Newsletter 13 November 2008
13/11/2008
MRHF send out a regular weekly email bulletin on Thursdays, containing
information for all our newsletter email group. For the convenience of
our stakeholders and for those who might want to find out more about
the Forum, we are also publishing that information to the BHA website.
Feedback would be very welcome. If you have any information that you
would like us to circulate in a future bulletin, please forward it to
MRHF by Wednesday 12.00 pm the day before. Please ring us on 0161 872 4600 or email us at mrhf@btconnect.com if you have any queries.
Events/Meetings/Groups
Research influences policies and services - true or false?
Ethnic Health Forum is holding a free workshop in Manchester
Monday 24 November 9:30 am - 1:00 pm
Lunch included.
See flyer for details.
Together Works and the BME Network for Manchester present:
"An introduction for BME organisations to the delivering of Public Services"
9.30pm-1pm, Monday 1st December 2008
St Thomas Centre (GMCVO), Ardwick Green, Manchester M12 6FZ
Free of charge. Lunch and refreshments included
Could your organisation meet the needs of public sector bodies? Do you think public service delivery might offer a valuable new funding avenue for your organisation but don't know where to start?
Together Works and the BME Network are running a half day introduction to delivering public services. Outlining the steps you need to take in order to win contracts and meet commissioning targets.
- Meet other organisations that have experience delivering services
- Meet council officers in charge of local area agreement delivery
- Understand the language of targets and commissioning
Especially of interest to organisations working in Health and Wellbeing and Young People sectors. Limited to organisations operating within Manchester City Council area.
To book call Jonathan Atkinson on 0161 232 9292 or email jonathan@lowwintersun.info
www.togetherworks.org.uk
Resources/Training:
Did you know...?
The prevalence of stroke among African Caribbean and South Asian men is 70 per cent higher than the average.
Young Asian women are more than twice as likely to commit suicide as young white women.
These facts and many others can be found on the Race For Health website http://www.raceforhealth.org , along with news, events and resources. Race for Health is a Department of Health-funded, NHS based programme that works with PCTs and Trusts to drive forward improvements in health for people from black, and minority ethnic backgrounds. Why not check it out today?
Medicines and Mental Health Routefinder
The Medicines and Mental Health Routefinder is designed to help the public and health professionals to find reliable information on medicines and mental health.
Using the Routefinder you can access links to leaflets, resources, reports or web pages available to support people with mental health problems, carers and health professionals. The information relates to both medicines for mental health conditions AND medicines that people with mental health problems may be taking for other conditions.
My Medicines Worksheets
My Medicines Worksheets – in ten languages – are now available on the My Medicines website. The sheet is available in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Dari, Farsi, Pashtu, Punjabi, Sorani, Somali and Tigrinian. To support people in using the worksheets there is a Top Tips guide to communicating with refugee and asylum seeking children. Thank you to the Department of Health for their support in this project.
News/Campaigns:
Help shine a light on Diabetes
World Diabetes Day (WDD) is the primary global awareness campaign of the diabetes world and is an official United Nations Day which is marked in over 160 countries. It falls annually on 14 November, to mark the birthday of Frederick Banting.
The theme for World Diabetes Day 2008 is "Diabetes in Children and Adolescents” with the aim to raise awareness of the rising prevalence of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents.
See the website for details
Cut in funding will 'undermine advocacy voice'
By David Ainsworth, Third Sector Online, 10 November 2008
Black and minority ethnic voluntary organisations could lose a powerful advocacy voice if the Government presses ahead with plans to pull funding for regional support networks, BME group Voice4Change England has warned.
In March, the Government will withdraw funding worth £540,000 from networks in the nine English regions, which it has provided most of the funding for since their creation in 1999. The Office of the Third Sector now oversees the funding.
In a paper outlining its opposition to the decision, Voice4Change http://www.voice4change-england.co.uk/ warned that if the decision ends in the networks' closure, it will damage the Government's ability to work with up to 15,000 organisations delivering services to BME communities.
"The Office of the Third Sector must recognise that the generic VCS networks and infrastructure organisations, at whatever level, still do not have the skills, understanding, time, resources or reach to act as an effective or trusted voice for the BME voluntary sector," Voice4Change said.
"Strong BME infrastructure organisations simply do not always exist elsewhere, such as at a local or sub-regional level. Consequently, the work of the BME regional networks is highly valued and remains necessary."
Scrapping the networks would make it more difficult for the Government to talk to minority organisations and to develop coherent equality and inclusion policies, Voice4Change said.
It said that BME communities often did not receive good levels of services and BME voluntary organisations still found it difficult to get access to mainstream funding, and that the networks were needed to fight against these problems.
It will also make it more difficult for minority organisations to organise themselves on a strategic level and speak with a single voice, it added.
"Unless funding for the BME regional networks continues, the essential function they perform in speaking up for BME communities and helping the Government deliver on its equalities programmes will be lost," said Vandna Gohil, director of Voice4Change England.
"The BME third sector has been historically under-resourced and in the current economic climate is likely to be further pressed by the decline in grant-making."
A spokesman for the Office of the Third Sector said it was considering the role of the networks and would make an announcement in due course.
Other:
What is good care at end of life?
NHS Manchester is currently looking at developing services for all patients identified as suffering from an advanced disease from which they will die and promote dignity for all patients at the end of their lives. End of life care is important and relevant to everyone, and touches us all at some time in some way. They would like to hear your views and experiences on current services that provide care and support for people at the end of life.
You can share your thoughts and views by: Calling: 0161 217 4311 Email: talkinghealth@manchester.nhs.uk Online: http://tinyurl.com/5tj3lm
Text: 078 132 097 75 Write: EOL - FREEPOST RRSS-EKKJ-RRKY, Baguley Clinic, M23 1NA
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