At the Walkers Stadium this morning for a Leicester Leaders Partnership Meeting, a pretty large event in the Great Hall involving Head Teachers of city and county schools, Senior Leaders, School Governors, educational advisers, specialists in community cohesion etc. I signed up for this at the SACRE AGM a couple of weeks ago, although all of us who enrolled at that meeting are missing from the list of attendees for today.I guess our forms got last somewhere between there and here.
The keynote speaker is Ted Cantle, the man who virtually invented community cohesion in terms of how it has been known, discussed, argued over, owned and disowned in the past ten years or so. He gives an overview of the past, present and future(s) of community cohesion, especially as it affects schools and the communities in which they are located. It's a pleasure to listen to him and to see his professional and easy (by which I don't mean slick") presentation. In a break later in the morning, I get the chance to speak with him for a few minutes one-to-one. Ted used to live in Leicester (his children were schooled here) and he has warm and positive associations with the Council of Faiths. He offers a few tips about strengthening our position in the city, which I find helpful and reassuring.
At the request of Jill Carr, Secretary of SACRE, I take part in the workshop presenting our new series of booklets, "Engaging with Faith Communities in Leicester", a round table discussion (literally) with representatives of half a dozen or so schools about the process of the series's development and the potential uses of the material it contains.
This is rather high-powered occasion, with many influential figures from the world of education in Leicester, Leicestershire and beyond. From my understanding of our contract arrangements with Leicester city Council, we should be involved in such events by right. I'm only here because information about today was included in the pack that was given out at the SACE AGM. The Council of Faiths didn't receive any other notice of this occasion. I mention this (courteously of course) to Jasbir Mann, who leads this morning's meeting and she agrees the Council of Faiths should be automatically invited to any such event in future.
Showing posts with label Walkers Stadium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walkers Stadium. Show all posts
Friday, 9 July 2010
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Equality Act 2010 event
My particular function today, though, is to keep feeding REDP's twitterstream throughout the event. Our twitter name, for those who would like to follow us, is @REDPartnership.
Here's how we've described the event, for publication in the local media:
City takes lead on new Equality Act
Leicester City’s Walkers Stadium was the venue for a high-profile regional conference promoting the new Equality Act.Sad to report though that the Leicester Mercury didn't publish anything about this event.
The Act, which became law just before Parliament was dissolved for the General Election, protects people from discrimination on grounds of age, disability, gender and gender identity, race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation.
Around a hundred people attended the conference, drawn mostly from the Voluntary and Community Sector and the Public Sector from right across the East Midlands.
The event was hosted by the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership, which works across the East Midlands to strengthen the voice of the Voluntary Sector on these important issues. REDP has grown out of a successful collaboration of a number of Leicester-based organisations that have worked together in a variety of combinations over the past decade.
Sheila Lock, Chief Executive of Leicester City Council, officially opened the day, welcoming delegates to the event and to the city. She said that it was right for the conference to be happening in Leicester as the city is widely celebrated for its diversity and has a history of speaking up for equality. Sheila further said, “The Third Sector has been instrumental in bringing about improvements in equalities. … colleagues [in the public sector] have much to learn from the experiences of colleagues in the voluntary sector when it comes to challenging established systems and practices. I welcome that challenge, it is what helps people improve.”
A trio of nationally prominent speakers addressed the morning session , each one speaking about one important aspect of the new Act: Alison Pritchard (Head of Strategy at the Government Equalities Office), Amanda Ariss (Chief Executive at the Equality and Diversity Forum) and Anthony Robinson (Director of Casework and Litigation at the Equality and Human Rights Commission). The speakers also took part in panel discussions; workshop sessions in the afternoon helped attendees focus on major issues that affect them now and that will arise in the future.
Iris Lightfoote, Chair of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership, said, “The number of people that felt this event was important enough to attend demonstrates the continuing significance of work to bring about equality of outcomes across the East Midlands. The profile of the contributors demonstrated the support that REDP is able to bring to this work and, hosting it in Leicester shows how much the voluntary sector’s contribution to this work should be valued.”
