Tag: equality

QMU runs free event to support inclusive practices in organisations

The often polarising debate of inclusivity will be the hot topic for discussion at a free event to be held at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. 

As part of the University’s work in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, the Queen Margaret Business School will host a free symposium to look at the role and impact of inclusive practices in organisational settings.

The University is keen to open up this sensitive topic for debate in order to assist organisations in dealing with some of the issues around inclusion and to identify good solutions that will support recruitment practices; develop a healthy, happy workforce; and assist with positive organisational development.

Dr Thomas Peschken-Holt, Head of the School of the Queen Margaret Business School, explained: “In recent years, there has been a growing and more pronounced questioning of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) agenda, as well as the role and appropriateness of inclusive practices. These can be complex areas for organisations to navigate and respond to appropriately. 

“Queen Margaret University is keen to shine a light on this sensitive topic and open up the conversation across a range of diverse organisations and individuals. We will look beyond the often divisive headlines by exploring the underlying assumptions and practical implications of inclusive practices within organisational settings, aiming to challenge traditional viewpoints to provide audiences with a deeper, more informed, understanding.

“We hope this will be helpful in creating a positive outlook and direction, so that organisations can move forward with confidence in the development and actioning of their inclusive policies and practices.”

This event promises to provide enlightening and helpful perspectives on inclusivity from a diverse range of panel members from across Scotland. Dr Peschken-Holt will lead the panel discussion with contributions from the Director of Policy at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, Jo Davidson; the Chief Executive Officer of Knowledge Bridge, Irene Mosota; and the Chief Executive of Sight Scotland, Craig Spalding. 

‘Inclusion – A Distracting Liability or A Diverse Organisational Asset?’ is particularly relevant to business leaders, human resource professionals, academics students, and anyone interested in the role of inclusivity in contemporary organisations. 

Open to the public, this free symposium will take place at Queen Margaret University on Thursday 10 April (room 2156). Registration – 4:45pm, with main event running from 5pm to 6pm.

For information and registration details, view the Eventbrite.

One City Trust: Bringing People Together Grant

Grant opportunity for upto £5000 for Edinburgh based SE/charities

Applications close Friday 2nd May at 5pm and notifications of grant awards will go out on Monday 7th July 2025.

More Info : https://onecitytrust.com/grant-funding-programme/…

Application : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wc0wyi9mylCX4Ik5tSOAaGdxmKkBv4Ga/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102329649805004118902&rtpof=true&sd=true

Reminder: Community Planning ‘Transformation’ Events

Invitation to Participate in Community Planning Transformation and Improvement Stakeholder Engagement Session

The Edinburgh Partnership agreed to look afresh at the role of Community Planning in Edinburgh to maximise the relationships between public sector agencies and the voluntary and community sectors to address poverty and inequality and the climate and nature emergency.

We need your views to help shape the future of community planning in Edinburgh.

These sessions aim to bring together key partners to discuss, plan, and drive forward positive changes for communities. Your insights and contributions are highly valued, and we would be pleased if you could join us.

Spaces are limited, so we encourage you to book your place as soon as possible to secure your spot at your preferred session.

To register, please email communityplanning@edinburgh.gov.uk  with your name, contact details, and the date of the session you would like to attend:

Wednesday, 23rd October | 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM | St. Bride’s Community Centre

or

Thursday, 24th October | 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM | West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre

or

Monday, 28th October | 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Microsoft Teams

Choudhury: “Organisations should implement anti-racism strategies”

Lothians MSP Foysol Choudhury MSP has sponsored an ‘Anti-Racism in the Third and Voluntary Sector’ drop-in session at the Scottish Parliament, imploring organisations to integrate their own anti-racist strategies.

North Edinburgh Arts, with support from Passion4Fusion and Project Esperanza, presented their work to other third sector and voluntary organisations on delivering North Edinburgh Arts’ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Plan. 

North Edinburgh Arts have focused their Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work across 2023/2024 on race and have worked with two black led organisations, Passion4Fusion and Project Esperanza, in the development of their Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Plan.

As part of this work, North Edinburgh Arts have developed an anti-racist statement:

“North Edinburgh Arts condemns all forms of racism and discrimination, including anti-Blackness, and will not tolerate racist language, hate speech, or abusive behaviours on our premises or online spaces.”

They have also developed an anti-racism plan which includes steps such as staff training. Learning about the work North Edinburgh Arts have done with Passion4Fusion and Project Esperanza, MSP Choudhury says, was a fantastic example of what more organisations should be doing to tackle racism.

