Developing Local Partnerships for Global Events
A NEAD Project
Focusing on specific themes to reach new audiences
Developing Local Partnerships for Global Events (DLPGE) was a three-year project, running from April 2004, that involved NEAD working in partnership with local organisations and volunteers to increase awareness of global issues, generate events and activities, and reach new audiences by focusing on specific themes.
Year One
In the first year, we concentrated on:
- Carnival and festivals during the spring and summer
- Black History Month during October
- Fair Trade Fortnight during March.
Years Two and Three
For years two and three, we changed the Carnival theme to Refugee Week (during June).
Volunteers were involved in creating web pages, designing programmes and posters, writing newsletters, co-ordinating and promoting events, working with the media, and more.
Carnival!
NEAD worked with the Phoenix Carnival Group to enable and support volunteers to get involved in carnival-related activities. Volunteers were essential in the design and production of costumes — meeting at times on a weekly basis. The project also provided training for volunteers in performance skills, Soca, the history of carnival, fair trade, face painting and risk assessment. We believe that this process increased participants’ skill levels and helped raise their confidence for interacting with the public and understanding the issues at hand. The carnival floats themselves made a huge impact at the Lord Mayor’s Procession (Norwich), and at the Cromer, North Walsham and Notting Hill Carnivals. Notably, we won the prize for best small float at North Walsham, and most entertaining group at Cromer 2004. These events were hugely enjoyable and informative for all those involved.
Phoenix Carnival Group continues to coordinate Carnival activities. For more information about getting involved, email Jasmine Reeves (Coordinator of Phoenix Carnival Group), telephone 0784 551 8609, or visit Banana Link’s Carnival page.
Black History Month — Every October
Black History Month takes place every October in the UK and aims to encourage all people to celebrate the contributions and achievements that Black men and women have made to Britain and the world. Although 2005 was only Norfolk’s third year of involvement, there were over 70 events taking place around the county. This excellent and diverse programme was the result of months of intensive planning and organisation by NEAD and its partner groups. Although Black History Month takes place in October, we strongly advocate the promotion of Black History all year round: NEAD’s Black History Month Microsite is updated regularly, and is there to help you.
Fair Trade Fortnight — 6 to 19 March 2006
To organise events and activities, we worked with:
- Banana Link
- The Greenhouse
- Fair Trade in Norfolk (FTiN)
- SEED — the Society for Everything on the Environment and Development at the University of East Anglia.
We ran training events for NEAD volunteers and UEA students to enable them to take the FT message out to a much wider audience. As with all NEAD work the success of our activities relies on you, the public, to take action! For more information, contact us or visit the Fair Trade in Norfolk website.
Refugee Week — 19 to 25 June 2006
Refugee Week takes place in June each year. It is a UK-wide programme of cultural and educational events which celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK, and aims to encourage better understanding between different communities.
- The UK takes less than 2% of the world’s refugees.
- The Mini, Morris Minor, Marks and Spencer, and Fish and Chips were introduced to the UK by refugees.
- The nickname Canaries for Norwich’s football team actually originates from the Dutch strangers community who came as refugees in the 16th century and brought with them a love of canary breeding.
NEAD coordinates a partnership of organisations and individuals who collaborate to put on events and activities in Norfolk to celebrate Refugee Week.
For more information, visit the Refugee Week Norfolk website, or get in touch with us.
