Past Projects

Youth against Violent Extremism Project

Date: Ended March 2017

Location: Cardiff

Race Equality First has run counter radicalisation projects for young people since 2008. Our recent initiative which ended in March 2017 was the Youth against Violent Extremism Project which enabled Muslims to take the lead to prevent radicalisation and extremism committed in the name of Islam. The project was an opportunity for Muslims, especially young people, to dispel misconceptions about Islam, promote tolerance and take a lead in safeguarding their own communities from radicalisation. The project ran the following activities and training sessions across Cardiff:

 

Talks delivered by Imams/Muslim Scholars

Talks delivered by Imams/Muslim Scholars denouncing violence committed in the name of Islam & promoting true Islamic beliefs.

Cyber Safety Workshops

In schools, colleges & universities exploring radicalisation via internet & how to spot this.

Counselling for young people

Counselling for young people, especially Muslims, for a range of issues including identity & mental health.

Media Training for young people

Media Training for young people to engage with media & speak out against violent extremism committed in the name of Islam.

"Safe Space" Workshops

‘Safe Space’ Workshops for young people to explore issues, exchange knowledge and tell us what needs changing.

Learn & Earn Project

Date: Ended November 2019

Location: Wales-wide

In 2019 the Learn & Earn Project was funded by the European Social Fund through WCVA’s Active Inclusion Fund.

The Project provided skills for employment and into-work support for young people aged 18-24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

 

Project Purpose

To provide high quality support, training and guidance to 139 young people aged 18-24 and equip them with the appropriate learning, skills, knowledge and confidence to participate in the workforce.

Support Available

1. Needs Assessment:
This involves a one-to-one interview, in which an individual’s needs are assessed and their previous training, skills, experience and qualifications are discussed

2. Individual Action Plan:
An individual action plan is put together to identify training, potential jobs and progression route requirements

3. Volunteering:
Participants are given the opportunity to gain some volunteering experience

4. Employment Skills Training:
Participants are trained on job search, CV writing / job applications and interview and presentation skills

5. Vocational Training:
This involves training in the field of work participants want to pursue, thus catering to gain recognised qualifications and skills that enhance employability (according to need, level of experience and skill)

6. Securing Employment:
One-to-one assistance is provided with job search, completing job applications or CVs as well as with interview practice

Minority Ethnic Elders Advocacy Project

Date: Ended November 2017

Location: Wales-wide

 

Project Outline

 The Minority Ethnic Elders Advocacy (MEEA) Project was a three-year project funded by the Big Lottery Fund.  Race Equality First (REF) was the lead partner and delivered the project in partnership with Swansea Bay Regional Equality Council (SBREC), South East Wales Regional Equality Council (SEWREC) and the North Wales Regional Equality Network (NWREN).

 

The aims of the Project were to:

“Help BME elders to say what they want, secure their rights, represent their interest and obtain services they need”.

The project achieved this by advocating on behalf of minority ethnic elders over 50 years of age on a variety of issues including: 

 

  • Housing
  • Social Work
  • Social/Leisure Activities
  • Care Homes
  • Health
  • Domestic/Elder Abuse
  • Family Issues/Disputes
  • Asylum/Immigration
  • Language Barriers
  • Transport
Key activities were:
  • The project recruited and provided one-to-one and group advocacy support (Advocafes) to 1,298 beneficiaries across the partnership (the target was 1,100).
  • Language barrier was a major problem faced by 49% of project beneficiaries when accessing services – often service providers failed to provide suitable interpretation services.
  • 49% of beneficiaries lacked fluent or good levels of speaking, writing or reading English.
  • Statutory services generally have interpreters, but quality of services is not guaranteed, and front line staff were often unaware of or reluctant to offer interpretation services.
  • Mapped 242 organisations that can provide services for BME elders.
  • Produced an Evaluation & Good Practice Guide.
  • Seminars delivered during Advocafes included: debt, bereavement, burials, housing, diet, fire safety at home, hate crime, sport engagement, language support, screening, organ donation, Alzheimer, know your rights, public health Wales, Pedal Power.
  • Activities such as day trips and fitness classes were a focal point in the recruitment of new beneficiaries for the project.
  • 22 focus groups were held during the life of the project and all groups generated valuable feedback and raised the public profile of the project.
  • 30 volunteer champions (VCs) and 1 community ambassador were recruited for the project. One VC was assisted to apply for EHRC’s public appointments training for minority groups. 

