Accord Equality & Fairness Annual Report 2018
We have recognised that customer engagement has not always been fully representative
of the diverse customer base and the needs of those customers. As a result of
consultation, we have developed a new approach to engagement in both our Communities
and Care & Support Directorates which is supported by our revised Community
Engagement Strategy.
The Youth Engagement Space
As part of The Home Office’s Building a Stronger Britain Together programme, our Youth
Engagement Space team (YES) holds weekly sessions for 15-24 year olds to come together
to examine and celebrate shared values in a diverse community, engaging with a wide
range of cultures and identities. The aim of these YES events is to address the absence of
youth provision and the escalation in gang culture, drug dealing, extremism, and mental
health.
30 young people across Birmingham and signed up 10 Ambassadors who are
volunteering to create events celebrating the Commonwealth Games.
Nazarana and Gharana
We have done specific work with our Northampton schemes using Planning for Real
tools to transcend language barriers and are also looking to enhance our sheltered
offer for Asian Elders following the acquisition of schemes from Paragon Asra.
To support the work we have been doing on loneliness, each Summer Accord works with
the National Citizens Service on The Challenge. An element of some of these events is the
young volunteers meeting older people - so there is often an inter-generational element
to the events. Other events with the NCS see us putting on events with care leavers, young
mothers and so on.
Every Wednesday the group chooses a challenging, contemporary topic to discuss. Recent
discussions focussed on the New Zealand Attacks and how young people, many of whom
were from a Muslim faith, felt about it.
This is an excellent initiative, helping and supporting young adults to build more resilient
communities, to be able to stand up to extremism in all its forms and offer vulnerable
individuals a positive alternative, regardless of race, faith, sexuality, age, and gender.
Neighbourhood Mapping
Working within confined geographical areas on Neighbourhood Network Schemes such as
Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath, we have put on a number of networking events that were
all really well attended by professionals and lots of people from the local communities
and tenants.
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We have seen some excellent results from this new approach including:
CAP (Community Ambassador Programme) that has already engaged with
Customer Engagement
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