Black Environment Network (BEN) - Membership
of over 600 organisations and individuals
Working in partnership
Siobhan Howard is a BEN Development Worker based in
Cardiff, who develops environmental projects with ethnic
minority communities. As she explains: 'To give people
access to environmental activities, we work on a partnership
basis. We find out what the groups are interested
in and then develop projects with them rather than for
them. For example, working with local Hindu and Muslim
community organisations we've organised coach trips
to the countryside, cycling trips and developed community
gardens and arts activities. Activities that are fun
as well as educational definitely work best.'
Arvind Varsani from the Shree Kutchi Leva Patel Samaj
Community Centre notes that first impressions have a
big impact: 'The main attraction for us was that we
could talk to Siobhan very easily – she was very
approachable. She rang us first and
then came to visit the centre, which was really important
to us. Other people might ring us but if they haven't
come to visit, then they don't really understand how
we work.'
BEN does a lot of training for other organisations,
as Siobhan explains, 'A common fear that people from
mainstream organisations have is that they're going
to say 'the wrong thing.' But I always stress that there
are no rules about cultural sensitivity
for different communities and the most important thing
is to ask if you're unsure.'
Omar Williams from the Kafel Centre in Swansea, who's
developed a number of projects with BEN, reiterates
how important it is to make sure that projects are culturally
appropriate: 'As long as people can liaise closely with
us, that's the main thing. Siobhan was always very careful
to check with us about the right thing
to do. For example she checked protocol for farm visits
- it was important to us that the children avoided pigs.
And before we started our art projects we explained
that our beliefs mean that children shouldn't draw animals
or people, but focus on landscapes or shapes.'
Siobhan continues 'The fact that I'm white and working
for BEN isn't really an issue. The key skill I have
is sensitivity about what I'm doing
and the way I work. I've also found that it's important
to be able to deliver results quite quickly and that
communication skills are crucial.'
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