All Wales Hate Crime Research Project

Date: Ended October 2013
Location: Wales-wide

 

Project Outline

The All Wales Hate Crime Research Project was funded by The Big Lottery Fund (2010 – 2013) and led by Race Equality First in partnership with Cardiff University. The research for the Hate Crime Project is the first of its kind to ever be conducted in the UK, with 1,810 individuals interviewed for the study. Our research was used to develop the Framework for Action on Hate Crime by the Welsh Government. It is the often referred to in plenary by Welsh Government ministers with the First Minister of Wales making reference to the Project findings only recently.

The aims of the Project were:

The primary aim of the research was to generate robust data on both the nature of hate crime and hate-related incidents in Wales and the impact of this victimisation on individuals, their families and local communities. The study focuses on the 5 protected characteristics for hate crime recognised by the Home Office:

  • Disability;
  • Race & Ethnicity;
  • Religion & Belief;
  • Sexual Orientation, and
  • Transgender Status/ Gender Identity.

However, the Project also recognises the existence of hate crime victimisation on the basis of age and gender and both of these identity characteristics are included and examined in the study1. The wide-ranging scope of the research ensures it has generated the most comprehensive dataset on hate crime victimisation in the UK at the date of publication.

Equality and Human Rights in the Community Project

Date: Ended June 2013
Location: Wales-wide

 

The aims of the Project were:

The project provided free training and workshops to equip individuals and communities with knowledge and tools to challenge discrimination, poor service and inequality at a local level as well as to increase confidence in individuals to assert their rights in their everyday lives. Over 125 people from 25 different organisations and from community groups received training with many training sessions over-subscribed.

Project Outline

The Equality and Human Rights in the Community Project ran for 2 years at REF from September 2011 to September 2013.  The project, funded by the Lloyds TSB Foundation, aimed to raise awareness of individuals’ rights under the Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights legislation.

Community Resilience Project

Date: Ended November 2010
Location: Cardiff

 

Project Outline

The Community Resilience Project provided support for individuals who are vulnerable to being targeted by and/or recruited to a violent extremism cause.

The aims of the Project were to:
  • Raise the profile of the Muslim community in Cardiff.
  • Promote community cohesion and rejection of extremism.
  • Increase youth participation in social and civic life by offering young people constructive leisure and community based activities as well as advice and support in preventing general exclusion.
  • Enhance young people’s prospects in education and employment thereby reducing any vulnerability they may have in being targeted by extremists.
  • Create awareness of all faiths and promote interfaith/cultural dialogue.
  • Ensure girls and young women actively participate in preventing violent extremism.
Key activities were:
  • Developing Outreach Youth Projects linked to local mosques to encourage greater engagement with local young people to establish the Young Muslim People’s Network. This Network had links to the IMAN and promoted community cohesion and rejection of extremism.
  • Working in partnerships with Forums of Faith.
  • Developing a Muslim Sisters’ Network (MSN), linked to their local mosque, to actively participate in preventing violent extremism.

Eastern European Roma Support Project

Date: Ended December 2011
Location: Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan

 

Project Outline

Provision of language assistance and advice related to accessing a variety of local services including housing, health, English language and welfare for Eastern European Roma families.

The aims of the Project were to:
  • Support Eastern European Roma families with language assistance and advice on local services including housing, health and education.
Key activities were:
  • Establishing drop-in advice sessions for Roma communities.
  • Disseminating information about the available support amongst the Roma communities and local service providers
  • Assisting with accessing services such as GP surgeries, housing, English language classes, employment, welfare support and others.
  • Providing assistance with completing forms and documents.
  • Organising awareness raising sessions / producing advice information.

