Afiya Awards

Afiya Awards 2011

_ Inaugural Awards Ceremony Brochure Thursday 31st March 2011 London’s Living Room City Hall London

WELCOME “The Afiya Awards shine a spotlight on the achievements and important contribution made within health and social care by BME staff, carers and service users. These awards highlight the wealth of BME talent that oftentimes goes unnoticed or unrecognised. It is apt that we should hold the inaugural launch of these awards during these challenging times of severe public sector cuts and apathy about race equality.

The Afiya Awards also have an important role in providing a platform for the work we, and others, do in advocating for a reduction in health inequalities for all racialised groups and showcasing what is possible when there is the drive and passion to do so.”

Sola Afuape Chair of Trustees The Afiya Trust

“The Afiya Awards 2011 are a timely opportunity to recognise the valuable contribution made by individuals and organisations working to improve the health and wellbeing of BME communities. I am delighted to support this inaugural event.”

Paul Burstow MP Minister of State for Care Services

“It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the first Afiya Awards 2011. We are celebrating BME talent in health and social care and honouring those professionals who are committed to improving the health and social care outcomes for BME communities. These awards highlight the real heroes of the ‘big society’ who are often unsung or unrecognised, but have given the most value, and shown professionalism and dedication to their local communities. We at The Afiya Trust are proud to launch these awards and envisage them finding a permanent place in the recognition of BME talent and excellence within the health and social care arena.”

Patrick Vernon CEO The Afiya Trust

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CONTENTS 4

Still making a difference

5

About The Afiya Trust

6 Judges 8 Performers 9 Presenters 11 Programme 12 Nominees 23 Acknowledgements

The Afiya Awards aims to act as a catalyst to encourage the next generation of BME leaders in health and social care. They also recognise the achievements of academics, clinicians, social care staff, the voluntary and community sector, and service users and carers who have played an important part in the creation and development of the NHS and social care over the past 60 years.

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Feature

Still making a difference

they played a key role in tackling social exclusion, and in the face of significant obstacles, achieved impressive results.

white counterparts. This trend appears to be reflected in nursing. Less is known about the experiences of BME staff from other occupational groups and in non-clinical posts within the NHS. This absence of information is also mirrored in the Voluntary and Community Sector and public sector generally.

The BME presence and contribution to public service has a long history.

Crimean War nurse Mary Seacole, dubbed the Greatest Black Briton, ‘made her mark on British history as a woman who refused to let racial prejudice prevent her from becoming a nursing pioneer’, says Patrick Vernon, Afiya’s Chief Executive and founder of The 100 Great Black Britons campaign.

Today, according to the Black Training and Enterprise Group, over 40 percent of the BME workforce is based in the public sector. More than 190,000 staff from BME backgrounds work in the NHS. There are leadership programmes targeting BME staff to break through the glass ceiling, an acknowledgement of the existing inequalities. The NHS BME Network, launched in 2009, plays an important role in holding the NHS to account on race equality.

‘As such she is an inspiration to all of us…After a century of obscurity, her light shines once more. Her efforts to bring comfort to the dying and wounded soldiers in the Crimea are her lasting legacy,’ he adds.

BME voluntary and community groups have raised the profile of the persistent health inequalities facing BME communities such as sickle cell and thalassemia, leading to more effective screening and service development.

Then there are the health challenges to counter. Recent figures show that 89 percent of those on the waiting list for an organ transplant in the UK need a kidney transplant. One in four of those waiting for a kidney are Black or Asian.

BME communities, as part of the British Empire, served in both World Wars and migrated to Britain with essential skills and experiences. It was not long after the creation of the NHS in 1948 when Enoch Powell, Minster of Health, travelled to the Caribbean and India to recruit nurses and doctors to work in the NHS.

Their lobbying and campaigning has led to the creation of translation and bilingual advocacy services. The development of BME staff networks in the NHS, local authorities and trade unions, and campaigns highlighting the disproportionate mental issues affecting African and Caribbean communities, as well as their hidden roles as carers, are all down to this legacy, commitment and drive.

Bearing in mind what Mary Seacole faced back in the 1800s, and the legacy she has left behind, there is still a lot to celebrate, as highlighted by the Afiya Awards 2011.

But there is also still a lot to fight for.

For example, during late 1950s and 1960s, medical staff from the Indian subcontinent were recruited. They were targeted as the British had established medical schools in the Indian subcontinent which conformed to the British standards of medical training.

During this period, services for BME communities were thin on the ground.

Informal groups and networks in people’s homes and church halls grew backed by a strong volunteering and community mindset. This led to the development of the BME Voluntary and Community Sector with infrastructures, wider funding options and an ability to reach more people in need. Often led by BME women, in the 1980s and 1990s,

Decades on, Asian families are still facing major barriers to appropriate social care services. The barriers remain the same, particularly the lack of relevant and accessible information about available services. With an aging population, this has become more critical.

Sharron Wallace courtesy of the Race Equality Foundation

Mary Seacole

The introduction of the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000) and its public duty to promote race equality was an essential development in the wake of the Macpherson Report into the death of Stephen Lawrence and its charge of unwitting institutional racism.

Yet BME professionals are still facing unequal treatment. A study by University of Bradford’s Centre for Inclusion and Diversity in 2010 shows that BME doctors are more likely to be referred to the General Medical Council and to be on long-term suspension than their 1950s NHS nurses

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The Afiya Trust

Promoting equality in the big society The Afiya Trust campaigns, conducts research, develops good practice and works in partnership to reduce the inequalities BME communities experience in health and social care.

