aid or urban programme sponsorship:
if they did not choose, there were still
other initiatives which could be pursued with the community generally. The Manpower Services Commission Opportunities for Volunteering and local charitable money were obvious, if hard pressed, sources of funding for special projects and many existing voluntary projects designed to help the disadvantaged, including adult literacy schemes, the youth training schemes and other special programmes could help in the development of services.
26.
The point is worth making now that although the local authority associations turned their face against the assumption of special responsibilities towards the Vietnamese, they undertook not to dissuade any local initiative in which the agencies obtained an authority's involvement. We were grateful for this. At this stage it may be helpful, therefore, to describe the achievements in various parts of the country.
In
27. Things are moving in a number of parts of England and Wales. London, several of the boroughs have shown themselves sympathetic to projects to develop the community and to improve their prospects for employment. Greenwich are co-operating in 5 year Urban Programme funding for 3 workers; Lewisham have funded a post to develop employment initiatives and are considering 2 other positions; in Southwark the Vietnamese have formed an organisation which has a worker funded by the borough; Lambeth employs a refugee, in its housing department, with special responsibility for the Vietnamese and is considering an application under the Inner City Partnership for funding of a community centre with youth facilities; in Tower Hamlets funding applications for a worker are before the borough and the London Docklands Urban Development Corporation; and in Hackney and Islington, consideration is being given to the funding of a centre with the support of the Social Services Department and the Race Relations Adviser. We are aware that the Greater London Council is prepared to give favourable consideration to funding projects which they judge to have a strategic role in helping the community. In addition to the initiatives being developed with local authorities there are now Vietnamese working from citizens advice bureaux with plans for more and a number of Vietnamese workers are engaged through the Manpower Services Commission's Community Programme.
28. In the West Midlands, Birmingham City Council have put forward to Government for consideration 3 Urban Programme applications for work with the Vietnamese. In Leeds a Vietnamese worker is employed now for 3 years under the Urban Programme, though a similar application made through the Council of Voluntary Service in Bradford recently failed. Workers are employed by support groups using MSC funds or other money e.g. Nottingham, Leeds, Gateshead, Telford and Skelmersdale, while in Derby, the local community relations office has taken over sponsorship of an MSC worker. Some authorities e.g. Cheshire and in Darlington, have made posts available to work with support groups in community work and language teaching while others have also chosen in the past year to make funds available for the agencies' work in their area e.g. Humberside, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield and Northampton.
29.
More is being sought next year though the response is not certain.
In Scotland where there are around 800 Vietnamese, the principal settlements are in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee although none of these has more than 200 Vietnamese. In Strathclyde, the authorities are examining a proposal to place Vietnamese workers through the Community Programme in local community education offices. In Dundee a strongly established voluntary organisation employs two refugee workers using MSC and other funding while in Aberdeen an MSC funded post is attached to the Social Services Department.
6.