Economic Migrants and Refugee Project

Date: Ended December 2008
Location: Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan

 

Project Outline

The project (funded by the European Social Fund) aimed to improve the employment prospects of refugees and economic migrants in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

The aims of the Project were to:
  • Work directly with individuals who were economic migrants or refugees and also with employers.
  • Help refugees and economic migrants fulfil their potential and use their wealth of skills to contribute to the economy and contribute to society.
Key activities were:
  • Twice monthly Banking Clinic
  • Employment Drop-in Centre
  • Migrant and Refugees Information Day
  • Call Centre Training Day
  • Trips to places of interest in Wales to help raise awareness of Welsh culture and society.
  • A seminar in partnership with WLGA on ‘Economic Migrants – Responding to Local Needs’.

Memorable Moments In our Lives School Art Project

Date: Ended 2010
Location: Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan

 

Project Outline

Funded by ACW and the Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust, Race Equality First’s Memorable Moments in our Lives Project was an artistic exploration of birth, marriage and death, aimed to improve art skills as well as promote community cohesion.

The aims of the Project were to:
  • To develop and enhance the artistic skills of children from 10 primary schools in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.
  • To promote community cohesion through the learning and sharing of information about diverse traditions and cultures.
Key activities were:
  • Teach children, from years 5 and 6, how to use a variety of art forms.
  • Creating works of art including masks, 5ft puppets and banners.
  • Researching the project theme and discussing these various practices of birth, marriage and death with each other, their families and communities.

Tactile Sculpture Project and Exhibitions

Date: Ended October / November 2007
Location: Barry Library

 

Project Outline

In October/November 2007 REF exhibited its Tactile Sculptures at Barry Library, in the Vale of Glamorgan as part of the Black History Month celebrations.

The aims of the Project were to:
  • In October/November 2007 REF exhibited its Tactile Sculptures at Barry Library, in the Vale of Glamorgan as part of the Black History Month celebrations. This was the third time that these amazing sculptures had been shown. In February 2007 they were displayed at the Senedd, the home of the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff Bay and in December 2006 they were exhibited at The Old Library Cardiff.

Featuring a series of dramatic papier-mache sculptures on the theme of “Wales’ Impact on the World and the World’s Influence on Wales”, the exhibitions were the highpoint of an exciting arts project between 10 primary schools in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan and REF. The children who took part worked with our Arts Project Co-ordinator, Katrina Willis, to create models that expressed their interpretation of this theme and they drew inspiration from technology, science, the arts, tourism and cuisine. The sculptures ranged from an 8 foot tall Samurai Warrior to a model of the Millennium Stadium.

Warsaw Region Project

Date: Ended December 2011
Location: Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan

 

Project Outline

The project aimed to bridge the education and social gap for young people and their parents from newly arriving communities.

The aims of the Project were to:
  • To provide opportunities for newly arriving communities to gain full access to and to become socially included within the context of different and new education systems.
  • To facilitate opportunities for social cohesion, intercultural dialogue immersion and full integration and inclusion within the school system, local communities and society in general.
  • To prepare current and future teaching and non-teaching staff to meet the needs of migrant communities and their institutions and in the wider community.
  • To improve teachers understanding and training which enables them to access the skills necessary to write and deliver effective lesson plans taking into account new and recently arrived communities.
  • To develop documents, adaptable for individual schools, which will serve as a flexible toolkit to assist schools to address the identified issues.
  • To support newly qualified teachers and student teachers in preparing them for the future employment in the evolving educational environment.
Key activities were:
  • Establishing a parent support group.
  • Establishing an information and support system for newly arrived parents.
  • Developing and disseminating a Welcome Pack for new arrivals in a number of community languages.
  • Carrying out regular school audits.
  • Developing and delivering student teacher training.
  • Writing and delivering awareness workshops for schools.