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• TREC/Encompass Training Programme:
Click here to see a breakdown of information on our training programme
10% discount on selected Training Programmes
- ILM Level 4 Award in Managing Equality and Diversity in an Organisation
- ILM Level 4 Award or Certificate in Management
- Managing Advocacy Campaigns to Encourage Organisational Change
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• Hate Crime Survey
• Report from the Institute of Race Relations: First they came for the Asylum Seeker
• Director of Liberty keynote speaker at Human Rights and Equality Event in Derby
• Refugee Service
• Racial Minority Voluntary Community Sector (RMVCS)
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VIEW 2010/2011 annual report
[Click here]
We also provide volunteering opportunities where individuals can, to the benefit of all parties, join with the staff of the TREC in the pursuit of their mission in Leicester & Leicestershire
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The Race Equality Centre in Leicester & Leicestershire
Address: 3rd Floor, Epic House, Lower Hill Street, Leicester, LE13SH
Tel: 0116 2999800
Fax: 0116 2999801
Online Contact Form

On Sunday 30th January 2011, representatives of nearly 40 community groups and voluntary sector organisations met for an extra-ordinary meeting of Leicester’s Racial Minority VCS Assembly† The meeting was held to draw attention to the impact that the national Comprehensive Spending Review is already beginning to have on Leicester’s racially disadvantaged communities and to highlight the possible dangers of making those impacts worse through the public budget decisions that are being made by the City Council.
Members of the Assembly steering group had prepared a position statement which was discussed and agreed in full by the members present. The statement reads:
We, The Assembly of Leicester’s Racial Minority Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations, know that:
Since the early 1960s the Racial Minority communities of Leicester have struggled to make themselves heard when vital strategic and developmental decisions are made.
The impact of the efforts of Racial Minority community organisations in providing services to our communities and giving strength to Leicester’s whole community has rarely been acknowledged.
Policies and practice must now change to reflect the emerging requirements of the City.
In recognition of changing realities that changes in demographics highlight, and consistent with our struggles for fairness and equality in the manner in which resources are expended in this city, we call on our City’s civic leaders to take note that we have created this Assembly to articulate the concerns and needs of organisations that exist for, and are run by, Leicester’s Racial Minority Communities. In doing so, we re-iterate our dissatisfaction with the mechanisms of engagement and participation that have existed previously.
Our Assembly, which is run with the principles of complementariness, accountability and openness at its core, draw our Council’s attention to our position as the appropriate voice for Racial Minority Community Organisations in the city. In this way we juxtapose with previous arrangements that have provided solutions that have not worked for Leicester’s Racial Minority communities.
Our Assembly is ready and able to support the Public Authorities that allocate resources and services in accordance with the needs that continue to exist in our communities and in a manner that enable the equitable empowerment of Racial Minority communities and organisations.
The time for change is now. Our Assembly deserves the recognition and proportion of funding allocation that it represents in the City of Leicester. The next (and subsequent) budgets must reflect this allocation of resources and signal the start of the new and equitable society that Leicester can be, where all communities are equal and community organisations are not detrimentally differentiated by the colour of skin or ethnicity of their members nor by the size of their organisation.
A subsequent meeting of the Racial Minority Assembly took place on Sunday 13th February and was attended by Cllrs Osman and Dawood of the Leicester City Council Cabinet. The Councillors formally invited the Assembly to become involved in developing medium and long-term strategies for the benefit of the Voluntary and Community Sector and the communities that are represented by the Assembly. Cllr Dawood, as the Cabinet Lead for Cohesion and the Voluntary Sector agreed to work with the Assembly to establish structured arrangements through which this engagement can be delivered. They particularly endorsed the proposal for developing engagement with cabinet leads for Adult Social Care services and Children and Young People’s Services.
A series of action points have been agreed by the two meetings. These are intended to develop the mechanisms for engagement with Leicester’s racial minority community groups that has been missing in the past. The full action plans will be made available in future e-bulletins; however, one key action is that the Assembly will continue to meet regularly and members of the City Council cabinet will be present as often as their duties allow.
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† The Racial Minority Voluntary and Community Sector Assembly was developed to provide for real and meaningful representation of Racial Minority community organisations. We seek to make sure that representation is not tokenistic and makes a real contribution to decisions on public policy priorities.
Set up initially to elect and empower racial minority representatives on the One Leicester Partnership (our local strategic partnership), the Assembly also provides a means for consultation and engagement with Leicester and Leicestershire’s racial minority communities for the whole public sector.