Mr Choudhury said: “”The third sector plays an important role in shaping a more diverse, tolerant and equal society.

“Watching the presentation from North Edinburgh Arts, Passion4Fusion and Project Esperanza showed us what can be achieved in the third sector, to ensure that our organisations are not only non-racist, but break down racist barriers to ensure they are truly anti-racist.

“We had very insightful discussions at the session about how other third sector and voluntary organisations can implement anti-racism, learning from the work which has been done by these three fantastic organisations.

“The clear call from this event was that anti-racism is something that we should all take it upon ourselves to implement-we must work together, not leave anti-racist work solely to black-led or ethnic minority organisations.

“We must condemn all forms of racism and discrimination and continue working to ensure our spaces and services reflect, welcome and celebrate our diverse communities.”

Kate Wimpress, Director of North Edinburgh Arts, said following the event: “Working with Passion4Fusion and Project Esperanza on our anti-racist statement and plan has been a wholly positive and enlightening process.

“Many thanks to them for their generosity and support. NEA better understands the corrosive nature of racism and the part we must all play to shape a more diverse, tolerant, and respectful society.”

Helene Rodger, Project Director of Passion4Fusion, said following the event: “Anti-racism practices aim to level the playing field and ensure equal access to opportunities across all sectors, regardless of race or ethnicity . 

“This is key to achieving the vision of a Scotland where “wealth and power are more equally spread.”

Victoria Nyanga-Ndiaye, CEO of Project Esperanza, said following the event: “At Project Esperanza; we have been listening to the voices of families from Black and Multi Ethnic Communities about their experiences, concerns and frustrations with racism in schools and health and social care services; as well as about how complaints are handled.

“We are amplifying those voices through the work that we do to challenge racist systems and work practices, as well as to challenge the gatekeeping that happens within systems, which ultimately harm Black and Brown communities.

“We do this in order to shape a truly welcoming, fairer and safer Scotland that is culturally literate and migrant friendly and it is important that third sector organisations unite in anti-racism efforts in Scotland, because we work frontline and centre daily with the communities affected by all forms of racism”.

STUC backs Usdaw call for action to tackle the growing lack of affordable, flexible and accessible childcare

Retail trade union Usdaw has a delegation of members, reps and officials attending the annual conference of the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) in Dundee, which started on Monday and concludes tomorrow.

Moving the composite motion about childcare, Elaine Dennis – Usdaw delegate said: “In recent years working parents across Scotland have come under huge strain due to the growing lack of affordable, flexible and accessible childcare.

“Undoubtedly, the cost of living crisis has intensified this problem, with women often bearing the brunt. Childcare is not just an equality issue and a trade union issue, it’s key to economic growth and essential to tackling child poverty.

“Despite childcare being so crucial to working families and women’s equality.

“The current system is failing parents who are struggling to find good quality affordable childcare, failing childcare workers, who are often underpaid, and underappreciated, and failing children across Scotland, who are missing out on vital opportunities with one in four living in poverty.

“Most Usdaw members work in lower paid sectors like retail and warehousing; the majority are women, so childcare is a huge issue for our members. The costs of childcare and nursery fees are simply unaffordable for many parents in lower paid jobs and even where free hours are available, the system is complicated and difficult to navigate. Many families don’t know what they are entitled to and many more are left with huge gaps in provision.

“Balancing work with childcare in a sector like retail is not easy and women are often the primary carer. It is so often invisible to employers and managers, yet it shapes working lives.

“We know from supporting many of our women members with children, the effort they put in to making themselves available for work is enormous. It often means getting up very early or going to bed very late and regularly arriving at work on very little sleep.

“It means putting a lot of effort into scheduling childcare around work, creating a complicated patchwork of support. Working out when grandparents, neighbours or older siblings are available to look after young children in the morning, evening or for a few hours after school. This is why good wraparound childcare provisions are so important to working parents.

“We know that many parents work ‘opposite shifts’, with families barely able to spend a minute of quality time together. Workplace policies help and unions do a great job negotiating flexible working agreements that make a real difference to women’s working lives, but women working in part-time, low hours and low paid jobs, who are worried about holding onto them, are often too afraid to ask their employer for help.

“A successful childcare system should enable parents to work the jobs and the hours that they choose to. Instead, it is a barrier to work for those in lower paid jobs.

