preparing for REDP Core Reference Group meeting

At Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL) this afternoon, for a meeting of the Core Partners of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership. We're preparing for the upcoming meeting of REDP's Core Reference Group this Wednesday. Present today are Dee martin of LCIL (which is the lead and accountable body for REDP), Ian Robson from Leicester Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre (LLGBT), myself for Leicester Council of Faiths and Laura Horton, Project Manager for REDP. Iris Lightfoote from The Race Equality Centre (TREC) would normally be chairing this meeting, but she's unwell today and has sent her apologies.

We discuss models of communication for the Partnership (internal and external) and how to pursue filling the remaining seats on the Core Reference Group. While we're not in a hurry to fill every seat just for the sake of it (and our funders agree on this), we don't want places to go a'begging forever. We consider the general criteria for membership and look at those Protected Characteristics whose places still need to be populated (the most significant gap being for gender equality organisations). The general criteria are as follows:

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.

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.

Each of the Protected Characteristics and related topic areas has particular criteria (for the one related to religion and belief, see blog entry entitled "Take a Seat" (Wed 18 Jul).