REDP involvement event: Oakham

To Oakham this morning, for the second of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership's twelve "Involvement Events" spread across the East Midlands over seven weeks. Once again, I'm chairing the event as well as making a presentation on the Equality Bill. Interesting comparison with the first of these events, in Nottingham on Tuesday: the region's biggest city, followed by one of its market towns, a rural centre. We have attendees representing Voluntary Action Rutland, Rutland County Council, Knossington Grange School, East Midlands Ambulance Service Pacesetters programme, Faiths Forum for the East Midlands.

I lived in Rutland for 16 years, from 1987 till 2003 - all but the first six months of them in Oakham. I moved there from a pretty rough-and-ready area in the west of Scotland, was a bit of culture shock. All the more so, since the first six months was spent in a converted stable block on the grounds of Exton Hall! While the Oakham years were something of a mixed experience, I've more recently come to look on the place with some affection again (and my older son, Alastair, is based there).

Counter-intuitive as it might be, the success of these events is not being measured by the number of attendees. REDP is in the process of developing something new, an innovation where nothing of its type existed before. Engagement of new groups and individuals, planting the flag in places whcih are often neglected, going out to the people we want to meet rather than having them come to us - these aren't normal practice, but it's the way we have to do it if this project is going to work.

Ange, from the Women's Resource Centre and National Equalities Partnership is our guest speaker in the afternoon, though I'm not able to stay and hear her. I have to get back to Leicester for the meeting at SDSA.

Find out more about the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership:
http://www.redp.org.uk/

Find out more about Voluntary Action Rutland:
http://www.rutnet.co.uk/pp/gold/viewgold.asp?ID=46

Find out more about the Women's Resource Centre:
http://www.wrc.org.uk/

Find out more about the National Equalities Partnership:
http://www.wrc.org.uk/what_we_do/our_projects/national_equality_partnership/default.aspx