Embracing Diversity is one of 76 Development Partnerships in England, Scotland and Wales funded through Equal and the European Social Fund. As the project enters its final year it's time to think about round two!

An event was held at the Commonwealth Institute in London to launch "Equal 2" and Chris John, Office Manager, Gill Moss, Business Manager and Rachel Clarke, Funding Manager were there from Stockport, along with Lee Salad, Project Co-ordinator at Bury EST.

First up were addresses from Chris Pond, MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and representatives from the European Commission. Workshops on the achievements of the programme to date were held around the eight themes of which Embracing Diversity works on Theme A, Employability - facilitating access and return to the labour market.

European delegates were also in attendance to learn from the GB experience and interest was shown from countries including Poland and Lithuania.

Ruth Santos, one of the event's organisers said the event had been a big success with 53 stands and over 530 people attending. She said, "Equal is about innovation and this is a chance to ask current Development Partnerships about their experiences and to celebrate with them their innovative projects."

Note

The second round of Equal runs from this year until 2008 and makes 100 million pounds available for the best, most innovative projects to tackle discrimination in and exclusion from the labour market.

For more information about Equal, visit Ecotec's website