news article
If you wish to see other news items use the pagination at the foot of the page to navigate.
| New recruits boost service for older BME people |
|
Two bilingual recruits have been appointed to work on a ground-breaking equal opportunities project to help older people from black and ethnic minority (BME) communities in Scotland to access benefits and services. The Older People Services Development Project, created through a partnership between Bield, Trust and Hanover (Scotland) Housing Associations, has appointed Neeru Bhatnagar and Anthony Li Chu, as Older People Services Co-ordinators. Neeru Bhatnagar, who has significant experience of working with ethnic minority communities, speaks Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu while Anthony Li Chu who speaks Cantonese and Mandarin has extensive contacts in Scotland’s Chinese community. The new appointments follow the project’s success in securing a £220,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund to fund a three-year programme which will help at least 650 older BME people and their families to overcome obstacles to accessing pensions, benefits and services. Rohini Sharma-Joshi, the head of the Equal Opportunities Programme for the three housing associations said: “Our new recruits will improve the lives of older BME people in a highly practical way by helping them to understand their entitlements and giving them the confidence and support they need to access them. Lottery funding has been vital in allowing this critical work to go ahead.” The Older People Services Development Project was established in response to research which identified many barriers from language and literacy issues to lack of staff trained to understand different cultural needs – all of which prevent older BME people from receiving benefits and services to which they are entitled. The project will entail a mix of grassroots work among ethnic minority communities as well as work with statutory and voluntary bodies throughout Scotland who are involved in delivering services to older people. It will include special seminars and events and open surgeries and also the creation of a Good Practice Guide for service providers and an accessible information guide for service users. The project will also involve encouraging older BME people to participate in the development of future policy related to service provision in Scotland. About the jointly-funded Equal Opportunities Programme: Bield and Trust, Hanover (Scotland) Housing Associations set up a joint Equal Opportunities Programme seven years ago. The Edinburgh-based team, is headed by Housing Equal Opportunities Manager Rohini Sharma Joshi. They have won numerous awards for pioneering work to encourage and promote increased participation of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities in the housing sector. It has also made wider contributions to integrate BME people through the creation of multi-lingual aids to overcome language barriers such as the launch of a ‘Happy to Translate’ logo which is used by organisations including the police and the National Health Service. For more information on the Equal Opportunities Programme visit the Equality Scotland web site www.equalityscotland.com or contact Rohini Sharma Joshi, Housing Equal Opportunities Manager, Tel: 0131 444 4950 Email RSharma@trustha.org.uk |
| Fri, Feb 29, 2008 - 9:09 AM |
| << back to news list |
