Enfield Racial Equality Council was founded in 1976 after new legislation was brought into the UK to prevent racial discrimination
Enfield Racial Equality Council (EREC) has celebrated its 50th anniversary – as its chief executive said it remains “more important now than ever”.
EREC was established in 1976 after new legislation was brought into the UK to prevent racial discrimination.
The two founders of the charity were Leslie Dubow and Vince Campbell, who have since passed away, but Leslie’s widow Leila and Vince’s daughter Patricia Hyman both attended a special event last Tuesday (27th October) at Enfield Civic Centre to mark the 50th anniversary.
Patricia said afterwards: “I had the honour and privilege of paying tribute to my late father, Vincent Emmanuel Campbell MBE, one of the pioneering founders of the organisation alongside his dear friend Leslie Dubow.
“Standing before everyone and reflecting on dad’s remarkable journey, his determination to challenge racial discrimination, his commitment to the community and the opportunities he helped create for others was an incredibly proud moment for me and our family.
“The response to my tribute was overwhelming, and the kind words I received afterwards genuinely touched my heart.”
Paul Ridell, a local resident and former head of legal strategy at the Commission for Racial Equality, spoke about the challenges facing communities in 1976 and the significance of the Race Relations Act at that time and equalities issues today.
Matthew Johnson, chief executive of Race on the Agenda, spoke about exploring why active dialogue, advocacy and structural equity remain critically important.
And Bevin Betton, EREC’s chair, emphasised the need not to be complacent and to “stay vigilant against the rising threat of extremism”.
Reflecting on last week’s event, EREC chief executive Chandra Bhatia – who has herself been involved with the group for 40 years – told the Dispatch: “It was very good and very well attended by more than 60 people and representatives of community organisations and our members.
“We got a tribute to our founding members Leslie and Vincent who are sadly not with us now, but whose families were there and other people who were our pioneers.”
When EREC held its first meeting in 1976, racists from the National Front protested outside. “It was really quite tough for them at the start,” said Chandra. “There are all these policies and strategies now that people take for granted, but it has become an uphill battle with people trying to tear these things down again.”
EREC is based at Community House in Edmonton and works with Enfield Council and local groups to ensure their policies and services “provide for and are sensitive to the needs of all the community”. For people experiencing racial harassment or discrimination, EREC can provide initial advice, information and signposting to local support agencies.
Regarding EREC’s ongoing role in the community, Chandra said: “To me, being involved in this work is about trying to fight for equality, racial justice and on a personal level having suffered discrimination myself it is important to do something about it.
“I thought I was only getting involved for a short time, but it has become a lifetime. Now unfortunately the need is there for these things.
“These are hard times again, people are very divided and blaming each other and different communities for taking jobs away and all sorts of things, so we still need that resilience and determination to carry on.
“It is depressing in one way, but it’s important to keep it up.”
Chandra added: “It is still needed because there’s a lot of extremism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and people trying to blame easy targets. We need to still fight against it.
“People now are more isolated than ever and they are easy targets for extremists. That is why these organisations are still so important. We can’t just sit on our hands.”
For more information about EREC:
Email [email protected]
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