Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) has received the CEMVO Ethnic Minority Impact Award 2017 in the Education category for their ‘Routes to Roots: Adopting Scotland as a Homeland’ project.
The Ethnic Minority Impact Awards are in their fourth year and recognise individuals or organisations that have contributed to Scottish society or made a difference to their community locally or nationally.
Routes to Roots is a Heritage Lottery funded project that has been working with local ethnic minority communities to mainstream their heritage and explore the intertwining histories of Scottish and diverse communities in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
By conducting video interviews with active members from different backgrounds, the project, which is primarily volunteer driven, has been working on showcasing how ethnic minority communities have enriched Scottish heritage. It has also produced a number of video podcasts on various heritage and cultural topics and organised visits to religious centres, galleries and sites of importance.
This has helped to bring an understanding of our shared histories and cultures in the area by reaching new audiences through online material on its YouTube and social media pages and will also publish a book and exhibition to be held in Edinburgh’s Central Library in June 2018.
Commenting on the award, Neil Ogilvy, the Routes to Roots Project Coordinator, said: “We are delighted to have received the Impact in Education award at the CEMVO Ethnic Minority Impact Awards 2017. We have been working hard to uncover and highlight the different heritages and cultures that are celebrated in Edinburgh and the Lothians and to bring this information to new audiences. Our dedicated volunteers have worked tirelessly to make this project a success and none of our activities could have been done without them. I’d like to thank our funders HLF Scotland, and the communities and individuals we are working with.”
Foysol Choudhury MBE, Chair of ELREC, said: “I am very pleased that the Routes to Roots project has received this award. It is testament to the hard work of the Project Coordinator, Neil Ogilvy, and all of the volunteers involved in the project.
“ELREC has worked for over four decades on equality issues in the city and the ‘Routes to Roots’ project is another extension of this. It has been inspiring to see the stories and information that they have uncovered. I look forward to seeing all the different aspects of this project come together and be showcased in an exhibition and book in the summer of 2018.”
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