Our policy document, ‘Achieving Equality in Health and Social Care: A Framework for Action’, is one part of our strategic action plan and work programme for Andrew Lansley, Eric Pickles and their respective teams at the Department of Health and Department of Communities and Local Government.

This framework for action is based on a detailed peer review and consultation process that attracted 500 responses from service users, practitioners and carers on the inequalities in health and social care for racialised communities in England.

Research in the area of health and social care shows that Britain’s ethnic minority communities experience poorer health and access to health and social care when compared to the general population.

A particular area of concern is the prevalence of strokes among African Caribbean and South Asian men which is 70% higher than the national average. Also South Asian and Black women above the age of 65 have a higher incidence of cervical cancer.

There is also the longstanding concern at the rates of detention under the Mental Health Act, which are higher than average for Black Caribbean, Black African, Other Black, Mixed, Other White and Pakistani groups.

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Our recommendations set milestones to eradicate racial inequalities in health, linked to performance targets for primary care trusts, GPs, local authorities and mental health trusts. We are also disseminating our consultation findings in relation to the NHS white paper, the Public Health white paper and the new mental health strategy.

Our vision is that in partnership with the coalition government, we can eradicate the continuing existence of racial inequalities and its impact on people’s health and wellbeing, and we can empower and resource local communities to define and effect change.

To download a copy of Achieving Equality in Health and Social Care: A Framework for Action, visit www.afiya-trust.org or call 0207 582 0400.

Pictures clockwise: Recent coverage in The Voice on the mental health strategy; young people speak on mental wellbeing; Paul Burstow and Patrick Vernon at a BME carers event.

The Afiya Trust is a national second-tier, BME-led organisation that works to reduce inequalities in health and social care provision for people from racialised communities.

We support and maintain national and local networks concerned with the promotion of BME health and social care issues such as the National BME Mental Health Network, the National Black Carers and Carers Workers Network as well as projects on long term conditions such as stroke, diabetes and cancer. We liaise and work with central government departments and policymakers, and service user and carer involvement is at the heart of all our work.

The key recommendations from Achieving Equality in Health and Social Care include: •

Establishing a race and health advisory board to report directly to the Secretary of State for Health and the Chief Medical Officer.

•

Enabling BME service user and carer leadership in the evaluation of health and social care services.

•

Recognising and respecting the cultural heritage, identity and belief systems of communities.

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Judges

The judging process

In February 2011 at a secret location in Westminster, the six Afiya Awards 2011 judges worked hard on shortlisting from the nominations. Find out about the judges through a pictorial snapshot of them hard at work.

The Afiya Awards 2011 judges with all the nominations they will go through. Picture credit: Sharron Wallace

Sola Afuape is Chair of The Afiya Trust.

Sola has over 15 years experience leading on a range of projects at national, regional and local level within the NHS, specialising in project management, talent management, leadership development and equalities. She was most recently Head of Transformation at Whipps Cross University Hospital and was also the Department of Health Lead for London for the Pacesetter Project.

Professor Helen Hally is National Director of Race for Health, a post she has held since its inception in 2005.

Sponsored by the Department of Health, Race for Health is an NHS based programme. She has been a director in several NHS organisations, including Lewisham and Guy’s Mental Health Trust, The State Hospitals Board for Scotland and Haringey Teaching PCT.

Patrick Vernon is The Afiya Trust’s Chief Executive. Patrick has worked as a senior civil servant at the Department of Health and Local Government Association, was Director of the Brent Health Action Zone (Brent Primary Care Trust), and was Regional Director for Mind. He is a Trustee for Social Action for Health and has been a Hackney Councillor in the Queensbridge Ward since 2006.

Shazia Butt is a Commissioning Manager at Hertfordshire Adult Care Services.

She is Interim Chair of the National Black Carers and Carers Workers Network and has developed a number of tools (including multilingual DVDs) to enhance BME carers’ support. One of the tools, known as ‘10 Key Words’, is featured in the current coalition government’s Strategy for Carers.

Joan Saddler OBE has been National Director for Patient and Public Affairs at the Department of Health since 2008.

Joan’s role focuses on the inclusion, involvement and engagement of all people in the commissioning and delivery of health and social care services. Joan is a member of the Equality and Diversity Council and the General Medical Council UK Revalidation Programme Board.

Odi Oquosa is the Independent Chair of Afiya’s National BME Mental Health Service User Network (Catch-A-Fiya). A service user consultant, advocate and peer support specialist, Odi was Chair of the Brighton & Hove Patient and Public Involvement Forum and Vice Chair for Sussex County from 2006-2008. He is also a co-founder of a service user-led service provider Synergy Creative Community.

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Could it happen in Britain?

News, analysis and opinion from a black perspective www.voice-online.co.uk Race for Health Advert A5:Layout 1 16/03/2011 11:20 Page 1

www.raceforhealth.org

Join the Race for Health Network to tackle health inequalities Race for Health invites applications to join the Race for Health Network from organisations and individuals who are committed to improving health equality for all.

The Network offers access to information, networking opportunities, shared learning opportunities, advice and support on all aspects of the equality agenda in health and social care. It also provides an influential, informed and respected voice on matters of equality and health and social care.

Joining the Network is free of charge. You will have access to experienced and ‘kite marked’ consultants, our Thinking Partners, at preferential rates. Preferential rates also apply to bespoke learning, development and diagnostic pieces of work that can be designed to meet your particular needs.

