It is another word around which structures,resources,reports,research are being built.It is another word which has been institutionalised in such a manner that it effectively risks having no meaning and no substance. In spite of the rhetoric behind partnerships the reality in many arenas remains the same.It is still all too common to see that partnerships have not undermined exclusiveness -neither have they promoted genuinely inclusiveness.

There is no partnership. Leading national voluntary agencies,local authorities, health authorities et al define what needs to be done and they take the lead. They then come and look for 'selected' partners to access funding or give an impression that they are 'involving' the community. Our 'involvement' in partnerships is held together by funding some Asian and ethnic minority community groups or projects for us. We remain subjects of the debate not equal participants in it.

We rarely get mainstream agencies to be our partners in our programmes. Critically we do not run the partnerships. Critically we are not allowed to see ourselves as leading any partnerships.

Our Partnerships equal and real
Below we highlight some equal partnerships. Here we examine partnerships,which are formally negotiated,agreed and written down. Partnerships where we have agreed principles,specific objectives,set aside resources and timescales.

A Partnership between: ARHAG Housing Association Ltd.and TAHA
Sector: Housing and social regeneration
Partnership on: Building a holistic multi-service centre offering a range of health and social care support services incorporating housing and social regeneration.
Partnership on: The development of a national training centre on Information Technology and capacity building for Asian and ethnic minority communities.

TAHA and ARHAG have been jointly discussing the impact of social exclusion of our communities:

• failure of existing mainstream agencies to work with community groups and members of our communities,
• importance of key Asian and ethnic minorities Õinstitutions themselves to join together.

This partnership is committed to a holistic approach and is attempting to create a multi service centre incorporating a range of inter-related health and social care support services, run and managed by the 2 partners.

This partnership is also working on developing national training programmes for Asian and ethnic minority communities, coordinated through a training centre managed by the 2 partners. The training will particularly focus on information technology, community leadership and capacity building.

A Partnership between: SCOPE Southern Area Partnership Team and TAHA.
Sector: Services for Asians with disabilities
Partnership on: Sensitising mainstream voluntary and statutory sector service providers and planners to be responsive and accountable to Asian service users.

The framework of this partnership is based around our Parvaaz project in Slough and entails a multi-pronged strategy which wouId dovetail to effectively create a 'good model of working within Asian communities' which can be replicated in other regions of the UK. Parvaaz offers support services to young Asian people with disabilities and their carers. In our judgement it effectively deals with the effects of social exclusion. Any meaningful and holistic strategy must involve a specific focus on dealing with the causes of social exclusion.

This TAHA and SCOPE partnership has been negotiated to focus on work addressing the social exclusion of Asians with disabilities by mainstream voluntary and statutory service providers and evaluating the real impact of institutional practice e.g. equal opportunities policies, consultation exercises, appointment of Asian staff and so on. A consultant will monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of existing strategies used by mainstream agencies to promote take-up of existing services and disseminate findings nationally.

SCOPE and TAHA have entered into a 3-year partnership resulting in the development of proposals for an Asian Development Officer post. SCOPE has committed half the funding towards the salary of this post and is jointly working with TAHA to secure match funding.

The partnership between our Agency and Scope has necessitated both an analysis of how the commissioning and delivery of services for Asian people with disabilities by established institutions has failed,and a departure from existing approach and practice.

Our Parvaaz project provides a national holistic model of operation.It entails a worker to support directly those excluded (dealing with the effects of social exclusion), a worker to influence and examine existing practices and policies (dealing with the causes of exclusion)and a consultant to document analyse and provide effective community and institutional models.

We are confident that this partnership will provide a 'national model' of collaboration between 2 different agencies to harness mainstream and community resources and skills to empower people with disabilities and improve their quality of life. It will provide valuable information on effective methods and models of meaningful social inclusion and equity in services