Agenda item

VR talked the Forum through the objectives of the Diverse Communities Forum which are in the NBC constitution and how the Forum can move forward and add new items to the action plan.

Forum members said current issues are burglaries and hate crime.

IC saying we could try and engage more with the Bangladeshi community to try and give people role models/more integrated.

IC: Everybody is feeling very threatened by the recent spike in burglaries, people have come to the point where they will not even order any products online so not attention is raised at their address.

VR: There will be a meeting tonight regarding this and how the Asian communities can be supported with this issue. There will be ideas generated after the meeting to see how the people can be supported.

IC: It is the members of the household who are scared such as the women and their children.

CB: There are meetings taking place with the MBA to try and combat this recent spike. The meeting tonight should hopefully generate some answers.

PC: Window alarms are useful.

IC: The neighbourhood watch might not be working as well as it could. Language is often a barrier to some people, in some communities you will have to speak in their language and not in English for the point to be explained properly.

IC: People are worried to the point where the male will not go to the mosque as they feel like they need to stay home.

VR: What could we do about hate crime? A matter that all forum members found a priority.

The forum talked about the recent “Punish a Muslim” letter that has been circulating.

ST: What do we do about the recent hate crime letter against Muslims? You want to safeguard and protect people but also not raise awareness of the letter and not promote the letter.

VR: Pearls of peace at the market square from 10am-2pm on 3^rd April.

CB: The community do know about the letter and there has been advice passed around the communities. If the letter has been received in Northampton, the Police would need to know.

IC: What should we do if people do find out about this? Is there any national guidance about what to do?

VR looked online for any guidance – information says to contact local police force.

CB: Reassurance messages have been sent out from us with local points of contact.

KH: NIFF – trying to get respect and understanding at the head of the agenda. Problem with links to the community and getting out and talking to more and more people. Looking to promote the belief that we are one human race. Looking to get into schools and get more youth involved.

VR: We are looking at contacting more schools yearly. We recently delivered a child sexual exploitation workshop aimed at young children. It was a success with over 500 children there. We could add to this as in the following years with important subjects from forums such as this forum. One of the topics could absolutely be race and religion and so on.

There seems to be a change within schools and their interest in these kind activities.

IC: We have a stand for NIFF on the 31^st March to talk to Bengali youth. It took around 6 months to set this up so it is difficult but it is worth doing and to help them understand interfaith.

VR: It could be worth looking at youth clubs too and not just schools.

PC: We often have visits from students and they come to learn about the Sikh religion but other things can be intertwined so they learn other things such as equality etc.

VR: This could be added to the action plan, to see what groups are out there, see what groups are working with what communities and see how we can all link together. Where people could help with services such as interpretation etc.

ACTION: JW to produce a mind map of the communities. All information to be sent to JWells@northampton.gov.uk.

IC: It will be interesting to see if people will accept the NIFF representatives to come in and talk about what they are looking to achieve.

BG: NIFF do faith walks, these are often on a Sunday and the NIFF representatives visit various places of worship.

ST: In the current financial climate it may be more beneficial for groups to work together so they do not feel like they are competing with each other.

JG: Dementia is something that effects all communities, it is often harder to find support especially if you are from a different community. It would be good if there was a specific place where you could find out what there is available.

VR: This is something we could explore, we could look to pull together and gather information.

ACTION: JW to find out what other organisations have worked to do this. A welcome to Northampton pack with information on and to see what people would find useful.

JW: When people move here and sign up for their council tax, it could be something they are provided with then.

Add to Action Plan: PC: We are moving and we are having a parade type event with a float for the celebration of the move. If there are any other organisations who would like to join/support that would be great.

VR: We should look at these cultural events as a celebration and a way to promote equality and diversity.

Add to Action Plan: Carnival is on the 9^th June.