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 Community engagement and empowerment projects

"ETHNOS recruited and consulted with
representatives from a full spectrum of equality groups – black and minority ethnic communities, refugees and asylum seekers, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, older people, young people, disabled people, women, Travellers and Gypsies, and faith communities. ETHNOS interviewed 54 equality group experts – far beyond the 20 they were contractually obligated to do. […] The consultation process ETHNOS designed for our EQIA is justly regarded as “best practice”. I have no hesitation in recommending ETHNOS.”

Tony Hirsch
Housing Policy Manager
Greater London Authority

The London Borough of Newham commissioned ETHNOS to identify the reasons why people either engage or not with the opportunities opening up by the Olympics in Newham.

The qualitative research combined 23 focus groups and 12 family interviews with a carefully selected sample of Newham’s diverse population. These included Muslims from India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Somalia and Nigeria.

The study explored what Newham residents think about living in Newham and their perceptions of the expected legacy of the Olympics, in relation to such issues as the economy, housing, health, the environment, community cohesion, and arts and culture. It also explored people’s awareness and perceptions of various initiatives set up by the Council to help local residents access opportunities, and the additional support required to enable them to access opportunities.

Full research report

GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY

Equality Impact Assessment on the London Housing Strategy

Housing in London is a critical issue. The London Housing Board tasked the Greater London Authority with carrying out an Equality Impact Assessment on the draft London Housing Strategy – the document which sets out the future of housing for the whole of London for the next decade. Because of the importance of housing and of the number of people it affects, it was crucial to get things right. So the GLA commissioned ETHNOS to find out about the anticipated impact of the Strategy on the following target equality groups: people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, Gypsies and Travellers, asylum seekers and refugees, people from different faith groups, disabled people, women, children and young people, older people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people.

We combined a tailor-made EQIA questionnaire and focus groups with experts on both housing and the specific communities targeted, and engaged traditionally excluded social groups
in critical decision-making.

Full research report

TRANSPORT FOR LONDON

Guidelines on community engagement to reduce injury inequalities

As part of a wide prigramme of work to reduce road traffic injury inequalities, Transport for London commissioned ETHNOS to produce "best practice" guidelines to support road safety practitioners in their attempts to engage local communities in the promotion of safer road practices.

LONDON BOROUGH OF WALTHAM FOREST

Young people and disengagement: Young people in the Sikh community

As part of its local Community Cohesion Strategy (2008-2011), the London Borough of Waltham Forest is seeking to promote community cohesion and to tackle extremism within all its local communities. They commissioned ETHNOS to:

• identify whether young Sikhs perceive their borough to be cohesive and what are the drivers for their perceptions
• determine whether low perceived cohesion could lead to support for extremist ideologies
• identify key organisations to leverage to access the local Sikh community
• recommend strategies to addresses any grievances identified

ETHNOS carried out a rapid review on Sikhism and the Sikh community in Britain, interviews with key statutory, community and faith stakeholders in Waltham Forest, six focus groups with young Sikh and other residents in Waltham Forest, and observations at community events and in local Sikh organisations. Based on this evidence, put forward a number of recommendations to build the council’s capacity to engage with young Sikhs, via both religious and secular (community and statutory) organisations.

GOVERNMENT EQUALITIES OFFICE

Increasing the representation of ethnic minority women in local councils

ETHNOS conducted focus groups with women councillors from different Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, as well as different political parties (Conservative, Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat) to provide detailed perspectives on the experiences of current ethnic minority women councillors, with a view to providing targeted and tailored support to encourage more ethnic minority women to become local councillors. As a result, the Government Equalities Office launched a cross-party Taskforce to consider practical ways to: increase awareness through outreach activities; build confidence and skills; encourage more ethnic minority women to step forward to become local councillors; improve the culture of political parties; and reduce disadvantage and stereotyping from within and outside the Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. The Taskforce brings together a range of partners: Local Government Association, local authorities, I&DEA, Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trade Union Congress, Fawcett Society, Operation Black Vote, Electoral Reform Society and the Women's National Commission.

GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY

Community consultation on the London Housing Advice Strategy

The GLA wished to produce a Housing Advice Strategy to ensure that timely, high-quality housing advice and assistance would be accessible to all people in housing need and to help them resolve their housing problems well before the situation reaches crisis point and people become homeless. The GLA asked ETHNOS to consult minority ethnic voluntary and community organisations on their views of the draft London Housing
Advice Strategy. The final report informed the GLA’s London Housing Advice Strategy and ensured that it covered issues of relevance to ethnic minority households who are in housing needs, homeless or at risk of homelessness.

GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY

Consultation with "hard-to-reach" children on the Mayor's Children's Strategy

The Mayor of London produced a Children’s Strategy to promote the best interests of the capital’s children and to give them a voice on the issues of relevance to them. ETHNOS was tasked with consulting “hard-to-reach” children - refugee and asylum-seeking children, homeless children and children at risk of offending.

We carried out the research with children and young people aged between 10 and 17 years. Our first task was to transfer the draft Strategy into something that was meaningful for children, to which they could relate and on which they could comment. The children were asked to discuss, in their own words and in relation to their own experiences, issues related to the nine strategic areas identified in the Draft Children’s Strategy. They also completed a simple and fun questionnaire covering the main issues addressed in the Strategy.

NHS SICKLE CELL AND THALASSAEMIA SCREENING PROGRAMME

Designing community outreach interventions

The NHS Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia (SC&T) Screening Programme wanted to develop outreach programmes to ensure that the population at greatest risk of SC&T would have sufficient awareness of the Screening Programme and knowledge of the conditions to make informed decisions in relation to screening and various treatment and management options. They commissioned ETHNOS to: recommend partner organisations and advise on their capacity and possible areas for joint working; suggest types of intervention and resources needed to support them; and propose an evaluation framework that will help to identify underpinning principles and learning points to inform the longer term delivery of public health education.

DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Barriers to service use: Black and ethnic minority parents and children's services

It is widely recognised that parental involvement in children's education is a key success factor. Yet there are many barriers that make it difficult for parents from minority backgrounds to engage meaningfully and positively with schools. ETHNOS and GHK were commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to provide policy-makers and practitioners with evidence about the types of barriers that exist (or
are perceived to exist) for black and minority ethnic parents in accessing children's and parental services, and the actions which can be taken to overcome these barriers. This involved a literature review, expert focus groups and an in-depth exploration of ten case studies on examples of good practice.

Full research report

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Evaluation of the REACH National Role Model Programme

REACH is a project, led jointly by the Black community and Government, designed to raise the aspirations and achievements of Black boys and young Black men against a background of educational under-achievement, low employment and over-representation in the Criminal Justice System. REACH was designed by a team of 25 experts drawn from a variety of fields, including the voluntary and community sector, education, local authorities, academia and law enforcement. These experts recommended, among other initiatives, the introduction of a structured national role model programme for Black boys and young Black men, to offset negative media portrayals of Black boys and young Black men and help drive up aspirations and achievements. This was the first type this type of community engagement project was conducted on a national scale.

ETHNOS was commissioned by Communities and Local Government to evaluate the REACH National Role Model Programme.

A very comprehensive evaluation protocol was devised to ensure that the perspectives of all stakeholders would be taken into account and that there would be robust evidence on short-term and long-term impact. The evaluation found that - despite shortcomings in relation to programme leadership and management - role modelling as a form of community engagement works. Most REACH role modelling events had a strong, positive and often lasting impact on Black boys and young Black men, especially in relation to:

• self-esteem, self-confidence, self-efficacy
• positive identity as Black boys and young Black men, and ability to challenge stereotypes of Black men
• appreciation of the need to treat oneself and others with respect
• appreciation of the value of knowledge/education/hard work
• appreciation of the need for parental engagement (among fathers)
• broadening of career options envisaged by and deemed possible for Black men
• desire to act as role models and to contribute to the Black community
• ability to enact the specific success strategies promoted by the role models
• willingness to seek advice and support
• some commitment to promote REACH among family, friends and relevant parties
• commitment to reject crime (among prisoners)