Scottish Ethnic Minority Older People Forum
The Scottish Ethnic Minority Older People Forum works to influence policy change and challenges inequality and discrimination faced by ethnic minority older people, including poverty and barriers to accessing information and services.
The forum is chaired by Mrs Mukami McCrum MBE and has 20 members from a wide range of ethnic minorities. First established in 2018, it is now hosted and supported by Age Scotland, the national charity for older people.
Since its initial launch, the forum has been a catalyst for change in Scotland, raising the collective voice of ethnic minority older people and working to ensure that planning services take on board the complex and changing needs of older people from ethnic minority communities.
We work hard to influence those in power to understand what needs to change and how to do it, ensuring that the complex and changing needs of ethnic minority older people are met. I am grateful to have so many strong community leaders as part of this forum and look forward to our next phase of work.
Mrs Mukami McCrum MBE | Chair
Key objectives of the Scottish Ethnic Minority Older People Forum
To be an inclusive Forum that respects all protected characteristics in the Equality Act and proactively encourages participation and involvement from different backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs and with different needs and concerns.
To equip Forum members with knowledge and understanding to develop leadership skills and to gain experience, which will help them develop confidence and influence change.
To engage with, encourage and support ethnic minority older people to become confident and advocates for themselves, their families and communities.
To lead and create an agenda with actions that highlights inequality and identifies gaps in current services.
To highlight and address specific needs, barriers and rights of ethnic minority older people in respect of future service design and delivery, including addressing distinct gender-specific and disability.
Continue to develop links and strengthen understanding between ethnic minority older people as service users and policymakers, planners and service providers at a local, regional and national level.
To engage with public policy makers, advisory bodies and government representatives in order to ensure the views of ethnic minority older people are heard and that they can exert influence on political debate and legislation.
To achieve greater public recognition of the capabilities, achievements and valuable contributions made by ethnic minority older people in Scotland.
To engage in new research in order to produce authoritative data and insight on the complex and changing needs of ethnic minority older people in Scotland.
To encourage more ethnic minority older people to play a prominent role in civic life in Scotland to support the emergence of more role models in volunteering and advocacy from diverse communities.
Contact the Scottish Ethnic Minority Older People Forum
Get in touch with Rohini Sharma Joshi at rohini.sharmajoshi@agescotland.org.uk and Fran Reid at fran.reid@agescotland.org.uk