Equalities Monthly - February 2025!
- Feb 4
- 9 min read
Updated: Feb 10
Hello world!
Welcome to the February 2025 release of our Equalities Monthly newsletter!
Keep reading to find out more about what we've been up to and what you can get involved with.
We are always on the lookout for new activities and updates to add to our monthly, if you or your organisation has something coming up that you would like us to share, contact us and let us know.
You can also submit events to our Equality Calendar!
What have we been up to at FCE?
On Wed 15 Jan 2025, the Fife Equalities Forum came together to discuss the latest developments and possible opportunities for collaboration.
We launched our first meeting as part of our FERN project on Thu 23 Jan 2025 at the Bay Hotel!
We have been chatting with people from across Fife to learn about their experiences as part of our Let's Chat Equality initiative.
As always, we have published a range of exciting new events and consultations on our Equality Calendar! Keep posted for more.
Equality Calendar Dates to look out for:
Our Equality Calendar showcases all of the upcoming equalities awareness days, partners events and local consultations! Check out some of the upcoming international days below:
World Interfaith Harmony Week - 1 to 7 Feb 2025: World Interfaith Harmony Week is an annual event promoting mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue, which constitute important dimensions of a culture of peace and established World Interfaith Harmony Week as a way to promote harmony between all people regardless of their faith.
International Day of Women and Girls in Science - 11 Feb 2025: Gender equality in science is crucial for building a better future for all, yet women and girls continue to face systemic barriers and biases in pursuing scientific careers.
World Day of Social Justice - 20 Feb 2025: The General Assembly recognizes that social development and social justice are indispensable for the achievement and maintenance of peace and security within and among nations and that, in turn, social development and social justice cannot be attained in the absence of peace and security, or in the absence of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
International Mother Language Day - 21 Feb 2025: Languages are essential to education and sustainable development, serving as the primary means through which knowledge is transferred and cultures are preserved. With approximately 8,324 languages in the world today, many are at risk of disappearing due to globalization and societal changes.
Click here to visit our Equality Calendar, and add your own event today.
What's happening at FCE?
International Women's Day 2025!
Join us as we celebrate International Women's Day 2025!
We will be bringing together organisations, groups and individuals from across Fife and beyond to celebrate International Women's Day and make new connections, and learn more about what's happening in the Fife area!
Please keep posted for the updated programme of activities and guest speakers.
Please let us know if you have any additional requirements using the ticket registration form.
If you have any questions or need help to book a free place please contact us at info@centreforequalities.org.uk, 01592 645310 or text us on 07800 005834.
Updates to FCE's Working Patterns
Hi everyone - just to keep you all in the loop, we will be adjusting our working patterns so that they fit in a bit better with our programme of events and activities.
We will be breaking down each month into segments, with each segment focused on a specific activity:
Week 1 - Promotion and Awareness Raising:
Equalities Monthly release.
Online Drop-in - chat to the team about what matters to you or share any community concerns.
Monday 17:30 to 18:00
Tuesday 14:00 to 15:00
Wednesday 10:00 to 11:00
Week 2 - Working with Partners:
Fife Equalities Forum Meeting.
FCE Outreach to Local Groups and Organisations!
Week 3 - Listening to Individuals:
Equalities Digest release.
FCE Outreach to Local Groups and Organisations continued.
In-person drop-ins and 1-2-1 interviews.
Week 4 - Building Communities
Our Get-Togethers and Gatherings!
Help us improve our communications.
Let's Chat Equality - Fife
What do you think is special about Fife? Let us know.
Our Let's Chat Equality initiative aims to learn more about what is working for you, and what you'd like to see more of within your communities.
We will share your feedback with services in Fife to improve access for everyone.
We'd love to chat with you! You can provide feedback using the form below, meeting us for a one-to-one interview or we can visit your group or organisation! Let us know what works best for you:
Looking to learn more? Let us know by getting in touch with us at info@centreforequalities.org.uk, calling 01592 645310, text on 07800 005834 or write to us at Fife Centre for Equalities, New Volunteer House, 16 East Fergus Place, Kirkcaldy KY1 1XT.