Joining could not be easier – just send your contact details to enquiries@raceforhealth.org and we will give you Network membership.

Get in touch and help all of us to help each other.

Professor Helen Hally National Director, Race for Health helen.hally@liverpool.nhs.uk www.raceforhealth.org

Performers

Ciyo was taught to play the guitar, aged nine, by his father. Despite a successful career as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, specialising in housing law, he has performed in theatrical, studio recordings and live performances alongside a parade of internationally acclaimed artists. They include Caron Wheeler (of Soul II Soul fame), Ruby Turner, Annie Lennox, YolanDa Brown, Soca Queen Alison Hinds, Jazz Warriors, Talvin Singh, the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, Sly and Robbie, Freddie McGregor and current sensation Adele. At the Afiya Awards, Ciyo will be performing with Michelle Thompson.

Michelle Thompson is a singer/songwriter from North London, with a unique voice that encompasses jazz, blues, soul and Latin vibes. In 1994 she linked up with (Jungle) Drum & Bass connoisseurs such as Lenny de Ice, Cool Hand Flex (de Underground Records) and Reel II Reel. Teaming up with DJ Wacko, she featured on the album Hoods in the City with the single entitled Passion. This led to the release of Melody Madness (In Touch records) and The Change EP, distributed by Jetstar. Michelle has worked with Lovers Rock Queen Carroll Thompson on an album for Nippon Columbia, Japan, where she formed part of a trio named Blue Sapphire. Michelle is in the process of writing her debut album which will fuse Latin, soul and jazz.

Dhruti Dattani, aged 25, is based in North West London and currently works in Marketing. She has been dancing for nearly 20 years under the training of Gauri Sharma Tripathi, and is currently a part of the co-operative group ANKH Dance (A New Kathak Horizon). Her training has taken place at Encee Arts, which is based in Wembley. Her journey of dance has allowed her to express emotions and creativity through her mind, body and spirit. She continues her dance journey with ANKH Dance where they share a vision to portray the traditional dance form in the modern day.

Falguni Upadhyaya, aged 23, is training under the renowned Kathak phenomenon Gauri Sharma Tripathi and has been learning the classical dance form for 15 years at Encee Arts in Wembley, London.

Working full time with children with special needs, Falguni is also a part of a rising and first of its kind co-operative Kathak dance group – ANKH (A New Kathak Horizon), with a vision to juxtapose traditional elements of Kathak into a modern scaffold. With its roots founded in Northern India, Falguni has been able to reflect upon the traditions of Kathak and add her contemporary spirit to the dance form.

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Presenters

Leadership masterclass

Awards compere

Awards presenters

Lord Victor Adebowale CBE is Chief Executive of Turning Point, a leading health and social care organisation which provides services for people with complex needs, including those affected by drug and alcohol misuse, mental health problems and those with a learning disability.

Nikki Bedi is a television and radio broadcaster. She is currently presenting To Buy or Not to Buy, a daytime property show, on BBC1, and also presents The Saturday Late Show on BBC London 94.9FM. Born to an Indian father and an English mother, Nikki is the former host of Channel 4’s Bombay Chat and worked on BBC2’s Desi DNA.

Michael Parker MBE is Chairman of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. He served as a non-executive director and Vice Chair of Guy’s and St. Thomas’s NHS Trust before being appointed as Chair of King’s in 2002.

Michael is the President of the Sickle Cell Society and Treasurer of the Mary Seacole Memorial Statute Appeal.

Yvonne Coghill OBE is currently the National Programme Lead for the NHS Breaking Through programme, designed to empower and enable BAME staff in the NHS to reach the most senior positions.

She secured her first management post in 1986 becoming a team leader for Health Visitors, School Nurses and Community Paediatric Nurses.

Jennette Arnold OBE is the Labour Assembly Member for North East London. Jennette is also a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority and has been involved in overseeing the investigations into the Jean Charles de Menezes shooting, and most recently questioning police actions at the G20 summit.

Mercy Jeyasingham MBE is Vice Chair of The Afiya Trust. A management consultant, trainer and interim manager, she has held senior posts in both the voluntary and public sector including Director of Registration for the General Social Care Council (interim) and Head of Care Standards for Hammersmith and Fulham Social Services Department.

Rt Hon Keith Vaz MBE is Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Originally trained as a solicitor, he has held many government posts including Minister of State for Europe, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Attorney General and Solicitor General.

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Presenters

Dr Robert Beckford is currently Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick. He has written on religion and popular culture and made documentary films for Channel 4 and the BBC. Robert is collaborating on a BBC Radio 3 drama (Jesus Hustler). His latest book is ‘Documentary as Exorcism’ (Continuum 2012).

Steve Pope, a Media Studies graduate from the University of Westminster, started his career as a reporter in the local press before moving to The Voice newspaper as Editor. He later left The Voice to found black book publishers The X Press with fellow journalist Dotun Adebayo.

He returned to The Voice in 2007 to once again take on the role of Editor.

Sailesh Ram is the Editor of Eastern Eye, the UK’s leading Asian newspaper, and has been in post since the Asian Media & Marketing Group (AMG) took over the paper in January 2009.

He is also a published novelist and continues to write creatively and has had material performed by the BBC.

Dr Mary Tilki is Chair of the Federation of Irish Societies. She has spent the past 15 years in higher education with responsibility for different social policy, health and social care programmes.

Mary has researched and published on cultural competence in health care, ethnic elders, inequality issues and the health of Irish people in Britain.

Carlene Firmin MBE is one of the youngest black women to be awarded an MBE. The newly-appointed Assistant Director of Policy and Research at Barnardo’s, with strategic responsibility for youth justice and child sexual exploitation, received the London Peace Award in 2008. She is the founder of the Girls Against Gangs (GAG) Project.

Sola Afuape is Chair of The Afiya Trust. A graduate in Physiology and Biochemistry from Kings College, London, she has over 15 years experience leading on a range of projects at national, regional and local level within the NHS. She was most recently Head of Transformation at Whipps Cross University Hospital.

Patrick Vernon is The Afiya Trust’s Chief Executive. Patrick has worked as a senior civil servant at the Department of Health and Local Government Association. He has been a Hackney Councillor in the Queensbridge Ward since 2006. He has also launched a campaign for Windrush Day to be an official public holiday.

John Bird MBE is the founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Big Issue. Born into poverty, and brought up in care, he is now an activist and publisher. He has pioneered business as a tool for social change and believes in offering a fresh approach and original perspectives on the interaction of business and society.

Eddie Nestor is the Sony Gold winning presenter of The Drivetime show on BBC London 94.9FM. As a cancer survivor, Eddie is passionate about connecting with and educating BME communities.

The Rum Shop, which Eddie presents on BBC London on Fridays from 10pm, tackles the BME myths regarding cancer, as well as blood and organ donation.

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Ceremony

Programme 4pm-5pm Arrivals . Registration . Refreshments 5pm-6pm Leadership Masterclass with Mercy Jeyasingham, Lord Victor Adebowale & Yvonne Coghill 6pm-6.30pm CanapĂŠs & Networking 6.30pm-6.40pm Entertainment Performance by Ciyo & Michelle Thompson 6.40pm-7.10pm Awards Ceremony 7.10pm-7.20pm Entertainment & Refreshments Performance by Dhruti Dattani & Falguni Upadhyaya 7.20pm-7.50pm Awards Ceremony 7.50pm-8.10pm Entertainment & CanapĂŠs Performance by Ciyo & Michelle Thompson 8.10pm-9pm Awards Ceremony 9pm-9.20pm Group Photographs 9.20pm Close Photography and filming will take place throughout the awards ceremony.

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Nominees

Health and Social Care Leadership Award In recognition of an individual working in the public, private and voluntary sector.

Halima Khan

Maggie Owolade

Philomena Francis

Yasmin Surti

Yvonne Coghill OBE

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Halima is the first Asian female to gain a rugby league level two coaching certificate.

She was recently appointed as Schools Officer for the Rugby Football League (RFL), based at their HQ in Leeds. Previously she worked for two years as a Community Sports Officer within Bradford City Council’s Sports and Leisure Department.

Halima has broken down many barriers as a Muslim woman from a traditional background. Acting as a role model to young people, particularly Asian people and girls, she aims to open up opportunities in sport to increase the health and wellbeing and participation of women, girls, BME people and disabled people.

With a background in social work, Maggie joined the Alzheimer’s Society in 2006 from the Parkinson’s Disease Society. As Area Manager for London, her knowledge and experience led the London Area to increase its dementia service provision capacity by over £1.5 million. Maggie manages her London team to deliver 174 information and support services to over 6000 people with dementia and their carers across the capital. Her personal passion to address the growing need for accessible services for BME communities is evident. With significant shifts in population patterns in London in future decades, ageing BME communities will form an increasing proportion of people with dementia.

Philomena became a Primary Mental Health Worker at Greenwich Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in 2004 with a remit for improving access for BME families. She undertook a pre-audit study of Greenwich, based on interviews with 30 Greenwich CAMHS clinicians and access to 78 potential referrers such as GPs, social workers and health visitors, to establish whether they felt the service was culturally inclusive. This work led Philomena to receive the runners-up award for Equality and Diversity at the Oxleas Foundation Trust Achievement Awards: Celebrating Excellence 2005. Following the award, Philomena helped set up the BME Steering Group, targeting access for BME families.

Yasmin works with people with learning disabilities within adult social care. She uses her understanding, commitment and connections to promote better lives for people within her local community. Yasmin started work at Leicester City Council in an administrative role supporting the Local Learning Disability Partnership Board.

Three years ago she was promoted to the role of Planning and Service Development Officer for learning disabilities. Within the last year Yasmin has been appointed as National Advisor on Ethnicity for the National Valuing People Now team at the Department of Health, a role she carries out alongside her work in Leicester City.

Yvonne is the National Lead for the NHS Breaking Through Initiative, which aims to identify, select and develop talented managers and clinicians from BME backgrounds, and support them to achieve director level positions. This scheme has been in existence for six years and was developed following the realisation that BME staff were poorly represented at the most senior levels of the NHS. The initiative has over 1000 alumni from nurses, doctors, pharmacists, finance professionals and general managers. It is the only scheme in the NHS which focuses specifically on being inclusive and fully diverse.

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Nominees

BME Health and Social Care Team Award In recognition of a team working in the public, private and voluntary sectors.

ASPIRE at SECAmb ASPIRE is the BME staff equality network for the South East Coast Ambulance NHS Trust (SECAmb).The network has succeeded in delivering improved health outcomes for BME patients, while also working to improve the recruitment, retention and career progression of BME staff in the NHS. This patient-centred perspective has been built on personal contact between BME staff and local BME communities. The ambulance service has historically employed very few BME staff, with current estimates of BME representation nationally being at around 1%. SECAmb has worked in partnership with individual BME staff from other ambulance trusts to provide a forum for learning, development and for change.

NHS Berkshire West BME Community Development Team This team has excelled in key areas including partnership working, training, community development and engagement, recruitment of staff from diverse backgrounds, conferences, hosting mental health workshops, producing resource booklets and supporting South Asian women’s groups. The team has developed good working relationships with key partners, stakeholders and the community as well as with allied health and social care professionals, services and teams to raise the profile of Delivering Racial Equality (DRE) and their own role. This has enabled them to gather information about gaps in service provision for BME communities and to implement programmes to build the cultural competence of services.

Solent Healthcare Community Development Workers Team The Community Development Workers Team has worked tirelessly to promote its aims by being innovative and working with BME community members, mental health colleagues, third sector providers and other stakeholders to achieve equality for people from BME backgrounds. A number of projects have been successfully implemented in the last three years by this small team including conducting a BME community survey, contributing to the Mental Health Act Equality Impact Assessment and the production of a cultural assessment toolkit for Adult Mental Health Services. They have been resilient and consistent in their approach to ensure that Portsmouth’s mental services provide a more cultural and sensitive service to BME service users and carers.

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Nominees

Service User Leadership Award A service user or patient who has excelled in addressing important issues around health and social care.

Premila Trivedi

Caroline Nelson

Clem Turner

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Premila has a longstanding history of advocating for racial justice for BME people with mental health problems. She has effectively used her experiences of mental health services to devise training programmes for mental health professionals to improve services. She is an excellent communicator, which is demonstrated in her numerous contributions to book chapters, journal articles and extensive poetry writings. Premila was one of the first service user trainers at the Maudsley Hospital and has worked tirelessly to ensure that BME issues are central to the training of staff. She was the key service user trainer involved in rolling out race equality training to mental health professionals in the NHS as part of the Delivering Race Equality programme.

Caroline is Director of Choice in Hackney, a user-led organisation which provides advocacy and Independent Living Services to disabled people not just in Hackney but across London. Choice directly supports disabled people from all communities to obtain the services they need to live independently with dignity and to make choices about their lifestyles. Caroline is skilled in and has over 16 years experience of project and people management, recruitment and retention, financial management, representation and marketing. Caroline is a Disability Rights Advocate and a Disability Equality Trainer (DET). Part of the training offered includes ‘customer care’ to taxi drivers which was funded by Transport for London. Caroline has a degree in ‘Government and Sociology. She’s a blind person and a mother of two.

Clem is an outstanding member of the African Caribbean community in Suffolk. Over the past six years he has worked tirelessly as an individual and as a member of numerous groups and forums to help raise awareness of, and address health issues affecting, people from all BME communities in the county. In his role as Chairman of Suffolk Local Involvement Network (LINk) and work for the LINk’s BME SubGroup, he works in partnership with statutory and non statutory organisations at a variety of levels while at the same time preserving his integrity and independence to be able to challenge decisions and lobby effectively for service change.

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Nominees

Carer Leadership Award A carer who has excelled in addressing important issues around health and social care.

Carol Nwosu

Ghzala Ahmed

Richard West

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Carol is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Sickle Cell and Young Stroke Survivors organisation. Carol’s son Daniel was born with sickle cell. Many people do not know about sickle cell let alone the increased risk of stroke that goes hand in hand with the condition. Unfortunately, children with sickle cell have a higher risk of having a stroke due to the clotting of sickle cell blood. Carol has very publicly highlighted these issues around sickle cell and stroke from the point of view of a mother and carer of Daniel. She has tirelessly campaigned to gain access to the right drugs and care for her son. His condition is by no means a minor one, and he has had many strokes in his short life. Carol has not once given up on spreading the message of sickle cell education, screening and research to help other families of children with sickle cell.

Ghzala is a carer of her daughter who has many physical needs. Beyond this role she is a Trustee at the Carers Centre in Coventry where she plays an active role in managing the centre. Ghzala has also been involved with the National BME Carers Panel since it was developed in 2008. As a representative of this panel she has played an active role and given presentations at major events. Over a year ago she successfully applied to work with Mencap/Arc on a short term funded project to identify family carers looking after people with learning disabilities from BME communities. She has excelled in this post, being able to convert her own experiences of caring into a professional remit. She has travelled across the country organising regional events and meeting family carers, the outcome of which is a charter which will be drawn up highlighting good practice.

Richard is deaf and has a learning disability. For many years he has worked to improve the experience of black people with learning disabilities at a local and national level.

He is currently Chair of the National Advisory Group on Learning Disability and Ethnicity (NAGLDE). Richard is also a carer for his partner who also has a learning disability. He soon realised that the role of having a learning disability and being a carer was not one that was widely recognised by support services. Using his network of people with learning disabilities, he explored the matter further and found many other people in a similar situation in two broad categories: people, like himself, living with partners independently, made easier by services’ increasing acknowledgment of independent living; and people still living at home with increasingly elderly parents where the relationship had changed from being cared for to being a carer.

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We want to hear about YOUR experience.

YOUR views are important to us.

The National Cancer Action Team has set up the National Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Cancer Patient Advisory Panel to:  Give cancer patients and carers from a BME background a voice and an opportunity to share their experiences  Provide the NHS with information to help and support and improve cancer services

You can speak to someone in YOUR own language, from YOUR own home about YOUR experiences. You will be contacted 3‐4 times and invited to take part in a survey.

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Join the panel today and tell us what you’ve experienced.

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Nominees

Academic Leadership Award For outstanding research which has added value to the health and social care needs of BME communities.

Dr Nundita Reetoo

Dr Qadir Bakhsh MBE

Dr Viniti Seabrooke

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Nundita has been promoting research and policy development in the field of race equality through research in Scotland. She is a senior public health researcher who has been involved in a number of research and community engagement activities aimed at promoting evidence-based approaches to effect policy change. Nundita is committed to using participatory and actions-based methods to engage with community-based organisations and public sector organisations to promote equality in service provision. She provides training and capacity building support to BME community organisations as well as conducts and supports research on race equality.

Qadir has advanced race equality, and promoted race and community relations and social justice over 40 years across the UK. He has managed this within a range of operational, strategic and governance positions. Qadir has worked as head of a race relations unit, a director of a race equality council and been a non-executive director of NHS health boards. His track record in improving social and public policy and practice to meet the diverse needs and aspirations of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities has attracted acclaimed. Over the years, Qadir has developed long-standing partnerships with both academic and higher education institutions - particularly the Universities of Warwick, Central Lancashire and Manchester - and community-based organisations.

Having obtained her doctorate from the medical faculty of the University of Aberdeen, Viniti undertook a variety of research roles. Following a career break, she has undertaken research and development roles in the field of BME interaction with social services and various health agencies. Viniti has established a sound reputation within the healthcare and voluntary sectors for her work. In addition, she has collaborated with academics and presented her work both through the medium of peer reviewed academic literature and via popular articles and broadcasts. Viniti has worked in mental health and dementia since 1997, and is now committed to ensuring that dementia services are responsive to the needs of individuals, including those from the BME communities.

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Nominees

BME-Led Organisation of the Year For a BME organisation which has delivered against the odds for their community

Newham African Caribbean Resource Centre 627 ­ 633 Barking Road London E13 9EZ http://www.prostate­awareness.co.uk

Association for Prostate Awareness The Association for Prostate Awareness (APA) is a voluntary association aimed primarily at bringing the dangers of prostate problems into focus for men in the community, and to support sufferers, their families and carers. APA is based in East London, a natural geographical home with its high percentage of ethnic minorities. The organisation has made great progress in addressing the cultural taboos around prostate health and encouraging African Caribbean men (who, in the UK, have approximately a three times greater risk of developing prostate cancer than white men) to speak about this issue.

Start Again Project The Start Again Project, based in Birmingham, works with young people aged 13-30 from hard to reach backgrounds who may be suffering from mental ill health. The project supports them with their personal, physical and social development. Start Again provides a football wellbeing coaching programme that aims to engage young beneficiaries through sport to help increase their resilience, fitness and health. The programme also helps to reduce their reliance on drugs and improves their self esteem and independence. The organisation runs informal one-to-one sessions with individuals in addition to mentoring and advice, leading to personal goal setting.

Chair: Renold Reid Tel: [M] 07885 168 571 Vice Chair: Sonia Harding 0208 529 7998 Secretary: Nigel Holligan

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BME Network Champion In recognition of a BME workers staff group or network, in the voluntary, statutory, private sector or part of a trade union/professional body that has successfully promoted the needs and aspirations of staff.

ASPIRE at SECAmb ASPIRE is the BME staff equality network for the South East Coast Ambulance NHS Trust (SECAmb).The network has succeeded in delivering improved health outcomes for BME patients, while also working to improve the recruitment, retention and career progression of BME staff in the NHS. This patient-centred perspective has been built on personal contact between BME staff and local BME communities. SECAmb has worked in partnership with individual BME staff from other ambulance trusts to provide a forum for learning, development and for change.

Yvonne Coghill OBE

Ruby Poppleton

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Yvonne is the National Lead for the NHS Breaking Through Initiative, which aims to identify, select and develop talented managers and clinicians from BME backgrounds, and support them to achieve director level positions. This scheme has been in existence for six years and was developed following the realisation that BME staff were poorly represented at the most senior levels of the NHS. The initiative has over 1000 alumni from nurses, doctors, pharmacists, finance professionals and general managers. It is the only scheme in the NHS which focuses specifically on being inclusive and fully diverse.

Ruby, a Health Improvement Specialist at NHS Stockton-on-Tees, is a consummate professional and a great supporter of the Stockton BME Network. Support from Ruby has been wide ranging, including supporting the primary care trust’s BME Health Trainer Workers, arranging healthy food preparation and cooking classes, hosting awareness sessions and discussions on obesity and type 2 diabetes and working with BME groups to identify health issues. Ruby has helped to turn the Stockton BME Network’s health programme from a ‘talking-shop and self-help’ support group, to a credible infrastructure organisation, reputable service deliverer and community research entity.

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Nominees

Fundraiser of the Year In recognition of an individual who has raised money through events and activities that have led to the advancement of health and social care issues for BME communities.