“It prevents women from progressing, trapping families in poverty and ingraining inequality. We desperately need a childcare system that supports working parents and grandparents, valuing these dedicated workers and supporting families in Scotland.”

Shaping positive masculinity

First Minister kickstarts conversation to promote a positive vision for a fairer society

First Minister Humza Yousaf has held a roundtable with practitioners and leaders who are working to promote positive masculinity in their broader approach to achieving equality across our communities.

This involves highlighting to boys and men the benefits that positive masculinity can provide for their everyday lives including mental health and wellbeing as well as positive relations. It also includes highlighting the harm that can be caused by negative behaviours associated with ‘toxic masculinity’ which may also manifest itself in sexism, misogyny and abuse or violence against women and girls.

In his Programme for Government speech, the First Minister committed to leading on this issue.

First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “I am committed to leading on this issue as I believe it’s important to have a vision for masculinity that is uplifting and positive so the negative male role models we are all aware of can be challenged.

“If we can promote positive masculinity, then we address deep rooted inequalities in our society, and tackle the root cause of violence against women and girls, namely abusive behaviour perpetrated by men.

“We need to create the safe spaces for boys and men to come together to talk, without judgement about the challenges they face, the anxieties they have and to talk about the positive male identity.

“We need to be aware of the outcomes for boys of not having this: educational outcomes, mental health and relationships can all be affected at both personal and societal level.

“Having a vision of positive masculinity, and adequate support for boys and young men, can support them to have better outcomes, and can also benefit all of society including helping to reduce abuse and violence.

“I look forward to continue working to achieve a vison of a fairer and more equal society.”

Tackling violence against women and girls

Equally Safe strategy refreshed

A national strategy to prevent and address all forms of violence against women and girls has been renewed to build on recent progress.

Equally Safe, a joint strategy with COSLA, was first published in 2014, and is backed by the Delivering Equally Safe Fund that is providing £19m per year to support 121 projects from 112 organisations.

One significant milestone reached, supported by the strategy’s aims, saw the Domestic Abuse Act passed by Parliament in 2018, which created a specific offence of domestic abuse that covers physical and psychological abuse as well as coercive and controlling behaviour.

Published today during 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, the refreshed strategy is focussed on increasing collaboration across sectors to tackle the attitudes and values that result in violence against women and girls.

A delivery strategy will be published next Spring and will set out further actions to achieve that goal.

Victims Minister Siobhian Brown said: “Violence against women and girls has no place in our society. The impact of violence is wide-ranging and can have a long-term lasting effect on the lives of those affected, their families and communities. 

“This refreshed strategy builds on progress made to date in raising awareness of the prevalence and harmful effects of violence against women and girls, strengthening the law, and providing support and resources to public and third sector workers helping those affected. 

“Our Delivering Equally Safe Fund focusses on early intervention and prevention, as well as support services and I am pleased that around 32,000 adults and children benefitted last year.

“There remains work to do and sustained action is needed. That is why our future vision focuses on finding opportunities to work collaboratively and constructively whenever possible to stamp out violence wherever we see it and preventing it happening in the first place.” 

COSLA’s Community Wellbeing Spokesperson, Councillor Maureen Chalmers said:  “For nearly a decade, COSLA and the Scottish Government have worked in partnership to eradicate violence, abuse and exploitation of women and girls from Scotland.

“Our collaborative efforts have been undertaken with specialist services, public sector organisations, and local authorities. These have propelled us forward in building a more equal and safer Scotland for everyone.

“These firm foundations have allowed us to refresh the Equally Safe Strategy. It emphasises the importance of prevention, collaborative leadership, and reaffirms the unwavering commitment from both local and Scottish governments to achieve our shared goals.”

 The refreshed Equally Safe strategy

Celebration as pupils and teachers receive The Saroj Lal Award

Celebrating diversity through creativity in our schools was the theme of the Saroj Lal Award for Edinburgh Schools event held at the City Chambers on Thursday night (16 November).

Saroj Lal was one of the first Asian women to teach in a Scottish primary school when she began her role at South Morningside Primary School in 1970.

Her many successes included being at the forefront of race relations during a period of immense political and social change, delivering anti-racism training and starting the first local authority interpreting and translating service in Edinburgh.

Following her death in 2020, Saroj’s many achievements in equality, women’s rights, education, and community work are being formally recognised.

