A PROJECT to help charities and voluntary groups in ethnically diverse communities build more resilience and longevity has reached a crucial stage as it plots a way forward beyond its initial three-year funding.
The Ethnically Diverse Communities Project in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is being run by a partnership led by Community Action Network (CAN) with Dorset Race Equality Council, Dorset Community Foundation and BCP Council using a £500,000 grant over three years from The National Lottery Community Fund (NCLF).
Launched in April 2024, the project has worked with more than 50 groups from ethnic communities including Afro-Caribbean, Eastern European, Middle Eastern and African across the area, many of which were previously unknown outside those communities.
Using NLF funding, the community foundation has awarded almost £90,000 in 35 grants to 32 different groups from the EDC Project Fund for Strength and Sustainability. The grants have been used for training, IT, equipment and community consultation. In addition, CAN has helped them with governance and safeguarding training to help place them on a firmer footing.
“One of the big achievements, which is very big for the groups, has been to help these organisations put in place their constitutions, policies and everything they need to function sustainably,” said EDC Project Manager Mayu Rouco‑Santos.
As well as helping to help groups build stronger foundations, the project has also helped them open bank accounts. “A lot of these groups were rejected from a lot of the banks and we have had a struggle to get them accepted because ever since Covid, they have been more strict with restrictions and the criteria groups needed,” said Mayu.
“But our two Capacity Building Officers, Catia Leite and Tama Merdaci, have worked really hard, contacted different banks and tried different options and now most of our groups have their own account. They are much more independent now and they can apply for more money from larger funders. That’s where we have been very successful, it’s about building capacity and strength.”
They are the ones helping to make the decisions of what the project is about and where we are going, and for me that is one of the biggest objectives that we have achieved so far
Now the project is preparing to bid for further NLF funding but it will be the groups themselves who help shape how the funding could be used. “Within our first year we set up a partnership board that includes representatives from six different ethnically diverse communities,” said Mayu.
“They are the ones helping to make the decisions of what the project is about and where we are going, and for me that is one of the biggest objectives that we have achieved so far.”
She, Catia and Tama have been surveying groups to find out what they want next. “We want to know what it is we are doing right and what they want to continue or change, and what they would want differently for phase two,” said Mayu.
She said the power and decision making is being given to groups within communities because they understand best what they need and how to achieve it. “One of the highlights of the project is discovering the number of services being provided by these groups, the key activities they deliver and what they bring to their communities,” said Mayu.
“Wise Advice For Life in Christchurch is providing specialised support for Portuguese speaking families with neuro-divergent children. They offer a space for parents to help them navigate having a neuro-divergent child with a second language. It’s very niche but it shows how rich and broad the skills and knowledge are and the variety of what the communities are doing.”
The project has also brought groups together at networking events to help them build contacts, share experiences and skills and give them the sense they are not alone, said Mayu.
“The project has been challenging but it is very rewarding to be in the room and see all these people being so enthusiastic about the project with a lot of things to say and a lot of things to be grateful for,” she said. “They love coming together and sharing, it is like a celebration.”
