for years to come. There is a need Nationally to recognise the additional barriers and for grassroot organisations like us and many others to be given additional opportunities and resources to reduce the inequalities that are currently being faced.

With the roll out of the vaccination, with 4.17 million people in Scotland vaccinated meaning 76% of the population now fully vaccinated lockdown restrictions have but all come to an end. There is still a lot of work to be delivered to ensure that minority ethnic groups continue to be financially and digitally included and that additional resources be provided to address this. As an organisation committed to equality and basic human rights, we will continue to seek funds and resources to reduce the COVID19 gap between minority ethnic communities and wider society.

Mohammed Razaq Executive Director

34 2021-2022 Annual Report

WSREC WSRECNew New Premises Premises

Over the last few years, there had been a few discussions around the closure of our much-loved offices based in Napiershall Street Centre.

After in excess of 20 years of serving our communities, it was time to move.

With the support of City Property, WSREC were able to identify new offices based in 201 Shuna Street, G20 9EY. The building had been closed for several years, therefore requiring substantial refurbishment, and upgrading to new systems that were aligned to our ever-changing need of using modern day technology. This has become especially apparent due to the flexibility of systems and being able to work remotely during the pandemic.

With immense thanks to Addleshaw Goddard LLP and Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) for their initial expertise advice at no cost, we were able to navigate a long-term lease on the property. This will give WSREC and our services users some Since October 2021, we have successfully acquired funding from the Robertson Trust (£25,000) for community building repairs, continued to liaise with LSH as our property managers and completed the ground floor of the building. Due to ongoing COVID19 guidelines, staff have continued to work from home, ensuring no interruptions to our services.

The offices were officially launched on 17th December 2021 with an intimate number of Board members and staff.

Since then, we have looked at the plans of the 1st floor and look forward to developing the workspace further in coming months.

At the same time, we are developing a small garden within the premises and have received funding from National Lottery Community Funds ‘Together our Planet’ to sow the seeds and get our communities involved.

WSREC would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved including our contractors, the Board and for their strategic direction and staff for their support in the office move.

We look forward to reporting on the progress in the coming year.

Ghzala Khan Deputy Director

35 WSREC Reports

Future Future Development Development For several years, Board of Directors and staff have gathered to recognise achievements within WSREC’s service delivery and identify gaps that could be reduced further.

After putting together an ambitious Business plan 2020-25, this year we concentrated on the following areas; (1) Continued support to communities to deal with the Covid 19 emergency and lockdowns, by making sure access to our services online were further improved and information was reaching our client group. (2) More resources were sought with positive results to work with our asylum and refugee communities. (3) Successfully applied for grant funding to upgrade our IT equipment and systems, which will operational early in the new financial year.

Going forward It is important that we find ways to maintain our work in areas of climate change (with Keeping Scotland Beautiful grants coming to an end), heritage, hate crime & discrimination, training organisations on in equalities, as well as continuing our work on oral health, civic participation, and information & advice.

The following areas need organisational focus: 1.

An increase in faith related work i.e., tackling Islamophobia

2.

Support further individual victims of hate crime and discrimination

3.

Advocacy support

4.

Support individuals into employment

5.

Support for refugees and asylum seekers with an emphasis on Ukrainian refugees arriving in Glasgow

6.

Become an organisation recognised for Volunteer Support and enhancement

WSREC has worked hard to bring, and has been successful in obtaining, resources to address the above issues over the years. In the last year, we have successfully applied for long–term funding to assist with core work and organisational stability.

Therefore, this coming year we will concentrate on the obtaining resources for the following: •

Support individuals into employment

•

Support for refugee’s and asylum seekers

•

Support victims of Islamophobia.

•

Market our Equality Training to a wider audience

•

Alternative funding for Advocacy support to empower and enable ethnic minority individuals

WSREC Board and staff remain committed to providing equal opportunities to all communities, and we will continue to endeavour to bridge the gap in service provision by meeting regularly and focusing on community needs and barriers.