Every year our schools are invited to nominate pupil work relating to any aspect of equalities, in any artform. Headteachers were also invited to nominate staff, whose collaborative work around equalities has taken a creative approach and had an impact.

All nominated work will be used to start building a resource bank for schools. This year saw more schools and pupils enter with 11 schools nominated, 33 pupil/pupil group nominations and two teacher nominations submitted.

The entries were considered by a panel of judges, comprising Saroj Lal’s son and equalities campaigner Vineet Lal, Katie D’Souza (2022 Joint winner of the GTC Scotland Saroj Lal Award) and Nikhat Yusaf, Senior Development Officer Equalities for the City of Edinburgh Council.

The award categories for pupils were as follows:

  • Proud to be Me: Communicates the young person’s personal expression of pride in their heritage, in their own culture and/or identity.
  • How Prejudice Makes Me Feel: Expresses young people’s feelings about any form of prejudice inflicted on themselves or others.
  • Artivism: Art expresses their views on social justice and challenges others to change and/or act differently.

There were joint winners for the Proud to be Me category: Lily Schiller-Chatwood, Leith Academy and Natali Rawat, St Thomas of Aquin’s RC High School.

In the How Prejudice Makes Me Feel category the winner was Amna Parveen, Castlebrae Community Campus.          

For the Artivism category the winner were the Equalities Lead Pupils at St Augustine’s High School.

The staff winner was Elaine Oram, James Gillespie’s High School.

The Commendation winner, was a whole school effort, and went to Currie Primary School.

Councillor Joan Griffiths, Education, Children and Families Convener, hosted the event and said: “These awards build on the rich legacy that Saroj Lal left in her decades of pioneering work in Edinburgh and beyond. They recognise the work schools and pupils are doing to challenge the many forms of prejudice and discrimination.

I am so glad to see that in the Awards second year, many more schools have engaged with the award and submitted such a range of creative works, to include films, animation, poetry, and art works, demonstrating that diversity is thriving in our schools.

“The creativity, insights and depth of thinking on display have been hugely impressive, and everyone involved – pupils and staff – deserves to be congratulated.”

Vineet Lal, son of Saroj Lal, and one of the Award judges, said: “It has been thrilling to see the passion and enthusiasm demonstrated by all those taking part in the Saroj Lal Award for Edinburgh Schools.

“The sheer scope and breadth of nominations, from almost a dozen participating schools this year, illustrates how engaged our local pupils are with issues linked to equality, diversity and inclusion, and it has been a pleasure and a privilege to be part of the judging panel.

“The creativity, insights and depth of thinking on display have been hugely impressive, and everyone involved – pupils and staff – deserves to be congratulated.

Last night’s event followed on from Portobello High School biology teacher Hardeep Kaur being awarded the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTC Scotland) Saroj Lal Award for a Pioneering Spirit in Equality and Diversity. 

Aims of The Saroj Lal Award for City of Edinburgh Schools: 

  • Mark the important legacy of Saroj Lal’s life and work.
  • Inspire action and promote equalities work in the widest sense.
  • Ensure pupils’ views, ideas and experiences are central and communicated widely through creative approaches.
  • Create a bank of resources for schools to use and share.
  • Challenge perceptions, remove stigma and celebrate diversity.

School libraries to receive £200k funding boost to help combat racism

School libraries across Scotland will receive a £200,000 funding boost for projects supporting anti-racism and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion to recognise the issues that matter to our children and young people.

The School Library Improvement Fund (SLIF) is the Scottish Government-supported national funding programme which supports creative and innovative projects within the school library sector.

Available to all state-run nurseries, primary schools and secondary schools, the 2023-24 fund once again puts a priority focus on project applications which support anti-racism and racial equality. The scheme officially opens for applications on Wednesday (23 August).

The 2023/24 fund will build on the anti-discrimination work undertaken in schools last year – including Ross High School in Tranent’s ‘Stand Up and Be Counted’ project, which developed a racial equality digital resource to recognise, represent and celebrate diversity in school libraries and communities across East Lothian.

Last year’s funding also supported the collaborative Academy programme in Clackmannanshire, which saw a series of progressive diversity and equality workshops launched with the Empathy Lab as part of the ‘Building Empathy Through Books’ initiative.

