A regional conference in Southampton proved a great success in bringing more than 70 women learners and volunteers face to face with senior politicians and representatives of statutory organisations including the NHS, Police and Education service.

The Tackling Race Inequality Fund (TRIF) was established by the government in 2009 to support third sector organisations working with and in Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups and communities. The WEA was successful in getting funding for a national project and in Southern Region we decided to focus the work on marginalised women in Reading, Slough and Southampton, where we have a lot of ESOL (English language) provision and could build on established work in these areas.

We identified three key three themes:

How safe do you feel in your community?

Accessing the health service

Education – finding out information for yourself and your child; Going into school as a parent; how do schools work?

For each theme we developed activities and/or questionnaires that can be used in the ESOL classes. The women were then able to use a variety of digital recordings techniques to ensure their voices and opinions were captured and heard, both at the regional conference and by a wider audience.

Learners created presentations which were show cased at the event and during the workshops produced ‘Report Cards’ for each of the three themes. Participants were able to ask detailed and challenging questions both of the Secretary of State for Communities and members of the ‘Question Time’ panel. At the end of the conference participants made pledges stating ways in which they intend to get more involved in the community and influence change. Summary feedback about each of the three themes was:

Health

The experience is very varied and different women from the same communities report different experiences, some good, some less so. Communication between patient and doctors/nurse/health visitors etc is not always good; this is not always linked to language but often to cultural expectations. Staff may be patronising and do not always explain the nature of the treatment and what to expect. The expense of travelling to and attending large regional General Hospitals was a major issue for some.

Overall the service is good but there is plenty of room for improvement. Participants felt there should be more training for all front line staff including doctors, nurses, midwives and health visitors.

Education

Finance is often a major barrier to accessing education. Providing evidence of eligibility for support is often difficult, and where this evidence is available women often need their husbands to provide this. Many women need childcare support if they are to progress with their learning and this is increasingly expensive or not available. Front line staff in some colleges are not always welcoming and courses are often too short to make meaningful progress. Women from some communities report difficulties in communicating with schools and believe that expectations about their children are influenced by cultural expectations.

Overall learning provision for adults is good but very limited. Also advice regarding what course you should do is not always accurate and courses should have a job focus. Participants would also like the schools to make sure that their children succeed academically.

Community Safety

Again the experience is varied. Some women and their families report that they often experience a lack of sympathy and trust. Stop and search was reported as a major issue that affected their understanding. Police do not always explain fully why some things are not followed up or why particular actions were taken. Women in some Moslem communities felt that their communities and their young people were unfairly targeted.

Overall the police need to make more effort to know the BME community and speak to them, especially women.