Research Summary: Mapping of Ethnic/Cultural Diversity in Arun
Aims
This research arose out of the work of the Arun Cultural / Ethnic Diversity Forum, representing and bringing together a variety of organisations. The Forum, chaired by the Council for Voluntary Service - Arunwide (CVS-A) in Arun, commissioned and managed the research, using funding from the Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP. )
The main aims were to inform future discussion and future work of the Forum with more up-to-date information about the location, and extent of ethnic groups (in terms of nationality, language etc) in local areas, and the sources of data about them. Although the project was mainly aimed at mapping the data in terms of numbers and figures, however in collecting the evidence a more qualitative picture of the make up of local communities began to develop. This local knowledge has been very useful to the project and enables a sensitive approach to the issues.
This summary is designed to convey the main findings of the project. Requests for more information about the work should be directed to Miranda Cormell (researcher) via CVSA tel: 01243 840305 - Hilary.Spencer@btconnect.com.
Research Approach
Three broad sources of information were explored - health, education and employment systems - as well as other background or relevant data.
A. Employment Local employment agencies - numbers and other summarised information about non-British workers - registered and currently working - age, gender, nationality Applications for National Insurance Numbers - postcodes of different nationals Local employers - variety of summarised available information
B. Health GP practices New GP registrations - place of birth Language requests by GP practices (Language Line service)
C. Education Ethnicity of primary and secondary school children Referrals to the Ethnic Minority Achievement Team (EMAT) Learners in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL ) classes - adult education
D. Other Citizen's Advice Bureaux Library Internet users Police information
Main Findings
Knowledge of issues and sources
1. Cultural identity, place of birth or nationality, ethnic group, and language are different dimensions of ethnicity, and do not always have a simple relationship with each other.
2. Sources of data were sometimes incomplete, or not easy to summarise, and levels of collection by different agencies were inconsistent, or contained different types of information. Interpretation was thus difficult at times and findings tentative.
3. National data sources simply do not reflect very recent, and very specific trends in ethnic migration, whereas less statistically exact sources actually paint a very immediate and real picture, and show the directions of change.
Knowledge of trends in ethnic minority groups and communities
1. There are national as well as very local changes related to new countries entry into the EU and local employment and social trends.
2. Specific groups of nationals appear, from most sources of data, to be coming to live and work in Arun, at the rate of about 80 new Eastern Europeans per month.
3. The vast majority of people from Eastern European groups in Arun, who are new to the District are Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, and many are young and male. Although some of these groups may also understand Russian as well as their own national language, usually the preference is for the latter.
4. There are also a wide range of other people arriving in Arun, extending existing communities, particularly the known Portuguese community in Littlehampton, but also contributing to a wide diversity of people with the district. (In this research 77 different Nationalities have been identified living and working in Arun)
5. Specific groups seem to be related to particular areas, as well as particular employment, and although this is not easy to predict, it may be the two are related, with certain employment opportunities related to certain groups and areas of the District.
Discussion and Implications
Based on other work locally with Portuguese communities, the work is to be followed through by attracting funding to support community links based on the models and methods that have previously proved effective. From the variety of different communities that were identified by the research, the Forum felt that one way forward might be to employ a number of link workers, with fluency in Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian and Czech/Slovak.
These workers would begin to engage with speakers of these languages, through various contacts identified by the Research e.g. employers, churches etc. Sensitivity to Cultural and Ethnic issues will be needed as the research is disseminated, in order to inform broader discussion about needs and services.