The Inspiring youth Awards were launched in February 2007 by the Recruiting Department in conjunction with the South Yorkshire Black Police Association, the award is aimed at young ethnic minority people aged 13 to 17 year old from our local communities, encouraging them to become leaders and do well in their studies whatever that might be.

The results of the pilot proved very positive showing the huge commitment, enthusiasm and dedication that our young people achieved whilst working towards this award.

Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is one of the world’s largest and most influential dance education, training and membership organisations.  With over 13,000 members, resident in  79 countries.  The Academy aims to build on its foundations in ways that are appropriate to today’s world and to answer the contemporary needs and aspirations of all young people.

Escape Studios say they’re different. They train people but they are not an academic institution; they sell software and hardware but they’re not an ordinary reseller; they provide talent but don’t operate like a standard recruitment agency. Whilst they’re certainly emphatic about what they’re not it does beg the question as to what they really are.

The Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge has launched a new recruitment drive to encourage more ethnic minority undergraduates and graduates to consider a career in teaching.  I joined the University in October 2005 as Minority Ethnic Recruitment Officer for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education courses (PGCE) and have been visiting schools, colleges and universities, as well as community leaders, women’s groups, information centres, community associations in the Eastern Region to find out why graduates from ethnic minorities are less likely than their white peers to go into teaching and to try and change their perceptions.

It’s 5.30 am and everywhere is enveloped in darkness. My alarm goes off. I grudgingly turn around; about to switch off the loud rings disrupting my sleep until it hits me. Today is Monday. Work beckons. Against my will, I get up and prepare for another day, another week of long distance commuting, long hours at work, social activities, short sleeping hours, and all the pressures that comes with it.

“It’s hard to believe that what would now be a crime against humanity was legal at the time…I believe that the bicentenary offers us a chance…to express our deep sorrow that it ever happened, that it could ever have happened and to rejoice at the different and better times we live in today.”

--Tony Blair

Sunday November 26

Birmingham is the UK’s second largest city, home-town to Jamelia, Cat Deeley, Ozzy Osbourne, and my second home and place of study: the University of Birmingham.

As Britain becomes increasingly culturally diverse, the government is recognising the need for a more tolerant society. Often one hears the words, “Britain is multicultural but not tolerant” Whilst this remains a constant hindrance to Britain’s progress, there is a tendency for the government and wider society to tackle intolerance by adopting and adapting policies to clearly defined discriminated groups. In recent years, the Home Office has released a number of manuals to police forces, schools and employers on creating social acceptance of recognised communities and individuals. This is a prerequisite for the harmonized society that the government is attempting to construct, but it only scratches the surface. Whilst society may become more tolerant of certain social groupings, the problem of creating open-mindedness to differing beliefs, creeds, values and opinions is a result of ridding society of socially earmarked prejudices. But this assumption coupled with the survival of the age-old Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) attitude embedded in British behaviour has allowed bigotry to prevail.

Choosing a university is hard. You’re not only trying to find something which will keep you interested for at least three years, you’re trying to keep everyone around you happy as well.