BBC Trust

The Audience Council Wales hosted an outreach event at BBC Broadcasting House, Cardiff to hear the views of young members of the Cardiff Somali community about the BBC.

Three were present and all were men. Also present was Michael Flynn, Project Director of Black Voluntary Sector Network Wales.

The participants were generally very positive towards the BBC and in particular considered the BBC the first port of call for news. Their main concerns were regarding the importance of the BBC establishing on-going partnerships rather than just visiting communities, taking what they wanted and then disappearing. One of those present contrasted the situation vis-à-vis the Drama Village development and the way in which National Theatre Wales had worked with the Butetown community for a period of two years. During these two years a production called The Soul Exchange had been created, and one question raised was whether the BBC could also have contributed to this and given it further coverage.

The participants also asked whether the BBC could help with digitising the audio and video archives of the Butetown community centre since this was an exceptionally valuable resource, outlining as it did the history of the community in that neighbourhood of Cardiff.

They asked about whether locals would be used as extras in productions in the Roath Lock drama village, and whether there could be a levy on the Roath Lock development, of 0.01% of the total cost with a view to this being directed towards assisting the local community in Butetown.

The difficulty of raising programme ideas with the BBC was also mooted since it seemed to them unclear who to contact.

However it was also said that projects undertaken thus far to bring people from the black and minority ethnic communities into the BBC works well, with introductions days taking place once every three months, giving 20 people an opportunity to see that activity of the BBC and to be introduced to programme makers and service providers. They said that these tackled the prejudices which people can have and that establishing a personal contact was key in breaking down such barriers.

A strong message was the importance of laying the foundations of a relationship with the Somali community and establishing joint projects which were mutually beneficial.