Current and Forthcoming Projects |
<<Back |
Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Elders’ Secretariat
The BME Elders’ Secretariat is a new and exciting 3 year national initiative funded by the Big Lottery Fund. The project began in April 2006. It builds on PRIAE’s considerable work in the past from its regional investment project and before then, engagement with BME elder work in all of its health and community enterprise efforts, reminding itself of BME elders', central wish: ‘we have had too much discussion, we need action now’ (PRIAE Royal Commission Report 1999).
The need for the project arose from:
- BME elders and organisations suffer from poor information and knowledge that could help them access benefits and services
- Mainstream services and national organisations do not sufficiently engage BME elders and so they remain outside the sphere of influence in services where design, development and delivery of health, social care and housing are appropriate
- Lack of cultural sensitive approaches and community focus
- Lack of connection between national policy, regional and local policy and implementation
The Secretariat will act as an important source to increase BME elders’ voice on key issues that affect them through supporting them with clear information and tools. This will help them to influence and connect better with policy and practice at national, regional and local levels and their implementation. The project will develop an information link between BME elders and policy-makers. Thereby help increase the level of visibility, voice, choice and decisionmaking from BME elders as citizens.
The Secretariat will also be a national resource for agencies, organisations and practitioners working in the field of ageing and ethnicity by improving communication and co-ordination of key policy issues through national age and race organisations’ policy and information arm.
The Secretariat will address key issues such as health, social care, housing, income and pensions, community cohesion, citizenship, rights and quality of life. It is for and by BME elders and we aim to set up with them processes that help make the Secretariat fulfill its title.
For more information on the BME Elders’ Secretariat, please contact
Project Manager: sunjeeda.hanif@priae.org
Project Assitant: ian.smith@priae.org |
