Equality and Diversity

One of the aims are that community engagement structures take full account of equalities and diversity matters with appropriate support for inclusion of BME, disability, rural, oder people, young people, GLBT, deprived communities.

This work is ongoing trough the East Sussex ChangeUp Consortium:

Specialist Local Infrastructure Organisations and CVSs working together
integrate equalities and diversity into objectives and work,
ensure instrastructure services are accessible and appropriate to VCOs with
additional support needs.
Develop Equalities and Diversity policy

Additional Support

The project aims to identify and develop a strategic response to the infrastructure and development needs within BME communities including faith groups, asylum seekers/refugees and Gypsy and Traveller people.

Download Reports:

Together as One Strategic Plan March 2008

Regional support

RAISE is working to assist voluntary and community organisations in the South East engage with and promote the groups and organisations that deliver support. From January 2007 RAISE, with support from GOSE (Government Office for the South East), wants to ensure that Equality and Diversity is a central theme that runs throughout policy development and implementation in the South East. This involves:

Supporting the work that has been undertaken from the Additional Support Programme (ASP) in developing the BME Regional Network.
Undertaking a mapping exercise of VCOs that represent diverse communities within the South East.
Developing an advisory group to enable the development of an Equality and Diversity Network for the region.
Working towards a situation where representatives have a seat and a voice on key statutory boards.

In January 2007, (RAISE) began to address the lack of a regional equalities network with funding support from the Government Office South East. A fulltime Equality and Diversity Manager was employed to facilitate the establishment of a cross sector Equality and Diversity Advisory Group tasked with establishing the feasibility of setting up a South East Regional Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Network. The Advisory Group has produced a Business Case for a This Business Case presents a detailed proposal for a South East Regional Third Sector Equality Network; this document is currently out for consultation and will run until 16th December, 2008. If support and funding are secured it is anticipated that SEEN would become a central resource, assist in building capacity, raise standards within the sector, and seek to ensure that chronically excluded groups are not overlooked. SEEN will also seek to influence policy by utilising the most appropriate partnerships and be a collective ‘voice’ for equality, diversity and human rights in the South East region.

You can download a LARGE PRINT version of the South East Equalities Network (SEEN) business case here.

To find out more about the Equality and Diversity Advisory Group click here. To read the group's Strategy for Development click here.

UNI Regional BME Network
Empowering BME Communities in the South East

UNI had their launch event in March, 2008 supported by RAISE. UNI have a current Step Up Project funded by BASIS, and Reading CRE are the main deleivery agent of this project.

The Picture and Picture Frame report can be downloaded here:

UNI post conference report can be downloaded here:

UNI Project Manager
Siddarth Deva
Email: s.deva@theuninetwork.org.uk
Tel: 0118 951 0279