Apportioning funding to initiatives which help school library services achieve the key aims of ‘Vibrant Libraries, Thriving Schools: A National Strategy for School Libraries in Scotland 2018-2023’ – the strategic document for the development of school libraries, the announcement of this year’s fund brings the total investment from the Scottish Government to £1.7m over the lifetime of the School Library Strategy strategy.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “School libraries play a vital role in the learning experiences of children and young people across the country. They are also places where positive values can be celebrated and developed, which is why I am delighted to continue our support for them through this fund.

“I am determined that inclusion, diversity and representation will be at the heart of our education system. This fund’s focus on developing anti-racism resources will help ensure that children and young people understand the harmful consequences of racism and discrimination, and encourage them to actively challenge it wherever it occurs.”

Pamela Tulloch, Chief Executive of the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) which administers the fund on behalf of the Scottish Government, added: “School libraries play a central role in helping children and young people gain the knowledge, skills and attributes needed for learning, life and work.

“They ensure every young person has the chance to fulfil their full potential, so it’s great to see this level of Scottish Government funding pledged to support the aims of ‘Vibrant Libraries, Thriving Schools’ once again.

“From physical and digital resources to collaborative workshops and initiatives, SLIF grants can help school libraries improve and expand the services they offer for their pupils, staff and the community around them. 

“As we continue to put a focus on projects advocating for anti-racism and anti-discrimination, we would encourage every nursery, primary and secondary school to consider how they can help lead the way in developing our services and apply for funding today.”

Schools can apply via individual application or collaborative application with SLIC accepting up to two individual applications per local authority and an unlimited number of collaborative applications to ensure equal opportunities across Scotland.

The School Library Improvement Fund 2023-24 is now open to applications and will close at 12pm on Wednesday 20 September 2023.

For more information on how to apply, visit: https://scottishlibraries.org/funding/the-school-library-improvement-fund/.

Scottish Government: Placing diverse communities at the heart of events

Against the backdrop of the world’s biggest cycling event in history, discussions are taking place which aim to further boost equality, diversity and inclusion across Scotland’s world-renowned events sector.

The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships has seen competitions for disabled and non-disabled athletes taking place alongside each other. This inclusive approach has helped to showcase and raise awareness of Para sport.

Yesterday in Glasgow Culture Secretary Angus Robertson hosted a roundtable with partners representing people with protected characteristics, such as race and young people, to explore ways to strengthen the approach to the planning, delivery and legacy of major events.

Along with a public consultation and stakeholder workshops held earlier in 2023, this will inform the refreshed National Events Strategy for 2025-2035.

Mr Robertson said: “It’s important that collectively we make most of the many benefits events can bring to the lives of diverse communities right across Scotland.   

“The UCI Cycling World Championships are a great example of how mega events like this can showcase our cultural diversity, boost accessibility and extend a warm welcome to all communities.

“The inclusion of Para sports in the Cycling World Championships has contributed significantly to the atmosphere. The competitive spirit and level of skill and dedication demonstrated by all athletes taking part side by side has been inspirational and an important part of the success of the event.

“We want our portfolio of world-class events to deliver positive economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits for everyone in Scotland.”

The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships runs until 13 August. The event has a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion, including through signing a Ride Together Pledge.

Scottish Labour’s Shadow Minister for Culture Foysol Choudhury MSP said that championships as such are an excellent opportunity to get more people into sports and showcase all that Scotland has to offer to the world.

The Lothians list MSP said: “With our fantastic landscape and cities as backdrops for the event, it’s been great to show the world exactly why so many of us are proud to call Scotland our home.

“Not only that, but it’s really helped to encourage sport, amongst young people and adults alike.

“We not only have breath-taking scenery if you want to cycle outdoors, but we also have excellent velodromes for indoor cycling.

“This is a great opportunity to embrace active travel as part of a healthy lifestyle and start cycling again-I know I’ve definitely been inspired to get back into the habit!”

As part of the build-up to the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, an £8 million Cycling Facilities Fund has been jointly invested by the Scottish Government and Sportscotland to support cycling communities and club facilities across Scotland.

Mr Choudhury continued: “To encourage active travel and sport, we need to make sure that everybody has access to the equipment and facilities needed to participate. That’s why funding to community and club facilities is so important.

“I would like to congratulate two projects from West Lothian – Balbardie Park Pump Track and West Lothian Cycle Circuit, Linlithgow – who have received awards of £45,433 and £636,011, respectively.

“I hope that my constituents can make use of the benefits that these funds can bring.

“Let’s all get inspired by the Championships this summer and join in to feel the Power Of The Bike! “