We're meeting at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL) from 12100 to 1500. We had originally thought of holding our first meeting in neutral territory, outwith the main cities of the region (Derby, Leicester, Nottingham). Our first choice was Grantham. But we decided to hold it here in the end, so that the rest of the membership of the Core Reference Group would have the chance to see the facilities at our disposal and to meet the team supporting the project.
The Core Partners, with the regular and practical assistance of the Delivery Group, has put a lot of thought and effort into preparing Terms of Reference, Code of Conduct and Criteria for Membership. These have all been sent out to potential members of the Core Reference Group in advance; we've encouraged these organisations to consider all these and only to commit to membership if they can meet the standards contained in these documents. If that smacks of being a bit harsh or controlling, it's born out of the need to be realistic. We're aiming for a fine balance between principle and pragmatism here. We want people who support the pan-equality nature of the project, but who also have the practical wherewithal to do their bit in advancing it. Each of the protected characteristics (and other areas of interest) have their own criteria for membership. Here are the general criteria which each one of the represented organisations needs to meet:
Organisations represented on the Core Reference Group need to demonstrate the following:
That they include, within their regular activities, campaigning for change and making appropriate challenge.
That they have experience of, or are willing and able to, work collaboratively across the East Midlands.As a group, we have two interesting and practical kinds of shared learning today. We're asked to adopt a traffic light system of cards to help smooth our discussion: red for "I want to speak"; orange for "clarification needed"; green for "I agree". We're also challenged often for use of abbreviations, acronyms and jargon and asked to refine our discussion to the simplest and clearest possible choice of words.
That they are open, honest and respectful in their dealings with other organisations, while holding their own ideas open to change so that all participants may benefit from shared learning and good practice.
That they can make active input not only to their own particular equality area, but also support the common work across equality strands. This is necessary so that the partnership is inclusive of all equality areas and does not operate according to an assumed hierarchy of protected characteristics.
Those individuals who sit on the Core Reference Group for the member organisations should be practitioners, working on the ground on a day-to-day basis (e.g. Chief Executive Officers, Chief Operating Officers, managers) rather than those bearing honorific titles (e.g. chairs, Presidents, directors, trustees). The intention is that the Core Reference Group should be practical in its focus and be able to respond immediately to challenges and opportunities.
Today we have representatives round the table from almost all the recognised "protected characteristics": age, disability (not gender), race, faith or belief, sexual orientation. We also have representatives for areas not always represented in their own right in terms of equality and diversity: adults with learning difficulties, mental illness, refugees and asylum seekers. Not all the seats on the Core Reference Group are filled yet - and we're in no rush to do so just for the sake of it. Vacant spaces will be held open until appropriate organisations are found to fill them. The groups who are represented around the table today were mostly nominated by people who attended REDP's Involvement Events held in various venues around the region during January, February and March. Now we're partly looking to those who have taken their places on the Core Reference Group to nominate others who may meet the challenge to join them.
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