HEAR is delighted to be one of the hosts selected by our colleagues at the GLA for the
London Festival of Ideas
which is a month long programme of events and activities all on the theme of Building Strong Communities
The Festival was launched on Tuesday this week and you can find all the details here:
View the
Festival Programme
or take part in the
Festival Poster Competition.
HEAR is hosting an online discussion on:
Wednesday 14th July, 11am-1pm
on the theme of:
Building Strong Communities through Building Trust
Trust is being talked about more and more in all sorts of contexts, and has become even more central a point of interest during the Covid 19 pandemic.
Trust between populations and leaders, between the public and public bodies, and amongst and between communities themselves, are all important; but although we talk about trust a lot do we actually stop to think about what it is, how we can build and maintain it, or repair it, or what conditions are needed to support its creation and survival?
Come along to this online event hosted by HEAR to think and learn about how trust can contribute to building strong communities
Your contributions on the day will be communicated directly to the GLA and Mayor’s Office and form part of a valuable insight into London’s recovery
If you would like to attend please email:
Christine@hearequality.org.uk
with your name, organisation or group (if relevant) and stating if you have any access or communication needs
We look forward to seeing you!
We’re working on a new, more accessible website
HEAR is currently developing a new and more accessible website, thanks to funding from National Lottery Awards for All funding.
Consequently you won’t find the site as up to date as usual whilst we complete this process
We’ll let you know when the new version of the site is ready, thank you for your patience!
HEAR Trustee Advert
We are looking for trustees to join the Board to help lead the organisation during this pivotal and exciting time. See full details below:
HEAR Chair and Treasurer Advert
We are looking for a Chair and Treasurer to join the Board of Trustees, to help lead the organisation, during this pivotal and exciting time. See full details below:
Net Mapping Digital Exclusion 3rd March
3rd March, 4-5pm (arrivals from 3.30), Net Mapping to end Digital Exclusion
Net Mapping to end Digital Exclusion, Mar 3, 2021, 4-5pm (arrivals from 3.30, networking and questions until 5.30)
This is an introduction to Net Mapping and a chance for us to build a picture of who is challenging digital exclusion in London, how they are connected and where there are gaps.
It is part of the HEAR led Net Equality project.
You will need to register in advance and your details will be added to a private Net Map.
Register in advance for this meeting:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
22nd February 10.30am Net Mapping Housing Activists
22nd February 10.30-11.30, Net Mapping Housing activists and future Decent Homes as a Human Right events and hustings
HEAR members have told us that connecting pan equality and cross sector in London can help their priorities for housing rights, decent homes and good neighbourhoods.
HEAR are holding an event to start building a Net Map of London’s Housing activists and projects:
Monday 22nd February, 10am (arrivals) 10.30-11.30
Net Mapping Housing Activists
An introduction to Net Mapping for sharing and solidarity.
We have come together to work across our equality networks to build the NetEquality project, exploring how digital tools can help address some of the issues we are facing.
We know from our members that there is a stronger need than ever to find out information and share resources. We think that mapping our relationships and sharing expertise / resources / information can help to address inequalities by increasing opportunities for solidarity and strengthening campaigns.
For this weeks theme we are focusing on Housing, and what we can share and learn from other people working for this human right.
What will you get out of this event?
- Learn more about NetMapping
- Share and find out knowledge
- Share and find out about connections
- Join a community who actively share using digital tools
- Meet other people to work together across-equality specialisms
Join us to put into practice working together and connecting pan-equality, to build solidarity and strengthen our campaigns!
You will need to
Your details will be added to a private Net Map. Event will run from 10.30-11.30. You can join from 10 and there will also be time afterwards for questions and networking. HEAR is able to reimburse expenses incurred to overcome digital exclusion for user-led projects and experts by experience (details at the bottom of the page).
COVID 19 has shown that policies for the most at risk and excluded, like the Everyone In scheme, are deliverable and practical and that London can take the lead. The Grenfell fire provides a learning opportunity to prioritise people over profit, and where statutory must do better for communities after emergencies, so London can Build Back Better and continue to be a world leading city. Changes in working practices and lifestyle brought about during the pandemic have impacted on London high streets and property markets in unimaginable ways. Could London becoming the UK’s second Human Rights City mean London is a better home all Londoners?
HEAR, therefore, are co-producing and planning a series of events and a hustings during the week starting Monday 19th April on Decent Homes as a Human Right? to which the main London Mayoral candidates have been invited to particpate in a hustings
We will pay user-led projects and experts by experience to deliver workshops and presentations during this week of events, and would be keen to hear from members what they want, need and can offer. Please get in touch with your suggestions
mhairi@HEARequality.org.uk
Read more about HEAR’s work on Decent Housing as a Human Right here
Monthly Digital Inclusion in London Network
HEAR are hosting 2021’s first meeting of the Digital Inclusion in London Network.
Our members told us they would benefit from meeting regularly r to overcome #DigitalExclusion in London. January’s meeting is also open to policy makers, public sector colleagues and funders as well as frontline VCS/NGOs and Experts by Experience.
You can register for the event using this zoom
or sign up to HEAR’s DILN mailing list via this
link https://hear.interests.me/
You will need a zoom account to register and join the meeting.
HEAR offers grants to overcome digital exclusion and barriers to attendance. We can refund expenses of Expert by Experience, user-led organisations, smaller VCS. Further details below. Also do et us know about any access or communication needs.
If you have any questions please email HEAR’s Policy and Campaigns coordinator
Mhairi@HEARequality.org.uk
Bring hacks to share, barriers you and those you work with have to overcome and techie tricks to learn.
