Monday 1 November 2010

EMAS "COMMUNITY IN UNITY" EVENT


To Nottingham this morning for "Community in Unity", an event led by East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), at the city's Council House. I'm here representing both Leicester Council of Faiths and the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP) along with Project Officer Kelly Jussab and Researcher Carolyn Pasco.

There's a range of displays, covering different aspects of EMAS's work as well as other patient support services in the region, such as:


The morning session begins with a brief dramatised presentation by Amaani Tallawah (whose name means "Peace and Impressive Strength"). This group has been supporting and empowering the African Caribbean community in Nottingham on mental health issues for over 20 years. Right after that we launch into a "World Cafe" consultation (as popularised throughout the region by REDP), involving a mix of practitioners, managers, strategists, service users, patients and their carers. What would appear to be small issues for the NHS can appear insurmountable obstacles to individuals and their families. In these times of straitened circumstances, service providers have to put their heads together and see how to tackle such issues and make the most of their resources, in terms of budgets and personnel.

Leicester Council of Faiths has had a positive and productive association with East Midlands Ambulance Service since I've been in my post: we helped them organise a "Faiths Summit" in Leicester, summer 2008; they paid for part of our exhibition that was created for Inter Faith Week 2009; and as part of REDP, we've been helping EMAS develop their Community Engagement Strategy this year.

Thanks to Nicci Crawford for the photo.

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