You are invited to attend the  

With Buffet Refreshments

at

SAVS Centre, 29-31 Alexandra Street

Southend-on-Sea Essex SS1 1BW

on

Tuesday 10^th June 2008  7pm-9pm

Guest Speaker:  Ms Alima Qureshi

Equality and Diversity Officer, SBC

(NB: RSVP to johnubsdell@southend.gov.uk)

Please note that an election to fill the two vacant committee posts on the SEMF Board and Management Committee will be held at this meeting. 

For further information, contact: Mr John Ubsdell, SEMF Secretary, Senior Curriculum Adviser, SBC, Civic Centre Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea Essex SS2 6ER by 30^th May 2008 or john.ubsdell@southend.gov.uk, at the same time as you confirm your place at the above meeting.

NB Only paid-up members will be able to vote at the meeting.  To renew your subscription for 2008-9 (if you have not already done so) please complete the accompanying form and send a cheque for your £2 subscription (made payable to ‘SEMF’) and an S.A.E to:

SPEECH BY AHMAD KHWAJA JP, CHAIR, SOUTHEND ETHNIC MINORITY FORUM

AT THE FIRST 2008 OPEN MEETING FOR MEMBERS ON 10^TH JUNE 2008

Ladies and Gentlemen – Good Evening! 

May I extend to you all a warm welcome to this, the first of our new style Open Meetings.  We have decided to hold these events every few months or so in order that we, your committee, can keep you, the members – and our supporters, partners and friends – regularly informed of the work and progress of the Forum. We know that you all wish to feel that you really are a valuable part of an organisation that is working towards addressing the many issues of the ethnic minority communities in our town. Therefore, we welcome your views and advice on our future direction of travel and would be pleased for you all to participate in our work and influence the policies we make and the decisions that we take. 

I would now like to share with you the news both of our past and current activities and hope that those members who may be new to our organisation will thereby have a better understanding of what we are trying to achieve: 

·         One of our areas of concern has been Health – for some time now we have been working with the local PCT in order to highlight medical conditions that are fairly common amongst members of ethnic minorities – such as diabetes, heart disease or HIV, so that health professionals can develop a greater awareness in these areas and with this section of the local population;  

·         Another area of work has been in the area of Domestic Violence where we have liaised with the local Police to produce awareness posters in different languages, arranged courses on DV for members of the EM community and are providing help and support to the local DV Forum; 

·         Education is another area where we have carried out visits to local primary and secondary schools in order to raise awareness of different cultures;  

·         Charity Work has been an important element of our activities and we have supported charities such as British Heart Foundation and Healing Hearts. 

·         The Forum has also provided free translation for local carers and other organisations    

Developing partnerships of the above kind with our stakeholders, partners and other agencies is a vital part of the way the Forum operates and this spirit of co-operation enables us to maintain a constructive and professionally informed outlook regarding the problems faced by our ethnic minorities and how best to resolve them. It also gives us the opportunity to ensure that the interests of ethnic minorities are effectively promoted at all levels and that the Ethnic Minority Forum voice is heard by the relevant agencies in our town. 

The recent events that we have organised have been a great success with large number of people attending each time – the more recent ones have been 

·         Milaap – a cultural event where different religions and cultures were on show to the local community; 

·         Interfaith discussions – where members of different religions and communities presented their views to the audience about their faiths and beliefs; 

·         We held a garden party last summer in order to raise funds for the charity “Strokebusters” 

·         An evening of instrumental music and Kathak Dance was organised a couple of months ago in order to provide an insight into the cultures and heritage of the Asian sub-continent; 

·         As recently as last Saturday, we held a Health Fair at SHSB where a number of doctors and consultants were present to give free advice on health issues. This was opened by Her Worshipful the Mayor, Cllr Mrs Gwen Horrigan and took the form of power point presentations on health issues such as heart and circulation disorders, diabetes, smoking, obesity and child health problems.

A light lunch was provided in conjunction with the South Essex Asian Women’s Association and Southend Mind. 

We are delighted this evening to welcome two guest speakers whose presentations will reflect some of the issues I have mentioned above. They are Ms Alima Qureshi, Equality and Diversity Adviser, Southend Borough Council and Mr Andrew Pike, Chief Executive, South Essex Primary Care NHS Trust.  You will have the opportunity to put questions to them after their talks.  Afterwards, we invite you to partake of the buffet supper provided. 

We are always open to new ideas and ways of working and are looking to you to give us a steer as to what further activities you would like us to provide and how best to organise them. If you have not already done so, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to join the Forum and help us in propagating the message of social cohesion, tolerance and friendship to all.  The annual membership is very reasonable and costs only £2. From time to time you will receive a newsletter giving details of our activities and any planned events. 

Finally, I would like to thank you all for your time and co-operation and I hope that you will find the evening both useful and enjoyable.