As Director of CEMVO Scotland, I would like to welcome you to our website and hope that it will not only help to provide information about the work that we do, but more importantly, provide information for you to work with us, and to support us, in meeting the challenges of improving race equality in Scotland.

CEMVO Scotland’s aim is clear. We ultimately want to improve the quality of life for all ethnic minority communities through improving access to social welfare, social justice, health, employment, housing, education and social enterprise.  We will take on this challenge by directly building the capacity of the ethnic minority voluntary sector and its communities, while at the same time, working collaboratively, and strategically, with statutory, public, government and mainstream voluntary sector agencies in policy development and service provision.

Since initiating our operations in 2003, we have developed a close working relationship and secured our credibility with our network of 600 ethnic minority organisations throughout Scotland, and it is through this relationship that we have been able to develop a proven track record of delivering Scotland-wide programmes. And it is through this track record and credibility that we have become a strategic partner of the Scottish Government in the implementation of their Race Equality Statement.

Our journey has taken us to a juncture where we are able to highlight some of our key achievements. However, we are fully aware that the distance we have travelled is still relatively short, and that there is still a long road ahead in improving race equality in Scotland. This journey can only continue successfully with support and collaborative working with statutory, public and government agencies, as well as the continued involvement of ethnic minority organisations and communities in our range of programmes. Therefore, on behalf of CEMVO Scotland, I would like to thank you all for your support to date and hope that you will all continue to work with us in meeting the race equality challenges that lie ahead.

Colin Lee
Country Director (Scotland)