St Ann’s Unity in the Community Gala 2013

This is a letter I have sent today to the Area 6 Committee of Nottingham City Council, and copied to The Renewal Trust, in an attempt to focus their attention on the need for the 2013 Gala to be more suitable for the whole of the St Ann’s community, and not a minority as happened in 2012.

Dear Dorothy Holmes
Locality Manager
Area 6 Committee
St Ann's ward

I am not apposed to the Area 6 committee funding community groups in St Ann’s wanting to hold a gala in the ward, to bring people together to have fun & enjoy themselves during these difficult times of government cuts. I think that needs to be encouraged; it’s so good of local councillors to be able to find the money to do this as times are hard.

However, in my opinion the Area 6 committee have forgotten that St Ann’s is a multicultural society. According to the 2001 census, out of a population of 14,420 citizens over 11,330 are British, White or other White. In spite of this only 1,556 are all Black or Black British, and even if you include the 876 locals of mixed race, this ethnic group only represents 17% of the total population of St Ann’s.

In 2012 the Area 6 committee decided to fund the ‘St Ann’s Unity in the Community’ gala event on the Robin Hood Chase. The word “Unity” was entirely misleading because it was exclusively for Caribbean mix race locals. The music was Black Caribbean; the BBQ food/ drink were Caribbean in nature, and the event was attended exclusively by Black British & mixed race locals.

The majority of the St Ann’s population stayed away because they felt left out, and for fear of trouble due to racial tensions. The event split the St Ann’s community along ethnic lines, and was divisive.

Four days after this gala took place there were record crowds of British white & some Asians attending Stonebridge City Farm Summer fair.

I am concerned that the Area 6 committee did not observe the conditions in the 2010 Equality Act when your officials decided to award the Unity in the Community’ group funding to stage the St Ann’s event in 2012. As a St Ann’s citizen I believe the funds provided by your committee should have been for the use of the whole St Ann’s community of all ethnic peoples to hold a gala on the Robin Hood Chase, and not handed to one minority ethnic group.

In the event that the ‘Unity in the Community’ group make another application for funding to hold another Gala on the Robin Hood Chase this year, can you please make sure that the food & drink being made available is more traditional; tea, coffee, pop sandwiches & refreshments, along side the Caribbean BBQ. That the musical entertainment appeals to everyone’s taste as in disco, and that young white families with children are catered for.

In other words, that the event is staged for the whole St Ann’s community to enjoy the open air experience.

When I attended this St Ann’s gala in 2012 I noticed there was nothing for children; face painting, crafts, toy tambala, throwing wet sponges etc. In addition no local schools were involved in the street parade that was staged before the gala began. There was also no food for children made available; as the event appears to have been staged for adults.

If the Area 6 Committee can be more sensitive to the needs of the people of St Ann’s, which is a multicultural society with an ethnicity of over 75% white British, white Asian population, I believe this would be much more appreciated by the local community.

Yours truly,

Richard Pearson