If you’re a Black and Minority Ethnic led community (BME) organisation, your services are for people from Black and ethnic minority communities and your serious about then join the BME -led community organisations circle, every fortnight for 90 minutes where you can achieve more than you ever thought you could.

This is the second session in our 4 part series . In this session we reveal how why it is so important for BME- led community groups or networks to hold public authorities to account on race equality issues and covers what you must know to successfully do this.

This session will help you understand

• What the importance of the Equality Act 2010 and how it effects BME communities

• Find out why the Public Sector Equality Duty is the the most important tool you can ever have to challenge Public Authorities on their performance on race equality .

• Assess how well Southwark Council are doing with publishing race equality and diversity information.

• Tips on how BME community sector organisations can work together to hold public authorities to account on common race equality issues.

Background:

Why has the circle been set up?

• Response to Community Southwark members from the BME - led community sector requesting more focused learning sessions which are based on their lived experience of having to operate in an environment where structural inequalities across the charity, public and local authority sector has hampered their development.

• There is growing evidence that BME community led organisations has suffered decades of being underfunded, disproportionate funding cuts for the BME community Sector over the past two decades.

Benefits of the Circle programme:

• Build your skills, knowledge and confidence on how to run your organisation

• Increase and widen your network and partnership opportunities

• Improve your organisation’s ability to attract funding

• Be clearer on why your organisation exists and what difference you are making

• Gain knowledge of how you can help to shift power dynamics which exist in the charity sector and within public and local authority systems and processes to change how the BME community sector is funded.