Fife Equalities Forum
Our next Fife Equalities Forums will be taking place on Wed 12 Feb and Wed 12 Mar 2025, both from 14:00! It's a great opportunity to learn more about the different organisations working in Fife and future opportunities to work together to improve services for all.
If you're interested in attending our Forum and joining the network, please don't hesitate to get in touch! Contact us using info@centreforequalities.org.uk, call 01592 645310 or text 07800 005834.
FCE Companion Support
Our Companion Support volunteers are crucial in supporting our Get-Togethers and maintaining our relationships with our clients.
If you have an interest in bringing people together, making new connections and reducing social isolation, this may be the opportunity for you!
If you'd be interested in volunteering with us, please contact maria@centreforequalities.org.uk, call us on 01592 645310 or text 07800 005834.
Joining our Board
We are recruiting suitably skilled people to join the Board to help deliver our vision and mission.
If you are passionate about equality, diversity, inclusion, and social justice, then this could be the volunteering role you’ve been looking for.
Applicants should have a passion and commitment to build a collective voice to champion equality, diversity, inclusion and social justice, along with the ability to provide strong governance and direction to ensure the delivery of our objectives.
These Trustee positions are voluntary, however, out-of-pocket expenses will be met.
For more information, please contact Elric Honoré, Chief Executive, elric@centreforequalities.org.uk or 01592 645 310.
Our Partners' News and Events
Soka Gakkai International - Seeds of Hope & Action:
Soka Gakkai International are hosting a new exhibition at Dunfermline Carnegie Library from March 10 to 16 2025! It is called Seeds of Hope & Action and it is inclusive and promotes shared community. It is a number of banners displayed along walls with pictures and paragraphs. It will be accompanied by volunteers from the Buddhist group open to discussion.
Smart Life in Fife - online poll:
Were you aware that there is a proactive online tool that supports independent living, as not everyone needs a full Occupational Therapy assessment or wants to wait for one.
The Tool 'Smart Life in Fife' is accessible to anyone living in Fife (24 hours a day / 7 days a week, 365 days a year) to complete an online assessment. The system will then recommend what solutions are available to you to manage your independent living or advise if professional input is required. It also provides access to a wide range of professional advice and recommendations on home safety, local amenities and general health information.
Following feedback on the Smart Life in Fife assessment tool, it has become clear that the current name does not reflect that it is a support tool for independent living that anyone can access or that it is widely known about.
As a result of this, we are looking at renaming the assessment tool to better capture the core identity of the system and have narrowed the suggestions down to 3 potential name options for the assessment tool.
We want to invite people to take part in this very quick poll, to share with us their preferred name choice which can be accessed by clicking on the following link.
Active Travel in Fife - Raised Table Installation:
The Active Travel team are delighted to be able to share with you design details for the proposed raised crossing.
The table is being provided in response to community requests and it will help pedestrians in the Crossgate shopping area. The table will be formed using bituminous material and a copy of the design drawing is attached for comment.
The drawing will be sent to local stakeholders, but please feel free to circulate the design drawings, if you wish. Further information can be found on the Council's active travel webpage, visit: www.fife.gov.uk/activetravel.
Should you wish to comment on the proposals, please email: active.travel@fife.gov.uk.
Fife Contemporary - Hag Exhibition:
Fife Contemporary are pleased to announce Hag. Knowledge, Power & Alchemy through Craft, an upcoming exhibition challenging perceptions of women and craft open at Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries from 8 March to 8 June 2025.
Hag. Knowledge, Power & Alchemy through Craft will open at Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries on 8th March 2025, International Women’s Day.