Mohammed Razaq Executive Director

36 2021-2022 Annual Report

Quality QualityStandards Standards Are Arethey theystill stillrelevant? relevant?

Quality standards are defined as documents that provide requirements, specifications, guidelines, or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes, and services are fit for their purpose.

Organisations like WSREC have, for decades, turned to quality standards for guidelines, definitions, and procedures for help in achieving objectives such as: •

Satisfying their customers’ quality requirements

•

Ensuring their products and services are safe

•

Complying with regulations

•

Meeting environmental objectives

•

Protecting products against climatic or other adverse conditions

•

Ensuring that internal processes are defined and controlled

•

Maintaining best working conditions for all staff, and supporting their progression and development

Quality standards are only awarded after stringent independent audits are undertaken of the organisation. WSREC is pleased to hold the following standards Investors In People (IIP) at Gold Level The IIP accreditation provides assurance that we are investing heavily in the development, progression, and performance of our team.

WSREC was successful, not only in retaining IIP for 3 years in 2020, but has moved two places from a Bronze to being awarded Gold status.

Scottish National Standard in Informationa and Advice (SNSIAP) The SNSIAP are designed to help not-for-profit organisations, providing housing, welfare benefits and money/debt advice in Scotland to assess and improve the quality of their advice services.

After a rigorous audit, WSREC retained its award in 2021.

Health Working Lives (HWL) at Bronze Level The principal outcome for Bronze is the importance of ensuring that the work employees undertake will not adversely affect their health and indeed can improve their mental, physical, and social health.

This is the 7th year that WSREC has been awarded the Bronze level.

Registered centre for Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) WSREC has been registered as an SQA centre for over five years and has successfully supported several of staff, volunteers and service users to go through employability and volunteering awards, in partnership with Skills Development Scotland.

Board, staff, and clients have been instrumental in WSREC achieving these excellent and sought-after quality standards. Well done to all!

Mohammed Razaq Executive Director

37 WSREC Reports

WSREC Core Staff 2021/22

Mohammed Razaq Executive Director

Ghzala Khan Deputy Director

Farrah Khan Office Manager

Zain Ahmed Volunteer Development Officer

Ashleigh Alexander IT, Resource & Administration Officer

Maymoona Awan Project Coordinator

Aneel Bhopal Development Officer

Dr. Manal Eshelli Project Coordinator

Johannes Gonani Project Coordinator

Bushra Iqbal Project Coordinator

Anana Kayani Project Coordinator

Mohit Lakhanpal Project Coordinator

Choi Tin Lee Clerical Assistant

Divya Vijayanarayanan IT Support Officer

Mira Waligora Project Coordinator

Ben Williams Training & Consultancy Manager

Janet Woodburn Development Officer

38 2021-2022 Annual Report

Project Support Staff

Khadiga Rateb

Jurate Piepolyte

Umair Akthar

Shabana Ali

Rabeea Qureshi

Zainab Zaki

Chinenye Anameje

Ghazala Ansar

Jamilah Hassan

WSREC Volunteers & Student Placements Our work would not be possible without the work of our dedicated volunteers. Volunteers have helped out in a great many ways: assisting our media team, providing translations, liaising with the public on our behalf, and many other tasks. Because of this invaluable contribution, we are eager to say a big public “Thank you volunteers! We salute you!” to our volunteers and student placements - some of whom are listed below.

T. Hussein Nikita James Abdelkader Kebabt Marianna Marcelline Elizabeth Pollard Hanuf Rafique Ashleigh Sweeney

Huma Jannat

Thank you to our Partners & Funders

THIRD SECTOR FORUM The voice of Glasgow’s Third Sector

West of Scotland Regional Equality Council WSREC Community Hub, 201 Shuna Street, Glasgow, G20 9EY

0141 337 6626

0141 339 2647

www.wsrec.co.uk

Scottish Charity No: SC025038 Scottish Company No: SC292009

admin@wsrec.co.uk