Your work: Equalities
BME Conference March 2010
BME Conference March 2010 feedback
The VCS Assembly supported Linking Communities and GlosRec to put together a conference in March exploring the issues for BME people and groups in getting their voice heard. Feedback and reports from this conference are now available to download here. Photos from the event can be viewed here.
Latest News
Joining of VCS Equality and Diversity Advisory Group and the County Equalities Network
The VCS Assembly Equalities and Diversity Group and County Equalities Officers Group met on the 26th of February 2010 . The meeting agreed that the two groups join to form one County Equalities Group, creating a stronger platform for discussion and co-ordination of county issues relating to the promotion of equalities and diversity.
Discussion items included Gloucestershire Homeseeker, county equality schemes and the Local Area Agreement. It was agreed that there was a need to co-ordinate activities and strategies relating to the promotion of community cohesion and equality across the Local Area Agreement and scrutinise the process and results of Equality Impact Assessments conducted across the Gloucestershire Conference.
The group welcomed the appointment of Dr Shona Arora, Director of Public Health at NHS Gloucestershire as the new Equalities Champion on the Community Strategy Executive Board. Shona will be providing strategic leadership in promoting equality and diversity issues relating to significant county policy initiatives and commissioning opportunities.
For further information about this Group contact Jess Mace . 01452 522 600 or to sign up to the VCS Equalities Network e-mail list contact Hannah Gorf . 01452 522 600.
County Council Participation Survey
The county council is looking at ways in which it can improve participation opportunities for seldom heard groups in the county. As part of this process they would like to understand more about how meetings can be made more accessible, how they can find out what is important to communities and the best ways that they can feedback to communities.
Download the questionnaire from www.gloshub.org.uk/consultations.html#GCC
Equality and Diversity Forum
The Equality and Diversity Forum produces a monthly e-newsletter. This month’s newsletter includes information on:
- A workforce cohesion toolkit
- A report on violence against women and girls
- European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance ECRI report on the UK
To subscribe to the e-newsletter visit http://www.edf.org.uk/?cat=3
County Equality Group seeks to widen membership
Funding for the VCS Equality and Diversity Advisory Group (EDAG) came to an end at the end of 2009. The developing partnership between EDAG and the County Equalities Network (CEN) was also felt to be significant and useful.
The VCS Assembly Team would like to continue to support joint meetings between EDAG and CEN, and the group agreed that:
- EDAG membership would be opened up to other members of the VCS who have knowledge and experience on issues relating to equalities
- EDAG members would need to continue to be committed to attending 75% of meetings and taking on some work. The group would not be a networking group.
If you are interested in being part of this group, and can commit to attending 75% of the meetings, please contact the VCS Assembly Team to express your interest.
EDAG would particularly welcome input from people with knowledge and experience of the following issues: older people, children and young people, gender and transgender.
Contact Jess Mace for more information by emailing
County Equality Group meeting
The last meeting of the County Equality Group was on 26th May 2010 10-12 at Committee Room 1, North Warehouse, The Dock, Gloucester
Minutes of the meeting
Terms of Reference June 2010
Removing Barriers to employment with 2gether NHS Foundation Trust
Agenda
CEG Terms of Reference April 2010
CEG Working Group Notes April 2010
Minutes of the last meeting
County Equality Group members
| Robin Agascar |
Gay-Glos |
| Theodore Gabriel |
Gloucestershire Malayalee Association |
| Bren McInerney |
Barton and Tredworth Community Trust |
| Sue McLung |
Gloucestershire Lifestyles |
| Adele Owen |
Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers |
| Francesca Tolond |
Churches Together in Gloucestershire |
| Julius Marstrand |
Gloucestershire Older People's Assembly |
Brenda Yearwood |
Gloucestershire County Council |
Eka Nowakowska |
Stroud District Council |
Anis Ghanti |
NHS Gloucestershire |
Richard Gibson |
Cheltenham Borough Council |
Phil Jones |
Forest of Dean District Council |
Kevin Lee |
Gloucestershire County Council |
Sharon Marriott |
Tewkesbury Borough Council |
Gill Oxley |
Gloucestershire County Council |
Raj Patel |
Gloucestershire Constabulary |
Karen Rushworth |
Forest of Dean District Council |
Carol Sparks |
2Gether NHS Trust |
Peter Stephens |
Forest of Dean District Council |
Ruth Thomas |
NHS Gloucestershire |
Joseph Walker |
Cotswold LSP |
Tracey Webb |
Gloucestershire Constabulary |
Zahra Bham |
NHS Gloucestershire |
For more information about the work of this group contact .
VCS Faith Communities Strategy Group
A faith communities strategy group was funded in 2007/8. This group is no longer in operation. Faith issues are now discussed by the County Equality Group.