For what reason £361,250 was provided to West of Scotland Regional Equality Council (WSREC) between 2017-18 and 2020-21 as part of the Prom…

Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communities(a) Good Community RelationsThe Good Community Relations Project (GCRP) was funded to enable to WSREC to continue to undertake work to; reduce barriers to discrimination by offering advice and information to European and other migrant communities; increase awareness of hate crime legislation and support victims of hate crime in the West of Scotland; and balance representation of minority ethnic groups in Renfrewshire in all aspects of life including education, employment, social and civic integration.Using a combination of awareness raising at a wider level, tailored group support and indepth one to one empowering WSREC would continue to ensure its activities worked towards the advance of equal opportunities and building resilient communities by offering person/group centred activities to diverse minority ethnic communities.The specific outcomes to be achieved were:European and other migrant communities in the West of Scotland have increased their opportunities by challenging negative service and social issues reducing discrimination and isolation.Minority ethnic communities in the West of Scotland are of aware of and challenging hate crime and discriminatory practice.Minority Ethnic Communities in Renfrewshire are visible, integrated and represented in the fabric of society(b) Living Equality project.The Living Equality project was funded to support WSREC to address inequalities and support people and communities to engage and participate with both services and civic society. Work would be undertaken across the West of Scotland, focusing in Glasgow and other local areas, to support; increasing equal opportunities for diverse minority ethnic women, introducing them to mainstream services, civic life and engage in inter-cultural dialogue; creating a platform for dialogue, skills development and raise awareness of the democratic process; establishing a collective voice from disadvantaged communities with additional barriers of falling under multiple characteristics; and supporting public, voluntary and community organisations gain insight and access to women ready to participate in civic life.The specific outcomes to be achieved were:Diverse minority ethnic women across all 'protected characteristics' in the West of Scotland have increased opportunities to access democratic processes and civic life.Diverse minority ethnic women across all ‘protected characteristics’ in the West of Scotland have increased confidence in being part of civic and democratic processes.Through mainstreaming equalities; Public, Voluntary and Community Organisations across urban and rural areas improve opportunities for minority ethnic women to contribute to civic life.The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf