The REACH Black role model programme is the first of its kind and has been setup with the involvement of the community to find inspirational Black men who will be champions for the next generation.

REACH are looking for at least 20 inspirational Black men to become national role models. They will challenge negative stereotypes, providing a positive image of Black men. They will directly engage with groups of Black boys and young Black men to encourage and motivate them to do well.

Could you be a Black male role

model?

Black boys and young men face serious challenges in every sector of society. They are less likely to do well at school, more likely to be unemployed and much more likely to become involved in the criminal justice system than their peers and The REACH Black Role model programme is there to address just that.

There are, of course, many examples of Black boys and young men who excel at school, university and in all areas of life. But these often succeed despite, rather than because of the system.

So the challenge is on, are you up for it, do you know someone who would fit the bill?

Could you be a positive example to Black boys and young Black men?
• Does your personal journey inspire others?
• Are you willing to change negative stereotypes and share your story to motivate the next generation?

If so, you could be part of the first-ever national role model programme for Black boys and young Black men. This is a unique opportunity to act as a positive role model on the national stage and to make a real difference to future generations.

REACH is a major Government programme to raise the aspirations and achievements of young Black men. As part of this pioneering approach, we are looking for black male role models with the ability, the energy and commitment to inspire and motivate.

We aim to appoint around 20 inspirational men as national Black male role models. If you are chosen, we will expect you to support REACH events and to share your life story and experiences in a programme of national and local media and other events for at least 12 months.

Ozwald Boateng OBE is a leading tailor and designer, who has spent more than 20 years at the forefront of British fashion. He is on the REACH recruitment panel

"There is a real need to inspire young Black men and I think that can only be achieved by demonstrating Black men from different professions doing well, achieving great things in sciences or the arts or whatever it my be: I think that is going to be a powerful thing for the youth to see.

"I would encourage as many of you Black men as possible to apply."

Be part of the REACH Black role model programme and

help young black boys and men have a bright future. 

Visit http://www.direct.gov.uk/reach 

For the first time, children as young as 5 have been shown to understand issues regarding integration and separation.  The research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), confirms that the ethnic composition of primary schools has a direct impact on children’s attitudes towards those in other ethnic groups and on their ability to get on with their peers.

The research was a year long longitudinal study with three sets of interviews approximately 6 monthly intervals at 20 schools in Sussex and Kent.  Teachers also participated by completing questionnaires. In all, 398 children took part in the study, 218 of these children were from ethnic minorities of whom the majority were of Indian origin. The ethnic minority composition of the schools ranged between 2% and 63%.

Highlighting the challenges faced by immigrant children, the study also showed that those attending schools characterised by higher ethnic diversity experienced fewer peer problems and less prejudice than those attending schools that are more homogeneous.
 
Researchers from the Universities of Sussex and Kent interviewed children from ethnic minority groups about their attitudes towards themselves, their heritage, culture and their relationships with their peers.

The interviews revealed that the vast majority of children from immigrant backgrounds wanted to keep their ethnic identity including their language and religious customs but, at the same time, they were keen to adopt as many of the practices and values of the host society as possible. This preference, known as an integrationist orientation, was already clear in children as young as five years old but was even more marked in the older age groups (8 – 11 years).

The research showed that having this integrationist attitude helped children both emotionally and socially: At the start of the study, the researchers found that minority children, particularly 1st generation immigrants, generally had lower self-esteem and were less well accepted by their peers than their white English classmates. But, when interviewed 6 and 12 months later, children with an integrationist orientation showed significant improvements in both these measures.

On the other hand, the researchers also found some evidence suggesting that constantly balancing the demands of their heritage culture with those of the host society took its toll. Professor Rupert Brown, who led the study, said: “Teachers observations revealed that children with an integrationist outlook, particularly those who were 1st generation immigrants, were more likely to be ‘teary’ and show other symptoms of social anxiety than children who were solely focused on their own heritage. These children also reported more incidences of racial discrimination”.

These adverse effects were less common in immigrant children attending schools with a relatively high level of ethnic diversity than in those attending schools with a lower proportion of pupils from ethnic minorities. Indeed, according to Professor Brown, schools characterised by high ethnic diversity had clear social benefits for children regardless of their ethnic background:

“We found that, when the proportion of ethnic minority children in a school is at least 20%, both ethnic minority children and majority children tended to have higher self esteem, children had more friendships with children from other ethnic groups, and there were fewer problems with peer relationships such as bullying”.

Professor Brown concludes: “Our findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the more contact children have with other ethnic groups, the more cross-group friendships they will have and the less prejudiced they will be”. This argues against policies leading to reductions in school diversity such as the promotion of single faith schools.

Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, has launched a new taskforce to help more black, Asian and minority ethnic women to become councillors, and so make councils more representative of the community.

The taskforce will be chaired by Baroness Uddin, the first Muslim woman in the House of Lords and a prominent figure in the black and Asian community. Members will include councillors from across Britain, from all ethnicities and political parties.

Only around 168 out of 20,000 councillors are black, Asian or minority ethnic women. This is less than one per cent, despite the fact they make up more than 5% of the population. To be fully representative this needs to increase more than five fold to around 1000 minority ethnic women councillors. At the current rate of increase this could take more than 130 years.

The taskforce will take practical action to address this under-representation, such as provide mentoring, hold outreach events in community centres to make the role of councillors more widely known and better understood, working with organisations such as the Local Government Association, Operation Black Vote and the Fawcett Society to develop awareness training, establish networking groups, conduct research, work with local councils, political parties and organisations like IdeA to improve the recruitment, training and selection and support given to candidates as well as working with others producing guidance and advice.

