A story from East London Rita Chadha Chief Executive Officer Wednesday 23 rd March 2011

East of where…? The land of Eastenders, The land of ethnic minorities, The land of the EDL (English Defence League) London boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Waltham Forest and also as of this week Essex

Our Work Front line specialist legal advice (with in house legal team including an asylum and immigration solicitor) Second tier capacity building work (running BAME networks in both Barking & Dagenham and Redbridge) Public Consciousness and awareness raising

The Challenges – the three Ps Rapidly changing Political context Rapidly changing Policy context Poor Practice We refuse to see funding as a challenge its only a temporary obstacle on our route to achieving what we believe in

Political context 2010 election BNP – has not gone away in outer East London State multiculturalism Census 2011, end of the Place Survey Interculturalism – the bigger threat is no longer black on white racism

Policy Context The usual cut and thrust of debates around asylum, migration, caps, quotas, community cohesion, integration…multiculturalism Limited understanding which allows local authorities to use derogatory language P**I, ‘local jobs for local people’, allows staff to be ignorant and discourteous And it is only going to get worse as we weaken the statutory duties under the EIA

Poor Practice No X factor just a ‘woe is me factor’ Weakened leadership, founders syndrome, lack of credible, reliable authorative voices Integration is understood in isolation, how can we expect the people we work with to integrate when we don’t integrate as agencies, we need to look beyond our own backyard

The RAMFEL Response Summed up in our blog RAMFEL Speaks Out Characterised by - humour - insight - challenging approach - innovation

A selection from RAMFEL Speaks Out - So they fund horses do they? - The Dark European that walks like an Egyptian - Big Society…Big Misunderstanding - RAMFEL Predictions The wheel is turning but the hamster is dead

Thank You for listening For further information: RAMFEL Suite 22, Cardinal Heenan Centre 326 High Road Ilford, Essex, IG1 1QP Tel: