Northern Ireland Community Relations Council - About Us - News - Awards celebrate good race relations work

22 June 2010

Efforts to combat racism and sectarianism must redouble following last night’s attacks a special race relations awards ceremony heard today.

Junior Ministers Robin Newton and Gerry Kelly told the winners of the Intercultural Achievement Awards that the attacks must motivate people to combat hate crimes.

OFMDFM and its co-sponsors the Housing Executive, Department of Justice and the PSNI, hosted the awards ceremony which recognise best practice in the area of race relations.

Junior Minister Newton said: "The people who carried out these attacks have nothing to offer our society. A society which has changed in recent years with the arrival of so many new cultures and individuals. We have become infused with new flavours, new points of view and new hopes. It is not an easy task to become integrated yet manage to hold onto a distinct cultural identity.

"So today’s celebration is not just to mark the success of some of the groups in specific areas of the promotion, learning and best practice in integration and building relationships in our communities but really it is to applaud everyone for their hard work in making the sector so energised and focussed.”

Junior Minister Kelly said: "If ever there was evidence of the need for us to redouble our efforts to combat racism and sectarianism it was provided with the overnight attacks. But we are confident that the race relations work being celebrated and recognised today is more reflective of where we are as a society than the actions of these cowardly individuals who are out of touch with wishes of the entire community.

"We should not ignore racial intolerance. These incidents must be reported, must be highlighted, challenged and defeated.

"However, we also must take the time to celebrate small victories against the small minds that promote hate. Today’s awards are for acts performed; for aspiration seen through to action; for words becoming deeds."

The winners are:

· Good Race Relations - ArtsEkta

· Community Cohesion - South Belfast Roundtable

· Community Involvement - Transition Training

· Community Safety - Ballymena Inter-ethnic Forum

Each winner will receive a cut glass trophy and £1,000 prize.

1. Background on winners

ArtsEkta – Good Race Relations Award
ArtsEkta works to strengthen and deepen relationships between different cultures through a series of arts-based programmes. Their core work includes: outreach programmes, festivals and events, cultural awareness/anti-racism programmes, support to minority ethnic artists. ArtsEkta’s also organises the annual Belfast Mela which is the largest local multi-cultural festival.

Ballymena Inter-ethnic Forum– Community Safety Award
Ballymena Inter-Ethnic Forum (BIEF) support minority ethnic communities in the greater Ballymena area to integrate into society. They provide links to statutory, voluntary bodies and community groups thereby ensuring equitable delivery of services, promoting equality for all, strengthening good relations, and capacity building. BIEF also provides a Community Safety Bi-lingual Advocacy Service which aims to support the safety, integration and cohesion of ethnic communities in the area.

South Belfast Roundtable/Partnership Board - Community Cohesion Award
South Belfast Partnership Board’s mission is to strengthen and better target the efforts being made by the community, private sector and Government to tackle in partnership the economic, social and environmental problems in the area. Over the past five years it has facilitated the South Belfast Roundtable which brings together key agencies and community organisations with an interest in addressing racism in a positive and proactive way.

The winning application centred on the work of the Belfast Friendship Club which provides a space for people from both migrant and local communities to meet, build relationships and receive sign posting to relevant services. The project aims to build meaningful ongoing relationships and plans 45 events city wide this year with work focusing on three levels – individual, community group and corporate.

Transition Training/Thin edge of the wedge – Community Involvement Award
Transition Training runs the Thin End of the Wedge which is a project funded under the European Union Special Programmes Body (SEUPB). The project aims to directly improve community relations between immigrants and tackle sectarianism by forging lasting links with local community activists, ex-prisoners, former paramilitaries and the Polish and other ethnic communities in the Northern Ireland and Local Government Associations and universities in Poland.