Beverley De-Gale

Ruby Poppleton

The African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) is a leading cancer charity dedicated to raising the awareness of the shortage of BME donors on the UK Bone Marrow, Blood and Organ registers. The ACLT was established in 1996 by Beverley De-Gale and Orin Lewis, the parents of former Leukaemia sufferer Daniel De-Gale, and recruits potential BME donors to come forward at ACLT registration drives and to be involved in the process of offering hope and a healthy future to someone whose disorder may otherwise prove fatal. Finding a Bone Marrow match is greater if the donor is from the same racial background. By 2010, The ACLT helped to register 32,000 potential bone marrow stem cell donors from black and mixed-raced communities. Over 14 years Beverley has been active in hosting fundraising events to ensure the ACLT’s future.

Ruby, a Health Improvement Specialist at NHS Stockton-on-Tees, is a consummate professional and a great supporter of the Stockton BME Network. Support from Ruby has been wide ranging, including supporting the primary care trust’s BME Health Trainer Workers, arranging healthy food preparation and cooking classes, hosting awareness sessions and discussions on obesity and type 2 diabetes and working with BME groups to identify health issues. Ruby has helped to turn the Stockton BME Network’s health programme from a ‘talking-shop and self-help’ support group, to a credible infrastructure organisation, reputable service deliverer and community research entity.

Future Generation Leader Award In recognition of an individual under 30 who already has a track record which points to a promising and successful future career in health and social care.

Halima Khan

Ashley Thomas

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Halima is the first Asian female to gain a rugby league level two coaching certificate.

She was recently appointed as Schools Officer for the Rugby Football League (RFL), based at their HQ in Leeds. Previously she worked for two years as a Community Sports Officer within Bradford City Council’s Sports and Leisure Department.

Halima has broken down many barriers as a Muslim woman from a traditional background. Acting as a role model to young people, particularly Asian people and girls, she aims to open up opportunities in sport to increase the health and wellbeing and participation of women, girls, BME people and disabled people.

Ashley was born in the Isle of Wight and is an Associate, Workplace Programmes, at Stonewall, the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) lobbying and support charity based in London. He works with NHS Trusts across the country to improve their understanding and practices around the LGB agenda. Ashley works with a client base of members in health and in the North West Region. A key part of his role is to engage members and inspire them to make progress on the LGB agenda, including attracting new members. Ashley is skilled in developing highly professional relations with his clients while advocating for LGB equality. He presents with a high degree of personal credibility and subject knowledge, combined with personal passion.

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Nominees

Against All Odds Award (Pride of Afiya) In recognition of an individual who either as result of a long term condition or disability has successfully maintained the quality of their life and has also given back to society.

Donna Akuffo

Richard West

Shamima Essat

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At the age of 18, Donna was diagnosed with Lupus, which ultimately resulted in kidney failure. Donna started dialysis in 1993 and received a transplant in 1998 which lasted ten years before failing in 2008. Donna is currently on dialysis and has also had two knee replacements. All these medical conditions have not stopped Donna from pursuing a degree in Health and Social Care at the Open University, or from gaining employment. Donna has used her own experiences to highlight gaps in services, advocate on behalf of those with similar conditions and speak on issues around BME health and social care. Donna is passionate about community work and advocating on behalf of those who do not necessarily have a ‘voice’. Donna has worked as reader for the Race Equality Foundation on its briefing papers.

Richard is deaf and has a learning disability. For many years he has worked to improve the experience of black people with learning disabilities at a local and national level, and is currently Chair of the National Advisory Group on Learning Disability and Ethnicity (NAGLDE). Richard is also a carer for his partner who also has a learning disability. He soon realised that the role of having a learning disability and being a carer was not one that was widely recognised by support services. Using his network of people with learning disabilities, he explored the matter further and found many other people in a similar situation in two broad categories: people, like himself, living with partners independently, made easier by services’ increasing acknowledgment of independent living; and people still living at home with increasingly elderly parents where the relationship had changed from being cared for to being a carer.

Shamima is a 23-year-old Muslim woman living in Highfields, Spinney Hill in Leicester.

Leicester is the 12th most deprived authority and Spinney Hill is one of the13 most deprived wards in the country. She has a learning disability and some complex health needs. Shamima attended her local secondary school, where she had the support of the special needs department, and studied a differentiated curriculum in the same classroom as her more able peers. She left school at 16 and began attending a local college where she was in a special group doing the Challenge Course.

After being at home for a long period of time Shamima was persuaded to attend Ansaar, a local community-based charity offering support and activities to adults with learning disabilities where she became a volunteer. This was followed by a job offer at Valuing People as a Support Assistant for three hours a week. As her skills and confidence developed she has progressed to 16 hours a week of paid work.

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Nominees

Celebrity Champion Award A celebrity or media personality who has successfully raised the profile of a health and/or social care issue which has a major impact on BME communities or who has championed a BME-led community organisation.

Lenny Henry

Nina Wadia

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Lenny’s three decades in show-business as an award winning comedian, documentary maker, communicator and founding member of Comic Relief have equipped him for more than just the stand-up comedy, acting, writing, and producing, for which he has become renowned. Throughout the years Lenny has been present at some of the most amazing events in history, two Mandela days as co-host, various Red Nose days, and performances for Amnesty International. Lenny has also travelled far and wide for Comic Relief’s fundraising purposes. His career has encompassed an epoch in British show-business history, where black performers, presenters, and programme makers have been, sadly, few and far between. Lenny has been a firm advocate for cultural diversity, both at the BBC and throughout the entertainment field. He sees mentoring, leadership, goal setting and teamwork as the central tenets to every aspect of his career and the things he cares about.

