Research reports

 

A Charter for Co-Production Through an Anti-Racist Lens

The ‘Three-Legged RACE’ Approach

On the 8th of July 2021, the Research Action Coalition for Race Equality (RACE) invited prominent community representatives, academics, and other relevant stakeholders to its launch night. One overarching message persevered among the various discussions: co-production – as a research practice – must be re-evaluated, reformed, and reframed through an anti-racist equitable lens. On that day, RACE was formally born as an equal partnership between Black South West Network (BSWN) and the University of Bristol to address these concerns in a manner informed specifically by anti-racist and equitable co-production practices. Funded by the Brigstow Institute, the process of creating the Charter was in itself an example of equitable co-production. The Charter is designed to provide a valuable opportunity to redress these imbalances through an equitable redistribution of power within and across the research process via greater transparency and shifts in recognition of who holds formally and conventionally valued knowledge.

 

Make it Work Learning and Evaluation Report

The Benefits of Implementing a Relational Approach with the Black and Minoritised Adult Social Care Sector in Bristol

The Make it Work (MiW) programme commenced in April 2021 with the objective to embed equity within the Adult Social Care (ASC) procurement process in Bristol. Over its 2-year run, the programme became a test & learn pilot to explore new equitable ways of commissioning with smaller providers specialised in caring for and led by racially minoritised communities.

The report aims to capture this learning for all to use moving forward. In this sense, it provides:

  • An examination of the systemic barriers to contracting identified by the participants and by the programme’s delivery and strategy teams.

  • An illustration of the state of the Black and Minoritised ASC sector and the related barriers hindering the sector’s development.

  • A demonstration of how the MiW programme was designed to respond and, to a good extent, successfully responded to these barriers.

The striking impact of Covid-19 and the transition to Integrated Care Systems have accelerated transformation within the healthcare field, propelling the case for personalised care and putting people at the heart of delivery. The MiW is a successful practical example of how this can be achieved for racialised communities.

 

The Community-Led Momentum in Gloucestershire to Tackle Healthcare Inequalities

Through the Strategic Rebuilding of the Black and Minoritised Voluntary Sector

This project begun in early 2021, when the Gloucestershire Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Alliance identified a gap in the VCS representation for Black and Minoritised people in the county. The Black South West Network (BSWN) was therefore commissioned by the NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS GCCG) to undertake a piece of scoping work on the capacity and capability of the Black and Minoritised VCS voices within ICSs, also in partnership with Gloucestershire County Council (GCC). This report aims to capture both the challenges and opportunities given by the current Gloucestershire community-led momentum to tackle racial healthcare inequalities.

 

Impact of the Cost-of-Living Crisis

On Black & Minoritised Communities in Bristol

Black South West Network has conducted an extensive research project of 133 individuals throughout Bristol. Focusing on Black and Minoritised individuals, this report looks at the impact that the Cost of Living Crisis has had on said individuals. This research seeks to uncover the struggles that Black and Minoritised people are facing in light of the Cost of Living Crisis, from economic impacts to mental health, education, and access to essential services, in hopes of informing relevant organisations and bodies on the actions they can take to support those most impacted by the Cost of Living Crisis.

 

Project T.R.U.T.H

Telling, Restoring,Understanding (OUR) Tapestry (AND) History (2021)

Project T.R.U.T.H (Telling Restoring Understanding our Tapestry and History) report that was commissioned by Bristol City Council and the Bristol Legacy Steering Group, produced by Black South West Network in partnership with Afrikan ConneXions Consortium as a result of more than two years’ work by the council’s Legacy Steering Group (LSG) Project TRUTH subgroup. A six-month consultation process last year involved a range of engagement including a weekly show on Ujima Radio, an online survey in early 2021, and eight focus groups undertaken throughout the spring of 2021. To find out more about the project, please click HERE. For the report press release, click HERE.

 

 Examining the Situation of Decolonisation Within the Culture and Heritage Sector in The South West of England (2020)

As a race equality organisation, BSWN has spent the past ten years engaged in both community-based research projects with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and policy reform within the city - one helping to inform the other. Our latest project over the past year, has focused on Intangible Cultural Heritage. The aim of this research project was to collect how concepts like decolonisation, diversity and inclusion are understood and used within organisations in the South West of England.

 

Designing a New Social Reality 

Research on the Impact of COVID-19 on Bristol’s VCSE Sector and What the Future Should Be


This significant piece of work was jointly funded by Bristol City Council, Power to Change Trust and Quartet Community Foundation, and it was undertaken by Black South West Network in partnership with VOSCUR and Locality. The research aimed to analyse the impact of COVID-19 on the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector in order to assess how to foster greater community resilience in the new operating environment, and ultimately provide evidence for a thoroughly informed overall Sector strengthening recovery strategy.

Housing Black and Minoritised Communities in Bristol

A Community-led Initiative- 2020

The housing crisis is certainly not an issue exclusive to BAME people, nor just to those under any arbitrary income bracket The housing crisis in the West of England is particularly acute in Bristol, and with 75% of the region’s Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic population living in Bristol, the housing situation for these communities is complex. This research seeks to further understand how experiences, disadvantages, and needs can differ between cultures within Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic communities.

 

Priority Areas of Investment for an Effective VCSE Recovery

POST COVID-19

Black South West Network (BSWN) supported by key partners - VOSCUR and Locality - launches an interim report with initial findings on: ‘Priority Areas of Investment for an Effective VCSE Sector Recovery after the Pandemic’. The report collates data from the initial phase of an 8-month research project which aims to review the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector in Bristol after COVID-19, capturing the Sector’s crucial response to the pandemic and collecting evidence for an informed VCSE Sector recovery & strengthening strategy.

 

Impact of COVID-19 on BAME Led Businesses, Organisations & Communities

2020

Black South West Network’s (BSWN) most recent report assesses the impact of COVID-19 on BAME businesses, organisations, and self-employed individuals and explains how the virus and social distancing rules have exacerbated pre-existing dynamics of socio-economic structural inequality. The report data was collected through a survey launched immediately after the UK lockdown announcement on the 23rd March and a series of virtual sessions hosted by BSWN to increase BAME communities’ access to timely and accurate information and support. 

 

We Want to Change and They Have the Power

2018

Black South West Network’s (BSWN) most recent report assesses the impact of COVID-19 on BAME businesses, organisations, and self-employed individuals and explains how the virus and social distancing rules have exacerbated pre-existing dynamics of socio-economic structural inequality. The report data was collected through a survey launched immediately after the UK lockdown announcement on the 23rd March and a series of virtual sessions hosted by BSWN to increase BAME communities’ access to timely and accurate information and support. 

 

Engaging the BAME Social Enterprise Sector in Social Investment

A Report By Black South West Network For Connect Fund

“We need a space that we can all access to enable better collaboration, but we need multiple spaces to ensure different perspectives are met.”

This insightful review of the Black and Minoritised Social Enterprise Sector across the South West of England seeks to explore and understand the barriers and challenges faced by BAME social entrepreneurs in accessing social investment. The need for networking spaces and access to information have been identified as the key barriers to growth.