On Friday, 24 June, the Council organised its first Equality and Diversity conference to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion throughout Redcar and Cleveland and to consider what can be done collectively to further benefit local communities.
The event, which took place at the Turner Pavilion, Kirkleatham Walled Garden, welcomed various organisations and groups working tirelessly to support and benefits local communities across the area and further, including The Halo Project, Materials Processing Institute, South Tees Youth Offending Service, The Inclusive Diversity Approach, Unite and Unison. These organisations also had stalls with information and contact details available as well as representatives eager to answer any questions.
The morning session, aimed to raise awareness towards a range of minority groups, started with an eye-opening speech about disability given by Stuart Myers, originally from New Marske. Stuart, who is an inspirational and motivational speaker and runs the company World at Your Feet, has told the audience his life story as a man born with no arms who went against all the odds just by “doing things a bit different.”
Stuart was followed by Ellie Lowther, the founder of Essential Learning Curve, delivering training and workshops on inclusion and trans awareness across UK. Apart from sharing her own experience as a person who transitioned, she has also spoken about how discrimination can be avoided and about the support available for trans people.
The next speech came from Gulwali Passarlay, the author of The Lightless Sky: My Journey to Safety as a Child Refugee. Although unable to come in person, Gulwali has recorded himself talking about his life story and journey to safety from Afghanistan, together with all the hardships he had to face as a refugee.
The next speakers, Anne-Marie Head, the founder of Tees Valley Buddies, and Mike Stirland aimed to raise awareness towards Neurodiversity. The two tried to enhance people’s understanding of Neurodivergent conditions including ASC (Autistic Spectrum Condition), Dyslexia, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and more, and the challenges those who have these conditions face. The most important message they conveyed was that just because these people “use a different operating system” it doesn’t mean they cannot be part of bring their own contributions to the community. Many life-changing innovations have come from neurodivergent people such as Richard Branson and even Albert Einstein.
The afternoon session consisted in a series of presentations followed by discussions amongst the attendants on topics aimed to generate ideas on how the Council and other organisations can make a change for the communities. The first topic presented and discussed was Intersectionality, Angela Durden explaining how all forms of oppression and categorisation can be linked and people within any one group can have very different needs. For example, not all people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities will be impacted in the same way.
This subject was followed by The Cost of Living Crisis, how it impacts different communities and what can be done. It was presented by Nichola Wilson-Barrett, Senior Welfare Rights Officer and Helen Howson, Chief Executive, Redcar & Cleveland Citizen’s Advice Bureau and Chair of the Financial Inclusion Group. The last speaker of the day was Michelle Dawson from Thirteen Group who raised a discussion about Coproduction and how organisations and local authorities can work together to create new services, facilities and policies to better meet the residents’ needs.
The Leader of the Council, Mary Lanigan said: “Here at Redcar & Cleveland Council, we are in the early stages of a new journey in terms of equality and diversity. It’s such a huge subject area, and although we couldn’t cover everything in one day, there was a really interesting mix of issues to look at.
“I’d like to pay tribute to the Council’s own staff Equality & Diversity Group. It was their idea to convene this event so that we could start to have a debate with partners and local groups about the important equality issues we face. This will help us to identify actions so that Redcar & Cleveland Council can better meet all our residents’ needs.”
Videos of the day can be viewed below and on our Facebook page at the following links: Stuart Myers, Ellie Lowther, Anne-Marie Head and Mike Stirland