Archive
Previous CRER projects
Public Health Scotland Anti-Racism Development Programme
The Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER) worked in partnership with Public Health Scotland (PHS) over 2022/23 to deliver an Anti-Racist Development Programme for Public Health Scotland (PHS).
PHS’s aim in undertaking this work was to critically reflect on and review the organisation’s approach from an anti-racism perspective. CRER were commissioned to support PHS and staff groups within it tackle all forms of racism and promote racial equality, aiming to secure lasting systemic change.
CRER’s approach to supporting this work reflected our guidance on anti-racist policy making previously developed for Scottish Government.
Aims
Working with CRER, PHS aimed to achieve:
A deeper appreciation of the experience of people from minority ethnic communities within PHS, and a strong understanding of the current culture and practices in the organisation, to inform proposals for change
Agreement on what needed to be done to change experiences, culture, practices and processes across the organisation from an anti-racism perspective
Ways to measure and understand organisational success in tackling racism in all work streams on an ongoing basis
The culmination of this work was be a programme for change, with firm plans for measurable, sustained improvement.
Process
The project had three phases:
Evidence gathering
Race equality audit examining organisational policies and data
Involvement with staff, working closely with representatives from the Minority Ethnic Representation Network to identify priorities
Development of an evidence-based report to inform the work ahead
Development
Designing effective solutions to the challenges identified in collaboration with PHS, particularly working with staff who have lived experience of racism and racial inequalities
Development of a programme for change, including:
An effective, evidence-based set of recommendations
Capacity building framework to inform future staff development, reflecting the Anti-Racist Training Standards developed by CRER on behalf of Scottish Government
Initial evaluation measures to support robust progress measurement, reflecting the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s principles for meaningful evaluation
Implementation
Supporting Senior Leadership and action owners to identify how best to implement the programme for change in a sustainable, effective, accountable way
Once the programme for change was complete, PHS adopted responsibility for delivery, with follow-up support from CRER planned at the one-year point of implementation (considering how to overcome any barriers or issues arising from evaluation and progress monitoring).
INAR
Led by InterCultural Iceland, this project aimed to reach adult learners who are resistant to anti-discrimination training by providing support and strategies to trainers who may tend to avoid or ignore this group. Reaching these individuals with innovative, cooperative and 'no blame' methodologies will lead to improvements in social and employment relations, offering an extension to the forms of training and education currently available.
The project tackled both the social injustices caused by discrimination and prejudice, and the difficulties experienced within organisations where individuals fail to engage with anti-discrimination agendas. Ingrained prejudice causes behaviours which can be a catalyst for significant harm, disruption, and stress. For organisations, it can also ultimately result in costly reparation activities (either directly or indirectly).
Project Partners
The INAR project partners are:
InterCultural Iceland - Reykjavik, Iceland
Chancengleich in Europa e.V. - Dortmund, Germany
Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights - Glasgow, Scotland
Centrul Judetean de Resurse si Asistenta Educationala Vrancea - Fossani, Romania
Project Outputs
The INAR project has produced training materials including a handbook for trainers. You can access a PDF version here. The project also launched a Facebook game tackling attitudes to EU migration.
More information
The project website is www.inar.is
For more information on this project, please contact Carol Young at carol@crer.org.uk
Ward 6 Community Choices
In December 2019, people living in Glasgow’s Ward 6 areas took part in a community budgeting programme to decide how up to £200,000 of public money should be spent in their area. CRER facilitated this process.
A Residents Panel came together to plan the community budgeting programme over Summer and Autumn 2019, leading up to a Community Vote.
Community Budgeting
A community budget is a pot of money to be spent in a local area. The local community decides how to spend it.
Groups and organisations apply for funding through an application process that’s designed by local community members. Then a decision making process designed by local community members is used to say which applications are successful.
This way of working is sometimes known as participatory budgeting. You can find out more about how this works at the PB Scotland website, including practical examples from other areas. PB Scotland have also developed a 60 second guide to participatory budgeting.
Community budgeting creates a lot of potential for new ways of working.
In this case, Glasgow City Council funded Ward 6 Community Choices to enable local people to award money to local community groups.
Outcome
At the Community Voting Event, twenty nine amazing video proposals were presented for work to improve life for people of all ages and backgrounds in Ward 6 (including Pollokshields, Crossmyloof, Maxwell Park, Shawlands, Strathbungo, Craigton, Dumbreck and Bellahouston).
Ward 6 residents gave a vote to each of their five favourite projects through a ballot conducted by Glasgow City Council officers. The results were added to online voting totals (with three votes per online voter).
The following organisations were awarded funding through Ward 6 Community Choices:
Pollokshields Community Council - Polish the Shields
Amina Muslim Women's Resource Centre - BME Women Building Communities
Merry-Go-Round - Expansion of Events Programme
Youth Community Support Agency - Pollokshields Streetwork & Outreach
East Pollokshields Out of School Care - Out of School Care Activities
Glendale Women's Café - Creating An Inclusive Community
The Quad - Play, Learn, Build, Meet
Mark Makers Community Common - Tools For Community
Pollokshields Trust - CCTV Camera, Maxwell Square Park
Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice - Gardening Equipment
Titwood Bowling Club - Accessible to All
Organisations taking part which didn’t secure funding included:
Shawlands Shuttles
Pollokshields Development Agency
Awaz the Voice of the Community
Art Space G41
Southside Housing
Bellahouston Academy Parents’ Council
Stepup Scotland
Baldy Bane Theatre Company
SoulRiders
Glasgow Disability Alliance Ward 6 Group
Southside Fringe
Wing Tsjun
Pollokshields Primary School Parent Council
Jangling Space
The Hidden Gardens
Expert fundraising support was offered to organisations which weren’t successful, adding further value to the services available in Ward 6.
