FRAE Fife

Background
FRAE Fife was established as a thematic SIP in 1999, with the aims of building the capacity of and empowering the Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) communities in Fife, tackling social exclusion and improving service delivery to these communities. The organisation's primary purpose is to promote racial harmony across all races and eliminate racial discrimination. The 2001 census identified 4,426 BME residents in Fife, nearly a 50% increase on the previous census and constituting 1.3% of Fife's population. The key factors affecting BME communities, that drove the establishment of FRAE Fife and the focus of its work included: communities are dispersed across Fife and there was a lack of support structures and services specifically targeted at meeting their needs. links between public agency service providers and communities were poor. This affected service design, delivery and uptake of services. There was a lack of community development support and capacity building opportunities for community members. Between 1990 and 1997 the number of reported racially motivated incidents in Fife rose from 3 to 53. Community safety was highlighted as a key issue to be addressed. Despite higher average levels of educational attainment, people from BME communities were between two or three times more likely to be unemployed than their white counterparts. Little use was made of job clubs, employment services and careers guidance by members of BME communities. Research indicated that many families were experiencing overcrowding and were less likely to rent accommodation from social landlords. NHS Fife and Social Work Service research into the needs of older people from BME communities not using mainstream services indicated that many were isolated.