Find out more about the Equality Act 2010:
http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_act_2010.aspx
Find out more about the Equality & Diversity Forum:
http://www.edf.org.uk/
Find out more about the Equality and Human Rights Commission:
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/
Find out more about the Government Equalities Office:
http://www.equalities.gov.uk/
Find oput more about the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership:
http://www.redp.org.uk/
Thursday, 4 March 2010
REDP INVOLVEMENT EVENT: LEICESTER
I'm chairing the morning session. Iris Lightfoote, from The Race Equality Centre (TREC) presents the opener for the day: A Beginner's Guide to REDP. As I sit down after introducing Iris, I turn to Dee Martin, from Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL), sitting on my left: "I forgot to say who I am again." "You forgot to say who any of us are!" she responds. So, when Iris finishes her bit and sits down, I set about putting that right. I get up and say that these are Involvement Events, which means we want those who come to them to get involved with REDP. Becoming "involved" with someone has a vareity connotations though, doesn't it? Of becoming attracted to them, perhaps even falling in love. To fall in love with someone requires a little mystery, doesn't it? Maybe I want everyone here to fall in love with REDP a little too much, since I've gone too far in promoting an air of mystery - by neglecting to introduce everyone seated here at the table. I get a decent laugh and remedy my earlier ommission.
Laura Horton (REDP Project Manager) coordinates the workshops around the tables, conducted in our now distinctive "World Cafe" style. All the core partners join in, each at separate tables. We get some new and original ideas for models of how REDP could look as it grows into its fuller incarantion: a jigsaw and (my favourite) a chocolate fountain!
We have fifteen or so people (mostly from the voluntary sector) with us in the morning; the same number (from the public sector) join us at lunchtime and stay for the afternoon session. Fittingly, for the final such event, there's a sit-down lunch, easily the nicest that's been provided. Well, I'm speaking hypothetically here. I have a few fiddly things to do at lunchtime, which means that I don't get anywhere near the food and end up going without. *sniff*
After lunch, Dennis Bradley (from the Leicester LGBT Centre) takes over the chair. First thing he does, particularly for the benefit of those who've arrived just for the afternoon session, is to introduce everyone. Next up, I present the statistical "Profile of Leicester", prepared by REDP's Researcher, Carolyn Pascoe, who is unable to be here herself. I obviously did such a good job of doing this at Northampton that I'm the people's choice for doing it here today. However, this time there's a bigger room, noisy air conditioning and no microphone. Some people have trouble hearing me at the back. Twice I am asked to speak up. The second time I'm asked to do so, I say that if it isn't working at this volume, then I'm going to have to give my presentation through the medium of interpretive dance (and give a little *swoosh* of the arms, just to show what they'd be in for). When the session is over, and I catch sight of a few of evaluation sheets, the only negative is "The volume of some of the speakers". No comment on the dancing then ...
For the third time at these Involvement Events, we've got the support of Vidar Hjarding as guest speaker in the afternoon. Vidar, who is blind, is Diversity Manager for ITV News Group. His gentlemanly manner and exemplary courtesy bring this successful day to a positive conclusion.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
box 15
The woman on reception has this event on her schedule as the "Post 3:30 Meeting" and she directs me to Box 15, on the third floor. I sit in Box 15 (which has a very nice view of the pitch, as you can see, above) for about 20 minutes, wondering when anyone else is going to show. Sitting in this empty room, gazing out on the deserted stadium, pitch partly covered, goalposts taken down ... it begins to feel like a meditation on nothing much at all. After a while, I start to wonder if I'm in the right place. I make my way back down to the Grand Hall, where the "Making It Real" event would have been held. Perhaps it's overrun. I'll probably meet some people making their way up to the third floor for my meeting. These corriders are longer and quieter than I would have first thought - and because the lights switch on automatically by sensor as you pass under them, it's all a bit darker too. When I do find the Grand Hall, it's empty, with only a few staffers in the early stages of cleaning up. I ask one young woman picking up empty cups and saucers if she knows whether anyone was making their way up for the "Post 3:30 Meeting"; but she tells me she heard them making the decision to cancel that meeting earlier in the day.
On the way home through the rain, I phone Dee at LCIL. She reminds me that we'd made a decision that since we couldn't all go, then none of us would go. I remember discussing this at our meeting on Tuesday, but don't remember actually deciding anything about it. But it makes sense, and it's our mutually supportive way. But if that's so, how come the woman doing the cleaning up heard them decide to cancel the meeting this morning? And why was it still on the schedule at reception? My head is too full of cold and I've had way too much Lemsip to figure this one out - obviously.
Find out more about the Walkers Stadium:
http://www.thewalkersstadium.co.uk/
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