Nina is a household name. Her memorable roles in the award-winning BBC2 comedy Goodness Gracious Me alongside Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar, and now as Zainab Masood in EastEnders, are etched on the public consciousness. This Mumbai born, Hong Kong raised married mother of two somehow finds the time to support numerous charitable causes including the Pakistan Earthquake Appeal, Save the Children’s organ donation campaign and campaigning work with Barnardo’s. Her professional involvement in charity work has a personal link. Her father, who died from a stroke, was an orphan, and her mother died of renal failure. She is passionate about reaching the Asian community through a range of marketing tools and uses the ethnic media such as Eastern Eye and Zee TV to raise awareness of health and diet issues. She has just agreed to a film an introduction to the Healthtalkonline (HTO) project on organ donation. The organ donation website will focus on the views and experiences of living kidney donors, transplant recipients and donor families.

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Winners

Big Society Award The Big Society Award recognises the collective achievements of BME individuals and networks in making a difference, often in challenging and difficult circumstances, where mainstream services do not understand or appreciate our cultural, faith and belief systems that are now part and parcel of multicultural Britain. The award also validates the journey and experience of BME communities from the post war era - from migration to citizenship - as the real originators and innovators of the big society.

Lord Chan Lifetime Achievement Award The late Lord Chan had a number of high profile roles including Liverpool University’s Professor of Ethnic Health, long-serving lecturer and consultant at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and former Chair of The Afiya Trust. A dedicated defender of all minorities, he worked tirelessly towards championing equality of access for people from ethnic minorities. He was the first member of the Chinese community to become a Peer. The Lord Chan Lifetime Achievement Award is in recognition of an individual who has made a difference in one or more of the following categories: research, policy development, service delivery and campaigning.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks & Acknowledgements The Afiya Trust would like to acknowledge the generous support and contribution from: Jennette Arnold OBE InFactuation Productions Joy Francis (The Creative Collective Media Ltd) Sharron Wallace Design237.com Leicester Trophy Company Sylvana Campbell (GLA) National Cancer Action Team Department for Communities and Local Government Shazia Butt Professor Helen Hally Joan Saddler OBE Odi Oquosa Afiya’s Staff and Volunteers Patrick Vernon Denise Forde Meena Patel Soka Kapundu Homaira Khan Polly Falconer Showket Ali Samantha Watson Nita Devabhai Chris Reid Sahar Haddad Anica Parmar Angela Rweyemamu Henna Patel Nicole Forde Afiya’s Trustees Sola Afuape Mercy Jeyasingham MBE Mark Johnson Rampaul Chamba Faiza Rizvi Dawn Edge We’d also like to thank all of those who nominated an individual, team, group or organisation for the inaugural Afiya Awards 2011.

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WINDRUSH DAY: A PUBLIC HOLIDAY TO CELEBRATE MULTICULTURAL BRITAIN

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s we, in the UK, approach the Olympic Games in 2012, I believe that we need to have a public holiday to commemorate and celebrate the contributions of Black, Asian and other minority communities who have made a major contribution to Britain over the last 60 years. It would also remind us all that Britain has been and will always be a nation of migration and cultural diversity and we should embrace this in positive way.

We could choose the day when the MV Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in 1948, 22 June. as the public holiday. This is arguably the most powerful and iconic symbol of migration and the rise of modern day multicultural Britain. The Windrush is not simply about the 492 Caribbean men and women that arrived in Britain on that ship but everyone who came from the Empire who were British subjects and saw Britain as their Mother Country.

The seeds of modern migration were sown in the former colonies of the British Empire with countries from Africa, Caribbean, Mediterranean, South East Asia, and Oceania with over 2.5 million service men and women who, volunteered during World War II to fight fascism.

One of the obvious objections to such a Windrush Day might be that this would fall into the hands of the BNP and their sympathisers who are now joined by a growing number of ‘worried well’ concerned about multicultural Britain, in creating diversity and further alienating some members of the white working class.

A Windrush Day is important if we want a tolerant, respectful society especially if want to tackle all forms of political extremism and terrorism.

The Windrush Generation is now disappearing as many of these pioneers pass away, suffering from long term health conditions or languish in residential or nursing homes, although some have immigrated back to their countries of birth.

Many of those born between 1910-1940 may not be around at the next Windrush celebrations in 2018.The question we need to ask ourselves is why wait 10 years to celebrate this achievement.

We will regret as a country if we fail to take individual and collective responsibility for systematically documenting their history and contribution to Britain and beyond, as a legacy for young people of all ethnicities and nationalities.

The government and the public should undertake the following activities in time for the 2012 Olympics which were won for London on the strength of our cultural diversity.

1.

Promote the idea of a national public holiday based on the contribution of immigrants to Britain from the Windrush era onwards in the creation of multi cultural Britain.

2.

Develope a national oral history programme to fund community organisations, schools, to record and document the Windrush Generation and their contributions to Britain.

3.

Take immediate action to stop fascists and racists demonising and stereotyping the contribution that Black, Asian and minority ethnic people make to multicultural Britain.

Please sign the petition to show your support: http://www.gopetition.com/ petitions/charmed-life-campaign.html

Patrick Vernon Founder of Every Generation Media and creator of 100 Great Black Britons www.100greatblackbritons.com Producer and co Director A Charmed Life film about the life of war veteran Eddie Noble and the legacy of the Windrush Generation.

Further details http://charmedlifecampaign.wordpress.com/ documentary/ Further details contact Every Generation Media E: egeninfo@tgis.co.uk T: 0845 260 5565 or M: 07976 731 539

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