Ethnic Minority Foundation

ETHNIC MINORITY COMMUNITIES AND THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR: BUILDING A SECURE BASE

People from minority communities contribute to every aspect of life in modern Britain, helping to make it a flourishing, vibrant place to live. The 2001 Census puts the size of the ethnic minority population at 4.5 million or 8 per cent of the total population of the UK. They have created more than 10,000 organisations to support their contribution to national life and to care for one another. The Ethnic Minority Foundation (EMF) has been established to strengthen and sustain this voluntary sector and to provide it with firm footings from which to grow, develop and meet future challenges.

The EMF does this by fostering a spirit of creative philanthropy, supporting new leaders as they emerge from ethnic communities, bringing together organisations and individuals to share and help one another and finding resources and finance to nurture good work.

The EMF provides a channel for the voices and opinions of people from minority communities to be heard by policy-makers. It encourages changes that will benefit the sector, increasing its expertise, influence and reputation. It supports groups which are combating exclusion and deprivation and nurturing social enterprise and excellence in the interests of a united and diverse nation.

The EMF is unique. It works with the entire range of ethnic communities in the UK. It focuses on work at the local level and it conveys the lessons learnt from this to government policy-makers. It has begun to affect real and permanent change in the position of minority communities in public life.

In 1999, the EMF undertook an extensive consultation exercise which involved some 350 meetings across the country. This consultation was a learning process and identified that whilst there were strengths within the ethnic-minority voluntary sector, there were also major issues that needed to be urgently addressed.

The EMF delivers its innovative strategic regeneration programmes through the Council for Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations (CEMVO). We have a presence in seven English regions, plus Scotland. In addition to this, we maintain an up-to-date database of 10,000 organisations.

The EMF has to its credit a range of practical experience in race equality and regeneration issues and a diverse portfolio of innovative strategic-regeneration programmes. Our programmes have had great implications on the ethnic-minority voluntary sector.

Capacity Building Programme
The EMF's Capacity Building Programme has been set up in order to strengthen ethnic- minority organisations and sustain them to serve future generations in their communities. The programme began in London, with 15 Capacity Building Officers (CBOs) being recruited and undertaking an MBA programme, specially designed by the EMF and the University of East London. This qualification has enabled the CBOs to work with individual organisations to assess their capabilities and needs. Subsequently, they engage with each organisation to address the gaps that have been identified, through a programme that is evaluated and which results in accreditation. This programme will build the capacity of 600 ethnic-minority voluntary organisations over a five-year period. EMF has invested over £5mn in this programme.
The Capacity Building Programme has produced benefits. The accreditation is encouraging funders to look sympathetically at organisations that have taken part and many have found new sources of funding and greater influence in local decision-making. The Programme is being extended to all regions of the UK in 2003.

Our Core-Grants Programme has assisted 17 organisations with core-funding packages, as well as with the provision of accommodation at the EMF-acquired community asset, Boardman House. The package also includes core-salary payments, capacity building and the costs of essential services, such as stationery and postage. The programme thus releases human and capital resources and allows the focus to shift towards meeting vital community needs, thereby promoting long-term sustainability and enabling increased community participation in the regeneration agenda.

Organisations are provided with a physical base at Boardman House in Stratford. Being housed over two floors, they benefit from their close physical proximity to one another, providing an inspiring atmosphere which facilitates the forging of positive relationships and the sharing of ideas across the sector, thereby increasing social capital. The success of the programme has meant that it is due to be rolled out across the nation and details of this are to be announced by early next year.

The Volunteering Programme
The EMF is developing a professional capacity for the benefit of ethnic minority, community and voluntary-sector organisations and aims to create a resource of 100,000 ethnic minority professionals over the next ten years. The selected individuals will be trained and encouraged to volunteer to support their communities in a variety of contexts:

· On the management boards of voluntary organisations
· As mentors to young people in need of guidance
· As advisers to young leaders emerging from minority communities
· At policy level, providing a voice on non-departmental public bodies addressing issues such as housing, health, education and unemployment.

Millennium Awards Scheme
The EMF's commitment to engaging communities in regeneration strategies has been outstanding. In partnership with the Millennium Commission, we launched the Millennium Awards Scheme, through which 381 individuals received awards averaging £6000 each. The selected individuals undertook a diverse range of projects that were beneficial to their communities.

The London Health Advocacy Network
Health inequalities are a major contributory factor to the social exclusion experienced by many ethnic-minority individuals. Recommendations to NHS policymakers advise the incorporation of patient and user views to the formulation of health policy. Ethnic Minority Communities have traditionally been under-represented at policy tables. The London Health Advocacy Network was established in 1999, with the objectives of representing the needs of ethnic-minority users to decision-makers, promoting the sharing of experience and knowledge in good practice and the development of advocacy services at local and national level. The network comprises practitioners, commissioners, researchers, policy makers, community organisations and users and acts as a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences. With funding from the European Social Fund, the network is also commissioning providers to train health advocates, awarding them with Certificates in Health Advocacy.

Policy and Research
The EMF's Policy and Research team possesses a wealth of experience in policy development and analysis, as well as in applied quantitative and qualitative research methods. The team formulates and contributes to the ethnic minority, voluntary sector's national policy agenda and undertakes research. It also publishes on a range of policy issues such as urban regeneration, race relations, social exclusion, health, disability, housing and education, amongst others. The team responds to government consultations on a variety of issues and publications, such as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's (ODPM) Equality and Diversity: The Way Ahead, The Department for Education and Skills' (DfES) Aiming High: Raising the Achievement of Minority Ethnic Pupils and the Mayor of London's Income Inequality and Poverty in the Capital. The Policy Team also sits on a number of steering groups and round tables, engaging with the Government and stakeholders, including the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) Ethnic Minority Working Party, the Home Office's Strategic Partnership with the Voluntary Sector Group and Food Aware's Food and Health Action Plan - Consumers Group.

The Team's participation in policy debates has had an influence on the Government's regeneration agenda and reviews, including:

· The Home Office's Consultation on the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000
· The Treasury's Cross Cutting Review of the Voluntary and Community Sector
· The Department for Culture, Media and Sport's (DCMS) Review of Lottery Funding

The EMF is continually engaged in policy debates that address the crucial issue of community cohesion. As part of the Social Cohesion Practitioners' Group, for instance, we undertake a variety of activities which aim to address and respond adequately to social cohesion issues. In June 2003, the EMF, together with the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber, the Home Office and Yorkshire Television Studios held the first-ever regional Community Cohesion Conference at Yorkshire Television Studios. The Conference exemplified the importance of multi-sectoral approaches in achieving social inclusion and equilibrium.

Supplied by courtesy of Krishna Sarda, Chief Executive, Ethnic Minority Foundation