Harriet Harman said:
“Empowering black, Asian and minority ethnic women in public life is a key priority for Government. They are a force for good within their communities, and in building bridges between communities. Their contribution must be better recognised and supported.

”And we need our local councils to better reflect the local community.

“It’s not just about people’s right to be a councillor, it’s about making local government better, making decision making better, more understanding of communities that services are being provided for. You have better informed decision making if you have all members of the community represented. 

“But it’s important not just to have Black and Asian councillors, but also to support them, because it’s more difficult if you are a pioneer, in a minority. So we have to recognise it’s not just about getting them in, but to make sure that our Black and Asian women councillors have the proper support and we recognise their role as pioneers in taking this forward.”

Baroness Uddin, Chair of the new Councillors Taskforce, said:
"I'm delighted to have been asked to chair this new taskforce, local government is an important route to strengthening and shaping all our lives. I hope in the coming year ahead we will be able to work with women across all the communities by encouraging and inspiring their participation. Our ambition is simple in that we wish to see an increased numbers of women councillors, and I am glad to have the full backing of the government in order to achieve this ambition".

Simon Woolley, Executive Advisor to the Taskforce and Director of OBV, said:
“There is no shortage of talented black and minority ethnic women who, given half a chance, would make excellent councillors and MPs. The challenge, therefore, is to break down barriers whilst encouraging these talented women to come forward. OBV is pleased to be part of this exciting initiative.”

The taskforce will last 12 months, with an option to review and take account of some of the recommendations of the independent Councillors Commission (published last December). The taskforce will identify action to increase awareness and build confidence and skills; reach out into communities to encourage women to step forward to become local councillors; identify and tackle barriers within political parties; and reduce disadvantage and stereotyping from within and outside the communities.

The Government Equalities Office has worked closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government on the work of the Councillors Commission, which looked at the incentives and barriers to standing as councillors, and included increasing the representation of black, Asian and minority ethnic women, as well as other under represented groups – women, men from BAME communities, and people of working age.

Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, will be responding to the Councillors’ Commission report in the summer. She said: "Democracy at its best should be a reflection of the people it serves and the proportion of councillors from ethnic minority backgrounds represents only half the number of BME people in this country. It is vitally important that British citizens of whatever background feel that they are represented in democracy and I welcome the work that this taskforce will do to ensure that everyone can have the opportunity to contribute to politics and have their voices heard." 

Ms Harman announced in July last year that empowering Black, Asian and minority ethnic women was one of the Minister for Women’s priorities.  The other two are: supporting families, particularly as they bring up children and care for older and disabled relatives; and tackling violence against women and improving the way we deal with women who commit crimes.

The NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Programme today welcomed the first national survey of deaths from sickle cell and thalassaemia: The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) report ‘A Sickle Crisis?’

Programme Director of the NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Programme Allison Streetly, comments:

“As one of the most commonly inherited genetic disorders in the UK it is encouraging that sickle cell is now taken seriously enough to warrant this kind of analysis.  The report clearly highlights some of the worrying shortfalls in care that have long concerned professionals in this area.

“The evidence of avoidable deaths highlighted by this report clearly indicates a failing in the knowledge of clinicians and the availability of specialist care services.  Equally damning was the finding that despite the fact that sickle cell is known to be highly prevalent in London it is still one of the most common reasons for admissions and has the highest rate of multiple admissions for any disease.

“Now that newborn screening is identifying around 300 babies every year with sickle cell the Programme is working to develop quality care throughout England. We strongly believe that an ethical antenatal screening programme should offer genuine choice to parents. If parents choose to have a child with sickle cell or thalassaemia, they should be able to count on quality care wherever they live in England. 

This remains a particular challenge because knowledge and expertise has traditionally been concentrated in urban areas. For this reason, we are particularly focusing on improving training for a range of health professionals and also working closely with commissioners to make sure that the necessary funding is in place.”

New research released today shows that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities have higher levels of social entrepreneurship than the White community. It also finds that while women are only half as likely as men to be mainstream entrepreneurs, they are equally as or more likely than men to be social entrepreneurs.

The Delta Economics findings, based on a five-year survey of social entrepreneurship in the UK, were released today at a BAME conference in London hosted by the Social Enterprise Coalition. 

Social entrepreneurship is entrepreneurship aimed to achieve a social or environmental purpose through profit-making ventures. Social enterprises are businesses set up to achieve those objectives.

The survey found that twice as many Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic respondents were engaged in some form of start-up social entrepreneurial activity compared to White respondents. 

Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector, said: “What is obvious from this interesting research is that social enterprise is a concept that resonates across all communities. Innovation and hard work are at the heart of social enterprise, and the Government is grateful for the contribution of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities to this exciting new movement.”

The survey also found that when it comes to social entrepreneurship, women are as likely as men to be social entrepreneurs. This contrasts significantly with mainstream business where men are twice as likely to be entrepreneurs. 

Dr. Rebecca Harding, Managing Director of Delta Economics, who led the survey said: “Under-represented groups in enterprise, such as women and BAME communities, are more likely to be social entrepreneurs and be innovative in tackling the needs they see in front of them on a daily basis.”

Jonathan Bland, Chief Executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition, said: “This data shows the reach of social enterprise to a wide range of communities and reaffirms its potential as a business model essential not only for positive social change, but for the UK’s economy.”