Free entry, open daily:
Monday – Friday 10am to 5pm (until 6pm Thursdays)
Saturday 10am – 4pm
Sunday 12 – 4pm
Provocatively titled but thoughtfully curated, Hag. will bring together the work of 13 of Scotland’s most inventive, creative and impactful women craft artists, including Lise Bech, Judith Davies, Caroline Dear, Claire Heminsley, Fiona Hutchison, Ruth Elizabeth Jones, Gilly Langton, Jo McDonald, Susie Redman, Patricia Shone, Carol Sinclair, Amanda Simmons and Emma Louise Wilson. Celebrating the knowledge, power & alchemy mediated by their work, the exhibition will celebrate craft skills and approaches to practice developed by these significant women over decades of work and personal endeavour.
To find out more please visit the Fife Contemporary website here.
Consultations to look out for
Polling Place Review:
Local authorities are required to carry out regular reviews of their polling districts and polling places, in accordance with Section 18(c) of the Representation of the People Act 1983. The last review was completed in 2019.
The scope of this review does not cover UK Parliament or Scottish Parliament constituency or local government ward boundaries. These are set by the Boundary Commission for Scotland and not the Council.
This review will commence on 16th December 2024. Any comments on the Council’s current polling arrangements, along with suggestions for alternative arrangements, are welcomed from all interested parties. This includes any person or body with expertise in access for persons with any type of disability.
Place Matters: Call for Sites and Ideas:
Call for sites and ideas for Fife's Place Plan. For a site or idea about Fife's places to be considered for inclusion in Fife's Place Plan you will be required to complete the online form providing as much information as possible.
All sites and ideas submitted to the Place Matters process will have to be tested against our site assessment criteria.
Proposal to Establish a New Stage of Education Within a School - New Additional Support Class (ASC) Within Strathallan Primary School, Kirkcaldy:
On 5 December 2024, the Cabinet Committee of Fife Council authorised the Education Directorate to undertake a statutory consultation in terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 on the proposal to establish a new Additional Support Class (ASC) provision within Strathallan Primary School from Monday 18 August 2025.
The public consultation will start on Tuesday 7 January 2025 and run until Friday 21 February 2025 with the consultation period covering 31 school days.
This proposal is to establish a new ASC provision within Strathallan Primary School from Monday 18 August 2025.
Cowdenbeath Area Transport Plan:
We would like your views on transport in and around the Cowdenbeath area to help shape the Cowdenbeath Area Transport Plan.
The purpose of this consultation is to allow the community to feed into the development of an Action Plan for improving travel and connectivity in your area.
Area Transport Plans are designed to support fair and sustainable access for all to everyday activities by walking, wheeling, cycling, public transport or other vehicles. There is supporting information with this questionnaire that explains the community input from groups and residents so far that has helped identify transport problems in the area.
To view the consultation and share your views, please click here.
Staying Safe and Keeping Connected
The winter season can be especially tough for some. Fife Adult Support and Protection have released their Staying Safe and Keeping Well booklet, which has a wide range of different support available for anyone looking for a little helping hand.
Are you concerned about someone who may be at risk of harm or neglect?
Call the Fife Adult Protection Phone Line on 01383 602200 or in an emergency call 999.
If you have concerns about a child, call Social Work on 03451 55 15 03 or Police 101.
Funding
If you are interested in finding out more about the funding available to your organisation, please make use of the local and national resources below:
Fife Council: Fife Council Funding Portal
Fife Voluntary Action: Funding and Finance
SCVO: Funding Scotland
If you are looking to share funding opportunities that may benefit local community groups and organisations that cover the different protected characteristics, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at info@centreforequalities.org.uk, calling 01592 645310, text on 07800 005834.
Get in touch
Do you have any concerns that you would like to share? Or just looking for a chat? Get in touch!
Email us at: info@centreforequalities.org.uk
Call us on: 01592 645310
Text us using: 07800 005834
Or even write to us: New Volunteer House, 16 East Fergus Place, Kirkcaldy KY1 1XT
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