Purpose: To create an inclusive city for all

Stimulus/Rationale: Bradford Council is pioneering new ways to end segregation by bringing together people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds in schools, workplaces and shared public spaces.

Process:

Spearheading this effort is the innovative Bradford for Everyone programme, which serves both as a laboratory for new initiatives and ideas and as an engine to propel change. At its core lays the will to help people to better understand each other, respect one another and mix in the public and private arenas.

The programme carries out extensive and innovative research to better adjust its initiatives, by looking into the markers of integration and cohesion across Bradford’s constituency.

The work focusses on four key areas:

Getting On - Addressing factors affecting economic participation and language skills.

Getting Along - Promoting greater interaction, dialogue and understanding between people from different backgrounds; ensuring that people understand fully their rights and freedoms as well as their responsibilities.

Getting Involved - Generating, and connecting people to, opportunities to participate in community and civic life and strengthening inclusive leadership.

Feeling Safe - Tackling hate crime and the fear of hate crime so that everyone feels safe. Supporting inclusive sustainability to minimise, or protect against, the consequences of Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss and their impacts upon our communities.

Initiatives such as the Changing Places programme work in partnership with local enterprises such as Bradford College and focus on building skills and on providing a support network for new arrivals, to facilitate their integration in the community. Another initiative is the Anti-rumours & Critical Thinking Strategy, inspired by ICC’s Anti-rumours methodology.

The 'Bradford for Everyone' programme has also funded a number of small-scale projects which aim to address both interculturalism and improve environmental conditions. The funding is delegated through the "Innovation Fund” based on the four priority areas outlined above.

‘Friends of Bradford Moor Park’ is an initiative under ‘Getting Involved’ priority of the programme. It highlights the importance of biodiversity and clean, safe spaces for general health and wellbeing through hands-on education and tree planting, involving local residents and the wider Bradford community. Another Innovation Fund project focused on growing plants and vegetables, home cooking with children, and learning about other cultures through food. 

Impact:

The Bradford for Everyone brand is a positive legacy from the successful Integration Area Pilot programme by the same name which was funded by the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

Key reference documents:

For more information see the website: https://bradfordforeveryone.co.uk/who-we-are/