Frequently asked questions

We support - and represent to Government – Voluntary and Community Sector groups working with the BME community throughout the South West; ensuring that their training, organisational and funding needs are answered, and their voice heard by the policy makers.

Our specific aims are:

• to represent those working with Black and Ethnic Minority groups throughout the South West;
• to support them to grow as organisations, and help them get the funding, practical training or advice they need to support their own members;
• to stop them being, or feeling, isolated in their work with communities on the ground; and
• to represent their concerns and requirements at the highest levels, including influencing Government policy going forward.

The specific needs of the BME sector in the SW have been identified, amongst others, as focused on housing, employment and training. The BVCS groups working on the ground may lack infrastructural and organisational resources, and it is our aim to help plug these gaps, so that they can then work more effectively with the wider BME community and fulfil their needs.

Ours is therefore a vital role as the conduit for communication between local and national Government and the community at large.

We make the two-way flow of communication between those in the BME sector in the South West, and those in Government, as easy as possible, in order to support the BVCS groups in their work with the community, and ultimately strengthen the over-all economy in the region.

We need to hear from those working in the BME Voluntary and Community Sector, dealing on a day-to-day level with groups who may need help and advice throughout the SW. That way we can most effectively pass on whatever we hear back along the line to Government, and give them confidence that their investments are being effectively used and targeted.

And of course the whole South West region benefits from this two-way flow of communication, becoming stronger and more inclusive, benefiting from both cultural diversity and a more effective working community partnership.

We commission research so we’re working with the best possible data about the sector, and constantly consult with those working with BME groups to find out what the real situation is on the ground. We also have a national partnership with direct access to central government to ensure maximum impact.

We also share this information to those making decisions affecting everyday life in the South West.

We need to know we’re working with accurate data about the lives of those in the SW, so we regularly commission research about those working within the region, to find out the situation as it affects the community. We need to have real data about the BME sector within the SW, and how to reach our communities.

Secondly, we rely on our members completing and returning our regular surveys, and freely offering us feedback. That way we find out the real issues that our communities need to have addressed.

We help groups access funding or advice, or find other like-minded groups who might be able to work together with more strength and buying power, so they feel less isolated and better equipped.

A practical example of this might be putting two or three local groups in touch to combine resources for IT equipment or booking premises. It might be more about social or combined training events, or helping them secure better meeting facilities, or even helping them raise the profile and the image of their groups within the local community.

We realise that in the SW there is a great deal of rural isolation and many may feel isolated from other similar communities either through physical distance or lack of communication. It’s our role to keep our communities in touch, and work with them both in a supporting and practical way.

Through this website, Black Net Solutions, and through our partnership with five sub regional community ‘hubs’.

BSWN currently has 370 members. Research suggests that there are up to 500 BME organisations that exist throughout the region.

BSWN aims to bring all of these organisations within its umbrella to address issues of isolation and marginalisation that may be experienced by our communities.

As an organisation working hard throughout the region but based primarily in Bristol, it would be impossible for us to reach every individual or group we seek to represent - and those we do not yet - efficiently. We therefore aim to build our membership and our reach.

BNS

BNS is a key tool to support communications between BME Communites whether in rural or urban areas to effectively communicate with each other and ensure that their views are recorded.

One key line of communication is through this website, Black Net Solutions, which acts as a communications portal for all information relating to BME issues in the SW and beyond.

It offers a place online where we can contribute to developing regional, sub-regional and local development plans, facilitating a better relationship between the state, its citizens and the services available to them.

Here we publish articles and advice relating to issues facing our members. We offer a forum for the exchange of information and archive past newsletters and other publications for downloading. We have useful links to sites of interest, contact information and members’ areas where our members can communicate more effectively with us and access other material specific to them and their issues.

Sub Regional Hubs
We support five sub regional ‘hubs’, like spokes in our wheel, each having a geographical responsibility but all working closely with our main office.

These are based currently in Devon and Cornwall, Gloucester and Wiltshire, the old Avon area, Somerset and Dorset.

The hubs will work closely with groups within their regions, building relationships and developing strategies based on continual research and feedback, and helping the sharing of skills and resources on the ground.

We are part of a nationwide government-led initiative to rebuild communities economically and socially throughout the UK, and work with our own specific social and geographical sector as part of this.

We have specific responsibility for the BME Sector within the SW and also take a lead on Online Communications Technology (OCT) in the region.

We work regionally with the South West Forum and the IDP (Infrastructure Development Partnership), representing the specific requirements of the BME alongside the mainstream community.

This high-level responsibility has put BSWN in the best position to keep the concerns and needs in the forefront of economic and social development process – needs such as access to better housing, better employment prospects, training civic participation and inclusion and reducing isolation.

Actively opposing discrimination and supporting the human rights of all people living in the SW.

The immediate aim of BSWN is to be an effective bridge between those in the BME sector in the SW and the statutory agencies, to increase communication and support for BVCS groups within the sector and help them become stronger, so they can better support those they work with throughout the region.

Longer-term the intention is to continue to grow this support and become an ever-more effective conduit for information, ultimately securing sustainability for BVCS development with our regional and national partners.

Our short-term stated aims:

• To provide infrastructure support to the BVCS
• To provide capacity building and specialist / professional support to the BVCS through BNS
• To develop further and strengthen the relationship with statutory agencies, through working with strategic partnerships.
• To support the BVCS to improve their organisational performance, and enable them to deliver high quality and effective services to local people in Governance, Performance Improvement, Human Resources and IT
• To raise awareness and promote human rights, diversity and equality among the VCS
• To ensure participation in the civic process, economic and social inclusion

Longer-term:

• To strengthen partnership and existing infrastructure and mechanisms to build capacity for the BVCS
• To secure sustainability for BVCS development
• To continue services and activities for improvements and roll out good practice
• To develop an income generation unit to self-generate income from service charges, memberships etc.
• To develop funding and income strategy to sustain ‘good practice’ models
• To negotiate with statutory agencies to mainstream
• To explore improvement and identify provision gaps and needs
• To develop high-quality social research capabilities.
• To negotiate with statutory agencies to ensure fair access to the commissioning of public services