Fawad Qureshi – Race Equality Hyndburn

Race equality Hyndburn has an interesting story about how it was established but before we go into how, why and when, I would like to introduce myself, I am Fawad Qureshi and at present I am managing the project as Equality & Cohesion Manager. Although the organisation is new, I have had the pleasure of helping the community as a Racial Harassment Project Manager in 2001 during my work with Blackburn Racial Equality Council.

I have worked in both voluntary and statutory sectors. One aspect that is imperative towards the work of the organisations is my legal knowledge about related issues, I have attained during my Bachelors of Law and Community Justice studies as part of my Probation Officer Degree.

Racial Equality Hyndburn came into being as a result of a trustee experiencing first hand discrimination; I was approached as I had also suffered discrimination. We got involved in community research in Hyndburn to establish whether in fact there was a need for our organisation. As the trustees had a considerable amount of experience in Health, Community, Justice, Legal and Voluntary sector; it was decided that we should use our experiences to benefit the public. We provide emotional support and practical advice to try to bridge gaps in the community.

Zieda Ali – Project BME Lancashire

My name is Zieda Ali and I am the Operational manager/Co Founder for a community cohesion charity based in Darwen.

Our group is called Project BME Lancashire and we work with black minority ethnic communities in the Darwen area, but we hope to expand further. We started in September 2010 after I lost my job due to racial discrimination and victimisation. It was difficult to find work and this inspired me to think laterally about other opportunities that were open to me. I wanted to give something back to the community and use the skills and experiences I had gained.

I came up with the idea of starting a charity that addresses social injustice in the minority communities. I am very passionate about the work and am committed about empowering people who are less fortunate and less vocal than me.

I believe this part of Lancashire suffers from various disadvantages i.e. in employment, education, housing etc. As an organisation we challenge local policy makers when it comes to equality of opportunity for people from BME Backgrounds.

Philip Duncan – Spectrum Association

I am the organiser and manager of Spectrum Association, based in Preston. I have been involved in the local community for about thirty years. I run a carnival dance troop that engages all ages, races and religions, bringing everyone together to take part in a great community event. Spectrum provides activities and involvement projects for all. But over the last year or so things have become increasingly difficult with the main issue of funding and the feeling of becoming ‘stuck in a rut’, the feeling now is very much that you must run your community organisations as a business and therefore in need of support and guidance on all aspects of running a successful community group. Looking back this time last year I was extremely worried about the future of Spectrum Association,. Funding seemed uncertain, everyone seemed to be out for themselves and very protective over what they were involved in and finances etc.

Amar Abass – Youth Action

I have 10 years of experience of working in the voluntary sector both in the UK and Internationally. I have been with Youth Action since its creation. As the Chief Executive it is my role to provide overall strategic management for the organisation and to liaise with Board Members on the direction and the work. I am working with a staff team and over 120 volunteers on engaging young people in various areas including issues such as substance misuse, ill health, literacy to name a few.  I have worked on developing Youth Action to become an accredited training centre, and developing new areas of work that our clients want.

Youth Action evolved from a small informal group in a neighbourhood Blackburn in 2001. We began from a very small office and ran a weekly youth group for young people and provided them with opportunities to learn new skills and access to training. It has now grown and has over 5,500 members who remain up to date with the work that Youth Action does through monthly e-newsletters, SMS and Social Networking. Now as a developing large organisation with a 5 story building, it has enabled us to reach out to more young people then when we began and we now have the reputation and capability to provide high quality projects across Lancashire and further afield.

Anisa Bibi – The Women’s Centre, Burnley

I have worked in the community for the past 12 years and wanted to help ladies reach their full potential. I had to leave my job because of ill health and the experiences I had with the Health Service, trying to get information about my condition and trying to get the help I needed when none of the consultants would talk to me about my illness, made me decide to use my knowledge to find out what my rights were. I was happy to try self help but no one would tell me what I needed to do! I struggled through many complaints procedures in order to get the information I needed to manage my condition.