Merlin and SARI - working together to beat racism

One of the area’s biggest social landlords has put its commitment to tackling racist incidents in writing.

Merlin Housing Society, which owns more than 8,000 properties across north Bristol and South Gloucestershire, has signed a partnership agreement with sector leaders Support Against Racist Incidents (SARI).

The agreement aims to increase community and personal safety and deal with perpetrators more effectively.

SARI will support the landlord in casework and policy and procedure reviews, as well as providing staff training and cultural awareness days for residents.

And to cement the deal, SARI helped the landlord run a special meeting where black and minority ethnic residents could come together to discuss issues and suggest improvements.

More than 30 attended and spoke with Chief Executive Ian Matthews about their experiences with the housing association and whether services meet their needs.

Said Ian: “We want our services to be representative of everyone so that people understand racism has no place on our streets. This type of crime blights communities.

“By engaging with a wide variety of our residents who have different cultures and experiences, we can find out what we need to do to include them and make our neighbourhoods better for everyone.

“We’re proud to work with SARI and other agencies to reduce the impact of racism on all our residents.”