Local and National Press Highlights - Winter 2020

COVID19 Update: The Leicester Winter Grant Scheme

The Leicester Covid Winter Grant Scheme, which is being administered and jointly funded by Leicester City Council, will see an additional £1.4m used to support low income families with children and individuals who are most in need to meet the cost of food, energy and utility bills and other essential expenses. The money is being made available to support children and households in the city who are experiencing poverty as a result of the ongoing coronavirus measures and where alternative sources of assistance may be unavailable. The scheme will run from December 1, 2020, until March 31, 2021. Any Leicester resident can refer themselves, or someone they know

Click Here To Refer Yourself Or Someone You Know By Email

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De Montfort University Supports Campaign To Tackle Racial Inequality In UK Higher Education

UUK has published a new set of recommendations which are the product of an advisory group convened after the Equality and Human Rights Commission last year uncovered widespread evidence of racial harassment on university campuses. The UUK advisory group was informed by experts in the field and carried out in-depth consultation with panels of exclusively Black, Asian and minority ethnic students and staff with lived experience of racial harassment. DMU is backing the recommendations and the university’s own Decolonising DMU programme is featured in a set of case studies UUK has used to illustrate how to begin to bring about necessary change.

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Racial Pedagogy At DMU

Arun Kundnani gave a talk at Goldsmiths College’s Department of Media, Communication, and Cultural Studies at De Montfort University on December 11, 2020. His talk was about the history of anti-racist training and the various forms it has taken, and degrees of political impact it has had over the decades. He looks at how anti-racist training has developed and changed in response to the changing state of race relations around the world. This talk has been made available to read in full as an article and we at TREC wanted to include it here.

 To Read The Talk In Full Please Click Here

 

Teaching To Transform - The Stephen Lawrence Research Centre

Well ahead of its public launch in May 2019, The Stephen Lawrence Research Centre (SLRC) began engaging with schools and local educators with a view to influence anti-racist, social justice oriented pedagogic practice in Leicester. This ambitious programme takes up elements of the unfinished agenda of the Macpherson Report’s recommendation to combat the “failure of the National Curriculum to adequately reflect the needs of a diverse, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society (Macpherson, 1999).” Early last year they partnered with a number of local schools and educators on a variety of inreach and outreach initiatives to support and enhance current teaching practices and to encourage positive conversations around race, inclusion and social justice to take place in the classroom.

 For More Information Please Click Here

 Or For More About The Stephen Lawrence Research Centre's Work Please Click Here

I Didn't Become A Teacher To Ban Independent Thought

Camille London-Miyo is one of TREC's executive members, and has served on our management board. She is also an experienced Black educator and has written an article for The Independed in response to the latest pushback against the latest DffE guidance for PSHE programmes and the development of a truly anti-racist and inclusive national curriculum.

 To Read Her Article In Full Please Click here

National News 

National Curriculum ‘Systematically Omits' Black British History

The Black Curriculum report, by Dr Jason Arday of Durham University has found that the national curriculum in England “systematically omits the contribution of black British history in favour of a dominant white, Eurocentric curriculum” which fails to reflect the UK’s multi-ethnic society. The report is part of a growing campaign in education to get black British history embedded in the national curriculum and taught in schools in England year round, rather than just during Black History Month.

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A Third Of UK Children Do Not See Themselves Reflected In Books, Finds Survey

A third of children in the UK do not see themselves in the books they read, according to a survey of almost 60,000 children and young people by the National Literacy Trust. The responses from 58,346 children and young people aged nine to 18 were gathered between January and mid-March, in what the NLT is calling the first large-scale exploration of diversity in children’s books that focuses on children’s own experiences. The research found that 33% of children did not see themselves in what they read, with the proportion increasing to 40% of children from ethnic minority backgrounds, and to 46% of children from black ethnic backgrounds.

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EHRC Finds Conservatives' Hostile Environment Policies Breached Equalities Law

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has released a report looking into how the Home Office complied with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) when developing and implementing the “hostile environment” policy agenda. It found that the Home Office failed to comply with equality law when implementing “hostile environment” immigration measures, contributing to serious injustices faced by the Windrush generation.

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Equality Diversity And Inclusion Calendar 2020/2021

London South Bank University have released a Calendar for the listing key dates throughout the rest of the year and into 2021 for cultural events, and for events of significance to the ongoing push for equality, diversity, and inclusion. It provides useful information not just for LSBU but also nationally for upcoming dates of importance.

 To See The Calendar In Full Please Click Here

 

Young Black Males In London '19 Times More Likely To Be Stopped And Searched'

Young black males in London were 19 times more likely to be stopped and searched than the general population, a study of official data shows. The tactic, dogged by claims of racial profiling, was concentrated in deprived areas, and the success rate for searches turning up something potentially unlawful had fallen from two years ago, the research by University College London’s institute for global city policing found. Researchers examined official stop and search data in the capital from July to September, when 67,997 people and vehicles were stopped by officers.

 For More Information Please Click Here

 

Over 95% Of Ethnic Minorities Have Been Affected By Racism, Shows Study

As part of a special programme to mark six months since the killing of George Floyd, Channel 5 News have conducted a survey into everyday racism. Joining forces with race equality charity Race on The Agenda (ROTA), the results reveal that an overwhelming majority of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic people in Britain (95%) have faced some form of racism or racial prejudice. More than 500 people from ethnic minority backgrounds were asked about their experiences of racism in everyday life during a four-week period in October and November. Areas included education and workplace discrimination, as well as their experiences of accessing the NHS, finances, and public services.

 For More Information Please Click Here

The Race Equality Centre