The Marble Arch Caves in Ennisillen

ENNISKILLEN’S Marble Arch Caves last Saturday were the destination for 47 members Black and Minority Ethnic and migrant communities locally as part of a Derry City and Strabane District Council Good Relations initiative.

The council’s community relations officer, Sue Divin, said: “There are about 20 constituted groups in our North West Black and Minority Ethnic strategic forum in the council area.

“They represent a very wide range of identities including our Polish, Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Traveller, African and Refugee communities as well as minority faiths like Sikh, Hindu, Bahá’í and Muslim people living here.

“Throughout the year the groups, which are predominantly volunteer based with no staff, work very hard together on community capacity building, community planning, promoting diversity and tackling racism.

This trip was about celebrating their successes, building further networking and initiatives and promoting wider awareness of Northern Ireland.”

Mayor Elisha McCallion said: “Derry City and Strabane District Council is keen to highlight why inclusion of our ethnic minority communities here is an asset to all of our lives in the North West.

“I would like to add my thanks and support to the committee members and volunteers of all the constituted minority ethnic community groups who work tirelessly in their own time to make our city and district a shared place where people can learn to respect all cultures and identities.

“We have seen how racism and hate crime are issues in the North of Ireland which unfortunately also impact our council area.

“Hopefully this trip through the Black and Minority Ethnic Strategic Forum will be a morale boost to encourage the individuals working to tackle prejudice to keep up the good work and show that council values their efforts.

“I recently visited the Strabane Ethnic Community Associations offices and am very impressed with the hard and meaningful work done by so many of our migrant and minority ethnic communities.

“I would also like to congratulate ‘Kabalikat’ our Filipino Community on their recent sports day at Templemore Sports Complex.

“I am aware that the local Filipino community was negatively impacted by negative press in England and as Mayor I just want to say that we value the hard work of all our medical professionals locally regardless of identity.”

The North West Black and Minority Ethnic Forum meets monthly to progress on strategic issues in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area.

Council’s Good Relations Team provide a secretariat to the group as part of the delivery of the District Council’s Good Relations Strategy (with funding from OFMDFM).

It is estimated that there are over 50 nationalities and 70 languages spoken in the council area.

Any service providers wishing to find out how the service they provide can reach minority ethnic communities are welcome to contact the forum via council’s Good Relations Team on tel: 71253253 ext 8218.