Our Statement of Beliefs:

• BNCN believes that people have different needs and different wants, that people have different strengths and that they can make different contributions to society.
• BNCN believes that these differences should be respected and valued, and that this diversity makes a society stronger.
• BNCN believes that true equality between individuals and between communities benefits not only the individual but also the whole of society, by allowing each of us to make our contribution.
• BNCN also believes that migrants, refugees and asylum seekers should be treated with fairness and equality within British society, and enabled to make their own unique contribution to Britain’s culture and economy.

Based on these beliefs, BNCN upholds the following values in its work:

• That people should be enabled to speak for themselves, and that public authorities should speak directly to communities, through community structures that the communities devise for themselves.
• That all people are inherently equal and will be treated as such throughout our work.
• That individual who faces particular challenges in achieving will be given particular support within the network to ensure their voice is heard. This will include: women, children and young people, elders, people with disabilities, people who do not have English as a spoken or written language.
• That people should be able to make choices about which community organisations and services they use, which networks to engage in and which geographical locations they feel most affinity with. These choices should not be limited by artificial boundaries.

BNCN Definition of Terms:

BNCN has adopted the following definitions of terms commonly used with regard to our members to be sure that we all mean the same thing when we use them.

Migrant: A migrant is a person who has moved from one country to another by chance, by plan or by the action of others. This includes people who have moved to the UK in search of work, to study or to visit, or in search of permanent settlement.

Refugee: A refugee is a person who has come to the UK, seeking refuge. This includes people fleeing personal danger, through times of war, or to escape political oppression, or religious persecution.

Community: In this context we take it to it mean: Any group of people who share a common geographical location of origin (for example Africa, India, Eastern Europe) or a common ethnic or cultural background (for example Arab, Brahmin caste, Han Chinese), or a common feeling of shared identity based on political, religious or social classification (for example Christian, Stateless), or people across communities of origin or identity who share common interests and/or values (for example women, gay people or young people).

New community: A new community is one which has begun to settle in significant numbers in a particular location within the last 50 years and has formed a natural focus for shared activity and needs, within that area and distinct from the host communities activities and needs.

Host community: The wider community made up of the ‘indigenous’ population, other communities which are long established and other people who have settled within the host community and integrated into it culturally. The host community is not homogenous, however it is able to organise effectively to get its own diverse needs met and to form links with local power structures such as local and central government.