HEAR’s 11th Digital Exclusion case study comes from
Community Action
a peer support group:
Getting Creative At Home
By Chris Pavlakis of Community Action
Community Action is a peer support group of persons with lived experiences in Greater London. They are a mixed group, with 37 members, the youngest is 38 years old and the oldest 65, and has members from BAME communities, members who identify themselves as males, females and non-binaries.
Community Action grew from three people who met in a digital storytelling workshop run by the Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University that stayed in touch, met regularly for peer support, sharing about their mental health journey for comfort and support.
Understanding the needs of their community as well as digital exclusion led Community Action to develop Hybrid Remote working and accessibility to enable isolated people to stay connected and creative and encourage use of technology by building confidence and safe online spaces. Some recommendations and good practice below:
- “Disabled People are seen primarily as ‘benefit claimants’ and ‘needy’ & their relationship with the system has a fundamental power imbalance;
- Traditional, top-down approaches & assumptions turn out to narrow the scope of delivery in terms of digital services or training programmes;
- Even if support was improved, the lack of trust in the system means disabled people may not engage.
Our suggestion against this context are in favor of a community-led approach as response:
- Treating people as people;
- Starting with people’s strengths;
- Empowering people to make their own choices;
- Support based on what people need, including but not limited to financial, emotional and technical support;
- Starting where trust already exists…
Local services must work well together in partnership to meet people’s needs…
-
- Community participation, particularly among those facing complex disadvantage, should be actively facilitated throughout design & delivery;
- Funding & evaluation should promote collaborative, community-led support”
- Community participation, particularly among those facing complex disadvantage, should be actively facilitated throughout design & delivery;
What we said in our Community Conversations
HEAR and its members have been working with a number of different stakeholders, including our colleagues at the GLA, to contribute to work on London’s recovery from Covid 19
HEAR has a wealth of knowledge and lied experience amongst its membership, so we can speak from the grass roots about the impact on Londoners and what is needed going forward to ensure responses really are focused on the priorities of those most adversely affected
Part of our contribution has been to take part in the Community Conversations exercise, to help shape the ‘missions’ guiding London’s response
We will be sharing much more about the missions and recovery work soon but we wanted to let you know what was said in the Community Conversations
HEAR held a Conversation together with Superhighways, focused on digital inclusion as part of the recovery work, and you can read what was submitted from this conversation here:
Digital across GLA recovery missions submission
and here
Community Conversation feedback on digital
HEAR and its members also contributed to a submission on issues impacting on older Londoners across the different missions, and you can read that here:
London Age Friendly Forum Response to the draft Missions
We also submitted a response gathering up all the other issues raised by members, which included:
-Volunteering in the community is crucial but volunteers need better more structured support
-Concerns about access to primary health care through virtual means, this is not appropriate for many, concern that this will become ‘by default’
-There needs to be more joined up working at a local level between voluntary and community groups and statutory agencies across all sectors, and business, to build resilience at a local level through partnership
-Transcultural models of health and well-being, not just westernised medical models, are important
-Trust building is vital, especially between the community and the health and social care system
-Community involvement needs to be real and genuine and not ‘tickbox’ or hampered by bureaucracy; poor engagement processes do more harm than good
-Focus on smoking and obesity in health is too narrow, wider determinents of health such as poor housing, lack of access to green space, accessible and affordable means of exercise, air pollution are all vital
-Intergenerational focus is vital
-More trust needs to be built to give people confidence to use public transport in London, e.g. wearing of masks is not being widely adhered to or enforced
-Collection of data on all aspects, both quantitative and quantitative, needs to be more robust and transparent
Thank you to everyone who took part, we already know from feedback from our colleagues at the GLA that the contributions from civil society organisations have had a substantive influence on how the missions are being shaped and developed. Look out for much more on HEAR and its members’ contributions to London’s recovery and how you can take part coming soon…..
HEAR is Recruiting! Deadline extended
HEAR has a vacancy – deadline 10th November
HEAR is looking for an hourly paid sessional worker to provide support for their Stronger Together project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund Awards for All.
About HEAR:
HEAR, the London voluntary and community sector’s pan-equalities and human rights network, is connecting and supporting equalities specialists across all equality characteristics and across London to get their voices heard, and to influence policy and the environment within which people work for equality and human rights. We are doing this by acting as a strong and authoritative, regional pan-equalities voice and a combined source of knowledge and expertise on issues pertinent to equality, impacting on the voluntary and community sector and its effectiveness. HEAR’s values continue to be under-pinned by the conviction that those who have direct experience of inequality and discrimination are best placed to develop strategies to achieve equality.
About Stronger Together:
Stronger Together aims to support those HEAR network members across London from small community groups and grass roots and user-led organisations, and individual community campaigners, to bring them together for solidarity, increase confidence, reduce isolation, strengthen skills and celebrate success.
The work will be offered on a flexible sessional hourly paid basis until March 2021, approximately 21 hours per week at £12 per hour.
We will consider work on a self-employed or PAYE basis for the appointed person
Currently HEAR is operating on a ‘work from home’ basis whilst government restrictions remain in place
You will have good current skills in WordPress, a general good level of digital skills and ability to learn new applications and work under minimal supervision. You will ideally have previous experience of working in or with the voluntary and community sector, a commitment to equality and an understanding of digital accessibility and varied communication needs.
You can find full details on how to apply and the Job Description and Person Specification on the HEAR website here:
Hourly Paid Sessional Worker Job Description and person specification
To apply please submit a CV and covering letter, outlining how you meet the Person Specification, to:
by 9am on 11th November 2020
If you have any questions of clarification please address these to the same email or call 07466 119268
Interviews will be conducted Via Zoom week commencing 16th November 2020
HEAR : Human Rights and Equalities Network 
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