Julie Paget from Plymouth and Devon Racial Equality Council North Tawton video Alan Quick IMG_5897
Julie Paget from Plymouth and Devon Racial Equality Council speaking at North Tawton Diversity and Inclusion coffee morning. Video by Alan Quick
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00:00 I want to give you a quick overview of the work that we do.
00:04 We're from Plymouth and Devon Racial Equality Council.
00:07 We support people from the global majority of minoritised communities
00:13 all over Plymouth and Devon, including Torbay.
00:16 So we provide one-to-one support for people who are experiencing racism
00:25 and that includes young people as well.
00:27 We do work in schools and just lately that's been one of our increasing areas,
00:33 particularly in Devon actually, where we've seen increasing numbers of young people experiencing
00:41 racism.
00:42 We've been going for about 30 years.
00:44 I've been there for about 23 years.
00:47 It probably feels a bit longer than that, so I'm kind of part of the furniture by now.
00:51 We work in a few different ways.
00:56 Some of our work is particularly Plymouth-centric because that's where our funding comes from,
01:02 but other funding is for Devon.
01:04 We've got a pocket of funding which at the moment is for Exeter
01:07 and that's around the hotel that's by the airport that currently houses refugees.
01:18 That's in a problematical area insofar as it's in the middle of nowhere,
01:25 and really hard for people to get to and get out of.
01:29 But we're there as part of a joint piece of work between an organisation called
01:36 the Olive Project and Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support.
01:41 One of our work is supporting women in there, so doing different activities along with women.
01:47 We have a women's group, but that's in Plymouth.
01:52 We have a respect festival.
01:54 I know you have a respect festival in Exeter, but we have a separate one in Plymouth.
02:00 Last year, instead of the respect festival, we had a kite flying festival,
02:05 which was absolutely amazing, absolutely stunning, and we will have it again this year.
02:12 Welcome everybody to come along and join us.
02:15 So I had this mad idea a few years ago and thought nobody would be interested.
02:23 Because I don't know if anybody's been to Plymouth recently,
02:26 but the fact that they've dug up all the city centre and closed the Guildhall and everything,
02:31 there was actually nowhere to have it.
02:33 So I thought, oh well, let's try this kite flying, and we had about 500 people on the whole
02:38 flying kites, all from different communities, different ages.
02:43 Because one of the things that I found out was that when you talk to people about flying kites,
02:48 they go, oh god, you remember when I was little.
02:51 You know, I remember being with my father, grandfather, mother, you know,
02:57 actually making a flying kite.
02:59 And it's one of those things that transcends ages and cultures.
03:03 So we'll be doing it again this year on the 27th of July.
03:07 So please, you're all invited to come down.
03:09 But we also do, we will also be having a kite making workshop up there.
03:16 So everybody can come along.
03:18 You don't have to own a kite, you can come and make a kite with us and just have some fun
03:23 and meet people from different communities.
03:25 It's absolutely fantastic.
03:27 Along with that, I mean, I've ordered the weather, but fingers crossed.
03:30 - When is it, sorry?
03:32 - 27th of July.
03:34 - Oh, it'd be lovely.
03:35 - Coach trip.
03:36 - Yeah, coach trip down.
03:38 And so we're also going to have the Respect Festival, which will be
03:45 music, dance from all over the world.
03:49 You know, anybody who wants to come along.
03:51 So we'll be putting different, so then hopefully there'll be Greek dancing,
03:56 there'll be Indian dancing, there'll be spoken word from poems from all over the world.
04:02 So it should be a really fun day.
04:03 You know, it provides an opportunity for people to come together and meet each other.
04:10 It gives that bit where people stop maybe being the stranger or the other,
04:15 because actually people get the opportunity to meet together.
04:18 And sometimes that's the biggest problem, is that people focus on the other,
04:24 the colour of the skin or where they're from.
04:26 And yeah, so it's a great place to come and do that.
04:34 We deliver anti-racist training.
04:38 And we also deliver refugee awareness training.
04:41 And the refugee awareness training is really quite good because it
04:45 busts some of those myths that people have about why people come here.
04:50 You know, the fact that you hear it on the news that people come here for benefits.
04:54 Actually, people, when they're on an asylum, get about £37 a week.
04:59 They don't get very much at all.
05:02 And it also busts the myths about, because we all see the news and it says,
05:08 "Swarms are coming here."
05:09 You know, we'd be almost, we'd be invaded.
05:12 And the reality is, you know, it's really a small percentage.
05:17 So I was looking at the most recent figures.
05:20 So Iran takes the most refugees, because most people can't afford to get here
05:31 and can't do that trip all across Europe.
05:34 So most people who are displaced go to a bordering country.
05:38 So Iran, I think, is about 3.4 million refugees.
05:44 And then the next one is Turkey, who's got about 3.3 million.
05:50 Germany has got about 2.2 million.
05:54 And we have 346,000.
06:01 So when people talk about millions and millions of people coming here, it's not actually true.
06:07 And people come here because they, you know, I always say to people,
06:13 people go on about coming in small boats and it's that thing.
06:17 Would you risk your life?
06:18 Would you risk your children's life?
06:20 Unless there was a good reason.
06:22 You just wouldn't do that.
06:25 So I think the issue is that all the rhetoric that we hear around,
06:30 all that negative talk actually does fuel a lot of the racism.
06:37 Sad to say that racism is on the increase.
06:42 I was talking to somebody earlier, particularly in schools,
06:45 and some of that is partially down to, you know, people, the parents hear it on the telly,
06:54 so they're talking about it, so children pick that up.
06:58 But also the social media, the TikTok, the way that it's, I mean, I'm saying this word now,
07:09 the algorithms, if I'm honest, I don't really understand what an algorithm is.
07:13 I'll be totally honest.
07:15 But actually, I do understand what it does.
07:18 So if you look at, if you like something, it will just go completely giving you all that.
07:25 So instead of having an open view of what's going on in the world,
07:30 you get a narrower view, which actually really does fuel issues like racism,
07:36 but not just racism, the transphobia, we saw it sadly with the death of Brianna,
07:41 disabilities, it actually fuels all the other, you know,
07:48 characteristics people experience in racism and discrimination.
07:55 What I would say for everybody, whatever your protected characteristic is that actually,
07:59 it all needs to be reported.
08:01 We've got the police here.
08:02 Everything needs to be reported.
08:05 But the other thing is, I always say, if people are unsure about it, you know,
08:12 Christian found us by putting Plymouth and Devon racial equality counselling to the internet.
08:18 We're there if people need help, or if people just want to check something out,
08:24 or actually to see if we can attend something like Christian did.
08:29 Because actually, the one thing we need, what we want to do is break down those barriers.
08:35 You know, we're not there to hit people with a stick and say, you can't say this, you can't do that.
08:41 Actually, we need people to come on board with us.
08:44 So actually, please report anything.
08:47 And if anybody, meet anybody, you think, oh my gosh, this person needs some support.
08:53 Let them know we're here.
08:54 And if anybody's got a question, I mean, I'm happy to answer it.
08:58 From our point of view.