Integration efforts in Page Hall 'should be example for rest of UK'
A community leader in Sheffield's Page Hall is calling for the rest of the country to learn from the work being done there to bring ethnic groups together
It's claimed community work in Sheffield's Page Hall should be used as an example to divided communities across the country.
It's as a review's warned Britain is becoming more divided as it grows more diverse - with growing "ethnic segregation".
Dame Louise Casey - who was brought in by David Cameron to report on social integration - mentions Page Hall in her review, saying an influx of Roma people has created "pressure on schools" in the area.
But community leaders in Page Hall have told Hallam a lot of progress has been made there in recent years
Gulnaz Hussain's from the Pakistan Advice & Community Association - she says communities have become a lot more accepting of each other:
"It is a very difficult situation to live in but everyone has become tolerant of each other - we've become better and tolerant with what we deal with on a day-to-day basis as well. Our centre's about bringing people together and if that means a particular community doesn't feel comfortable sitting alongside other communities we'll work at that."
"What's lacking in all the things going round in the media, in this report, is communities have to find a way of coming together themselves. It's not about us putting them together, forcing them together and forcing them to be a certain way."
The Pakistan Advice & Community Association have set up a Sheffield Roma Network to help integration in Page Hall and across the city.
There are over 6,000 Roma people living in Sheffield - mostly in Page Hall.
In her review, Dame Louise Casey suggests teaching British values like tolerance, democracy and respect in schools to tackle ethnic segregation.
Gulnaz says kids are growing up in Page Hall learning those values already:
"Every culture will learn and adopt to the British values but that doesn't mean that our culture should not be respected. My children don't feel different from the white British boy in the classroom sat next to them. My son's got lots of white British friends who come to our house - and same with Pakistani friends and Yemeni friends."
"The good example that should be used across the country is to have an organisation that's based in an area where there's multiple and complex needs and diversify your staff so people feel accepted - so people don't think there's just one community. People say Roma people need to be in a different room, they need their own community centre - no, we have argued that we should all be together with one community voice."