Plymouth & Devon Racial Equality Council
Case studies
Plymouth & Devon Racial Equality Council
Wide range of services for our beneficiaries
Plymouth and Devon Racial Equality Council provides wide range of services for our beneficiaries that include advocacy, casework, and group activities. This enables our organisation to provide a holistic service.
Many of the people we work with have complex needs that require intensive support that is not provided by mainstream services or in some cases ‘fall through the gaps’ in services because they do not meet their criteria, or have no recourse to public funds.
Our casework and advocacy service is person-centred; it is not time limited, but determined by the needs of each individual. This could be one or two sessions to resolve an issue, or several months for people who need more long-term support.
Between 01.04.19 and 31.03.20 we supported 204 people. This is an increase of 16.5% on the previous year.
A few examples of the support with have provided are:
Case Study 1
Ms A relocate to Plymouth with her children because she was afraid for her safety and that her children would be taken by their father or his family. PDREC supported the family to get emergency accommodation through Social Services and Plymouth City Council, and access benefits.
This case was extremely sensitive, with various issues around honour violence and child safeguarding. PDREC acted as an advocate for Ms A with a wide range of statutory organisations such as the Police, Social Services and Home Office, to ensure that she her voice was heard and that she was kept informed of what was happening.
This case was very complex and intense, particularly during the initial stages, when we provided 79 hours of support in one month to ensure the safety of the family.
The family are now settled in Plymouth.
Case Study 2
Mr B was referred to PDREC from Victim Care. He had obtained refugee status and was moved into a flat in Plymouth. From the onset he was subjected to racist abuse and antisocial behaviour from a neighbour. Mr B contacted the housing association and the police on several occasions but was told that there was nothing that they could do about it because of his neighbour’s mental health issues.
Mr B was very stressed and anxious, he was afraid to go out in case he bumped into his neighbour in the street or by the flats. This was having a huge impact on his health and wellbeing and was staying with friends whenever he could as he was too afraid to sleep in the house.
PDREC was able to liaise with the Police and Housing Association on behalf of Mr B. PDRECs intervention resulted in the perpetrator being arrest, taken to court and eventually convicted for the racial abuse. PDREC also supported Mr B to access safe, temporary accommodation, whilst the court case was going ahead, and the housing association went through the eviction process.
This was a long process that took several months. During this time PDREC provided practical and emotional support to Mr B including:
- - A referral to mental health services
- - A referral to PDRECs men’s peer support group
- - Benefit advice and support around Employment and Support Allowance and Personal Independent Payment
- - Support to apply for accommodation in other parts of the UK.
Case Study 3
Ms C is a single mum with 2 children. The family were subjected to a racist attack in Plymouth. The police attended the incident, but Ms C did not feel that the action taken by the police was appropriate or that they had kept her updated about the how the case was proceeding. PDREC acted as an advocate on behalf of Ms C to ensure that the police dealt with the incident as a racist crime and to ensure that she was kept up dated throughout the case.
Ms C was not satisfied with the outcome of the court case against the perpetrator; he was convicted of a public order, but it was not deemed as a racially aggravated crime. Ms C believed that lack of police engagement in the initial stages of the investigation was a key factor in the disappointing outcome at court.
PDREC enabled Ms C to speak to the police to discuss the errors that she felt they had made with in their investigations and the impact this had on the family’s mental health and wellbeing.
All these examples of our work are based on real case work that PDREC has undertaken. We have removed certain elements of the work to preserve the animosity of our beneficiaries.
Strategic Work:
PDREC aim is to build a just and fair society where everyone has an equal opportunity to live, learn and learn, free from prejudice, discrimination, and racism.
We value diversity and work in partnership with individuals and organisations who are committed to anti-racism and race equality.
Charitable Company:
The Plymouth & Devon Racial Equality Council (PDREC) is a charitable company limited by guarantee (incorporated on 18 August 1999 : Company No 3827654) and registered as a charity on (10 February 2004 : Charity No 1102012).