Global Majority Fund
CRER was chosen as one of 10 BME-led organisations funding hundreds of small projects across the UK with £2.8m fund from Comic Relief and National Emergencies Trust (NET) over 2021/22. The grants we provided funded BME community organisations to support communities facing racial inequality who were been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns in Scotland.
COVID-19 changed the charity landscape, forcing many charities to diversify their income streams in a bid for survival. We recognised the need for charities and grassroots organisations serving BME communities and individuals in Scotland to be able to access grant funding to support core costs and vital project work.
CRER delivered and is overseeing funds of £250,000 to BME organisations across Scotland. The focus of this fund is to support grassroots and small-medium charitable organisations working with communities facing racial inequality in Scotland to access funds for ongoing delivery.
Following the deadline for applications on 17th June 2021, we undertook the difficult process of scoring applications and making award decisions. The fund was severely oversubscribed, and we received nearly 100 applications totalling over £1,300,000. Sadly, this meant we could not fund all of the excellent projects proposed by applicants. The scale of applications intending to address critical issues within BME communities in Scotland shows there is a desparate need for more of this type of funding.
Nevertheless, we were pleased to be able to support vital projects within the following organisations.
Scotland's Global Majority Fund recipients, 2021-22
> African Caribbean Women's Association (ACWA)
Training members on mental health and wellbeing for them to offer peer-to-peer support on a long-term basis.
> Amina - the Muslim Women's Resource Centre
Appointing a specialist caseworker to provide support to women with complex needs in crisis.
> Community InfoSource
Appointing a specialist caseworker and buddy volunteer coordinator to work with asylum seekers, particularly those in / transitioning out of Glasgow’s temporary hotel accommodation.
> Central Scotland Regional Equality Council (CSREC)
Provision of mental health services to BME people in the Forth Valley, including mental health counsellors and interpreters.
> Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC)
Provision of mental health and culturally-sensitive services to BME communities in Edinburgh and the Lothians, including people with no recourse to public funds.
> Jambo! Radio
Volunteering and training opportunities for young people as a pathway to employment; supporting the newly unemployed in employability and digital skills training using broadcast production tools and processes; supporting the digital skills of women going through the asylum and immigration system in Glasgow and Renfrewshire; and supporting trainees and volunteers.
> Maryhill Integration Network
Organising activities, volunteer opportunities and training to support those most affected by the pandemic and offering accessible, culturally sensitive and needs-led participation in community activities.
> Networking Key Services
Supporting South Asian and other BME older people (especially men living alone) facing social isolation and lack of emotional support and advice; supporting women and children at the risk of domestic abuse and economic hardships (some with no recourse to public funding).
> Perth and Kinross Association of Voluntary Service (PKAVS)
Researching the range of free and/or low-cost food points across Perth and Kinross, collating the data and working with a graphic facilitator to design an engaging and accessible map of the area, with key contact details and access information and translated into 6 languages.
> Pollokshields Development Agency
Establishing a youth forum for young people in Pollokshields/Govanhill, Glasgow, to improve mental health by beginning to re-establish social bonds and a sense of meaning and autonomy within the community they live in.
> Saheliya
Appointing language support workers with 9 languages to support intake assessment of marginalised and traumatised BME women referred to Saheliya’s services.
> Scottish Ethnic Minority Deaf Club
Developing the provision of a bespoke Welfare Rights service to aid in the recovery of Deaf minority ethnic BSL users who have been adversely affected by the pandemic and who need to be able to re-integrate into daily living and retain ownership of their own individual situation.
> Sikh Sanjog
Providing culturally sensitive mental health and well-being support though free and accessible services, creating a women’s group to combat isolation and to access educational and training opportunities, and employing mental health professionals.
> Sikhs in Scotland
Creating a Community Advocacy Support hub and recruiting new volunteers to support a multilingual helpline service.
> The Well Multi-Cultural Resource Centre
Setting up a Life Skills programme to increase wellbeing and employability with bespoke training for each participant.
> Universal FC
Creating employment and training opportunities through mainstream sport for refugees from African and Caribbean communities.
> Wing Hong Chinese Elderly Centre
Supporting elderly Chinese service users to combat malnutrition, social isolation, and loneliness as a result of COVID-19.
As the Global Majority Fund is a one-off COVID-19 recovery project, unfortunately there will be no further rounds.
About CRER: The Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER) has been working to eliminate racial discrimination and promote racial justice across Scotland for 20 years. Through research and campaigning activities which respond to the needs of communities, our work aims to tackle deep rooted issues of racial inequality.
About Comic Relief: Comic Relief raises money to support people living incredibly tough lives. Through humour and stories of hope, Comic Relief has shown that people can make a massive difference. Comic Relief funds hundreds of amazing organisations who are working on the ground to support the most vulnerable people and communities in society including many of those hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis. This includes vulnerable children and young people, people who are homeless or living in extreme poverty, women and families at risk of domestic abuse and those struggling with existing or new mental health problems.
About National Emergencies Trust: The National Emergencies Trust (NET) is a charity set up to raise funds from the general public in the event of a domestic disaster or emergency. When a disaster hits, the Trust collaborates with charities and other bodies to raise and distribute money and support victims. The funds collected are distributed by local partners on the ground in the areas affected by the emergency event. The National Emergencies Trust is a registered charity no. 1182809. For more information, visit: www.nationalemergenciestrust.org.uk.
The Comic Relief element of this funding was co-financed by The Clothworkers’ Foundation and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
