One of the key delivery arms of WLN is its forums. Made up of other voluntary & community organisations, the WLN forums each support specific groups and/or needs. Below is a description of each of our current forums.
Black, Minority Ethnic & Refugee (BMER) Forum
The West London Black, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BMER) Forum has continued to meet and discuss key topics, difficulties and opportunities facing BME&R community organisations over the past year. In the last Winter meeting in Acton (hosted by CAIA at Hayashen) a wide range of community and support organisations discussed and mapped out the state of the BMER sector at that point, bringing into sharp relief the damage that has been suffered, loss of staff, loss of projects, loss of morale and loss of opportunities for BMER organisations to express the voices of their diverse membership. At the same meeting, staff at the Lotteries Heritage Fund met with network members and we also heard directly from BMER projects that had been working on projects funded by the Heritage fund. In the Summer the meeting (hosted by Southall Community Alliance) focussed on the Equality Act and how BMER organisations could make use of it, with a presentation on a newly published briefing, written specifically for minority ethnic, migrant and refugee community organisations from the Equality and Diversity Forum and Refugees in Effective and Active Partnership. We also had stirring presentations from Southall Black Sisters and NAVCA on how they have successfully used Equalities legislation.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Forum
The West London LGBT Forum was established in 2006 to address the issues and needs of LGBT people across the West London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hillingdon, Hounslow, and Richmond upon Thames.
The aim of the West London LGBT Forum is to increase LGBT engagement and services in West London by:
• Bringing together statutory and voluntary organisations, LGBT groups and residents
• Promoting and encouraging equality for LGBT residents
• Sharing best practice
• Supporting the development of existing LGBT community groups and helping to establish new LGBT groups, forums and networks in boroughs which don’t currently have these
• Providing funding advice and support, training and other practical resources to LGBT groups and communities
• Promoting partnership working by statutory and voluntary sector organisations and LGBT groups and communities
• Identifying gaps in provision for LGBT residents and communities
• Influencing LGBT policy development and service provision
• Linking to and developing partnerships with LGBT initiatives across London and nationally.
Training & Employment Forum
The West London Training & Employment Forum has been in existence since the beginning of WLN. Membership is open to any organisation involved in Training & Employment in West London and there are established Terms of Reference. It currently meets twice a year. There is one meeting (usually in Spring) to discuss strategic developments, any curriculum changes & qualification updates both for staff & clients, funding issues, etc. There is another meeting (usually in Autumn) which is a themed conference e.g. Workforce Development (Oct 2009); Survive & Thrive (Oct 2010) with about 50-100 attendees each year. The next meeting/conference will be held early December 2011 in conjunction with the TAF Xmas event.
Volunteering Forum
The West London Volunteering Forum is made up of centre managers/directors from each of the Volunteer Centres in West London. Meetings are held every quarter to discuss the sharing of ideas and working practices, as well as developments in volunteering and other opportunities. The Volunteering Forum has also successfully brokered volunteering opportunities for young people across the West London sub-region for the V Project Youth Action Teams, and is working with West London Network to restart a new Youth Volunteering project. The Volunteering forum members have also met to discuss their Volunteer Centre Quality Accreditation through Volunteering England’s Quality Framework.
Our Support
WLN will continue to support the work of its forums and work with them to develop new initiatives to deliver quality services for their respective members. If you would like to join any of the forums (except the Volunteering Forum), please contact Fuad Uddin (fuad@westlondonnetwork.org.uk / 0208 280 2287).
