The All Wales Hate Crime Research Project was funded by The Big Lottery Fund (2010 – 2013) and led by Race Equality First in partnership with Cardiff University. The research for the Hate Crime Project is the first of its kind to ever be conducted in the UK, with 1,810 individuals interviewed for the study. Our research was used to develop the Framework for Action on Hate Crime by the Welsh Government. It is the often referred to in plenary by Welsh Government ministers with the First Minister of Wales making reference to the Project findings only recently.

The primary aim of the research was to generate robust data on both the nature of hate crime and hate-related incidents in Wales and the impact of this victimisation on individuals, their families and local communities. The study focuses on the 5 protected characteristics for hate crime recognised by the Home Office:

• Disability;
• Race & Ethnicity;
• Religion & Belief;
• Sexual Orientation, and
• Transgender Status/ Gender Identity.

However, the Project also recognises the existence of hate crime victimisation on the basis of age and gender and both of these identity characteristics are included and examined in the study1. The wide-ranging scope of the research ensures it has generated the most comprehensive dataset on hate crime victimisation in the UK at the date of publication.

The Equality and Human Rights in the Community Project ran for 2 years at REF from September 2011 to September 2013. The project, funded by the Lloyds TSB Foundation, aimed to raise awareness of individuals’ rights under the Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights legislation.

The project provided free training and workshops to equip individuals and communities with knowledge and tools to challenge discrimination, poor service and inequality at a local level as well as to increase confidence in individuals to assert their rights in their everyday lives. Over 125 people from 25 different organisations and from community groups received training with many training sessions over-subscribed.

The Community Resilience Project provided support for individuals who are vulnerable to being targeted by and/or recruited to a violent extremism cause.

• Raise the profile of the Muslim community in Cardiff.
• Promote community cohesion and rejection of extremism.
• Increase youth participation in social and civic life by offering young people constructive leisure and community based activities as well as advice and support in preventing general exclusion.
• Enhance young people’s prospects in education and employment thereby reducing any vulnerability they may have in being targeted by extremists.
• Create awareness of all faiths and promote interfaith/cultural dialogue.
• Ensure girls and young women actively participate in preventing violent extremism.

• Developing Outreach Youth Projects linked to local mosques to encourage greater engagement with local young people to establish the Young Muslim People’s Network. This Network had links to the IMAN and promoted community cohesion and rejection of extremism.
• Working in partnerships with Forums of Faith.
• Developing a Muslim Sisters’ Network (MSN), linked to their local mosque, to actively participate in preventing violent extremism.

Provision of language assistance and advice related to accessing a variety of local services including housing, health, English language and welfare for Eastern European Roma families.

• Support Eastern European Roma families with language assistance and advice on local services including housing, health and education.

• Establishing drop-in advice sessions for Roma communities.
• Disseminating information about the available support amongst the Roma communities and local service providers
• Assisting with accessing services such as GP surgeries, housing, English language classes, employment, welfare support and others.
• Providing assistance with completing forms and documents.
• Organising awareness raising sessions / producing advice information.

The project (funded by the European Social Fund) aimed to improve the employment prospects of refugees and economic migrants in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

• Work directly with individuals who were economic migrants or refugees and also with employers.
• Help refugees and economic migrants fulfil their potential and use their wealth of skills to contribute to the economy and contribute to society.

• Twice monthly Banking Clinic
• Employment Drop-in Centre
• Migrant and Refugees Information Day
• Call Centre Training Day
• Trips to places of interest in Wales to help raise awareness of Welsh culture and society.
• A seminar in partnership with WLGA on ‘Economic Migrants - Responding to Local Needs’.

Funded by ACW and the Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust, Race Equality First’s Memorable Moments in our Lives Project was an artistic exploration of birth, marriage and death, aimed to improve art skills as well as promote community cohesion.

• To develop and enhance the artistic skills of children from 10 primary schools in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.
• To promote community cohesion through the learning and sharing of information about diverse traditions and cultures.

• Teach children, from years 5 and 6, how to use a variety of art forms.
• Creating works of art including masks, 5ft puppets and banners.
• Researching the project theme and discussing these various practices of birth, marriage and death with each other, their families and communities.

In October/November 2007 REF exhibited its Tactile Sculptures at Barry Library, in the Vale of Glamorgan as part of the Black History Month celebrations.

• In October/November 2007 REF exhibited its Tactile Sculptures at Barry Library, in the Vale of Glamorgan as part of the Black History Month celebrations. This was the third time that these amazing sculptures had been shown. In February 2007 they were displayed at the Senedd, the home of the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff Bay and in December 2006 they were exhibited at The Old Library Cardiff.

Featuring a series of dramatic papier-mache sculptures on the theme of “Wales’ Impact on the World and the World’s Influence on Wales”, the exhibitions were the highpoint of an exciting arts project between 10 primary schools in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan and REF. The children who took part worked with our Arts Project Co-ordinator, Katrina Willis, to create models that expressed their interpretation of this theme and they drew inspiration from technology, science, the arts, tourism and cuisine. The sculptures ranged from an 8 foot tall Samurai Warrior to a model of the Millennium Stadium.

The project aimed to bridge the education and social gap for young people and their parents from newly arriving communities.

• To provide opportunities for newly arriving communities to gain full access to and to become socially included within the context of different and new education systems.
• To facilitate opportunities for social cohesion, intercultural dialogue immersion and full integration and inclusion within the school system, local communities and society in general.
• To prepare current and future teaching and non-teaching staff to meet the needs of migrant communities and their institutions and in the wider community.
• To improve teachers understanding and training which enables them to access the skills necessary to write and deliver effective lesson plans taking into account new and recently arrived communities.
• To develop documents, adaptable for individual schools, which will serve as a flexible toolkit to assist schools to address the identified issues.
• To support newly qualified teachers and student teachers in preparing them for the future employment in the evolving educational environment.

• Establishing a parent support group.
• Establishing an information and support system for newly arrived parents.
• Developing and disseminating a Welcome Pack for new arrivals in a number of community languages.
• Carrying out regular school audits.
• Developing and delivering student teacher training.
• Writing and delivering awareness workshops for schools.