Black and minority ethnic (BME) residents living in Edinburgh & the Lothians, and current community council members, are invited to

Celebrating Diversity in Community Councils.

Thursday, 11 August 2016, 6.00pm – 8.30pm

Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, 11 Pilton Drive North, Edinburgh EH5 1NF

The key aim of the event is to increase the representation of BME communities in community councils. It is hosted jointly by Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) project and Granton & District Community Council.

ELREC has been working on the Diversity in Public Life project since last year, aiming to increase the participation of the BME community in public life and in the democratic process. The project works with the diverse communities and it is funded by the Scottish Government. Under this project, a special scheme, Public Life Champion (PLC) has been launched to provide advice, training and mentoring to BME individuals who live/work across Edinburgh and the Lothians.

The event will provide useful information (e.g. nomination/registration process) and practical advice for those who are interested to stand as a community councillor. This is very relevant to Edinburgh’s triennial community council election, which will take place in Sept-Oct 2016. The event will also help establish a link between community councillors and the prospective BME candidates.

If you are interested to represent the views of your local community to the local authority and other public bodies, then joining your community council would be an ideal vehicle as well as an entry point to get into public life. Please see details about: what is a community council?

Tea, coffee and refreshments will be provided. Booking is required to give us an estimate for the catering service. Please advise if you have any special requirements.

To book your place online, please click here. For more information, please email publiclife@elrec.org.uk or phone 0131 556 0441.