Julian Harrison Consultant

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about

After working in academia and then in rugby league development and promotion, I have spent the last twenty years of my life working in community engagement, development and in the specific areas of equality, diversity, community cohesion and human rights. Indeed, I am  recognised and respected for this work both in Leicestershire and wider afield. Originally trained as a musician – I gained a music scholarship to Gordonstoun and then studied music at the University of Durham – I went on to pursue other interests gaining further qualifications from the Universities of Leicester and Leeds. However, my ongoing passion for social justice and history resulted in an immersion in exploring themes related to the Holocaust. During the course of the last fifteen years or so I have spent many weeks visiting Holocaust related sites in Germany, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, France and Poland, undertaking research and taking photographs. I established Holocaust Memorial Day observance at my place of work, producing annual exhibitions and lectures based on my own research material. My identity as a passionate campaigner for human rights also stems from my own mental illness (I have clinical depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Anxiety Disorder) and the life of my brother, Danny, who had Down Syndrome and who sadly passed away in 1996. I am also autistic. I devote a lot of my time to encouraging a greater awareness and understanding of mental ill health and autism, offering advice and guidance to those directly affected and addressing the stigma and discrimination that still seems to accompany both mental illness and neurodevelopmental conditions. I have spoken in the media, to organisations, students and in public on these matters and do lots of work from a lived experience perspective in universities, for mental health organisations and others. I live in Wigston Harcourt, on the edge of the city of Leicester. I am married (to Lesley) and have four children – Leomi, Luke, Joel and Ellory – and two grandchildren, Lily and Lenny

The Consultant

After leaving employment in the public sector, I have established myself as a Consultant specialising in equality, diversity, inclusion, community cohesion, human rights, mental health and autism (both from a lived experience perspective).

This stems from twenty years experience of working in these areas, particularly with so-called marginalised, socially excluded and ‘easy to ignore’ communities. My methods were simple, but effective. I would take time to get to know people as they are, not as products or consumers, but as people with real needs, worries and challenges, people who have hopes, wishes and aspirations. People are wonderful to be around. They serve to inspire as well as to educate. They have knowledge, they have passions. They want to make a difference.

All I did was to try to make that happen by working with them, not for them.

I can offer you commitment as well as expertise. Whatever your project or policy, your plan or programme, I can help you to make the best out of working with people. I can help you reach and learn, listen and address, change and move forward.

The Equality Act 2010 sets out nine ‘protected characteristics’. They are:

  • Age
  • Disability
  • Gender Reassignment
  • Marriage or Civil Partnership
  • Pregnancy and Maternity
  • Race
  • Religion or Belief
  • Sex; and
  • Sexual Orientation

I have worked in all these domains and with groups and individuals that hold these identities, either individually or collectively. I am well respected for my work and have well-sourced and cultivated contacts within community groups that I can help to introduce you to, whatever your role, function or task.

Specifically, I can help you with the following (and more):

  • Advisory work
  • Advocacy work
  • Awareness of current initiatives, strategic thinking and developments
  • Awareness of, and research into, funding possibilities; the production of funding proposals and assistance in the completion of bids
  • Communication of relevant news, information, initiatives
  • Community cohesion knowledge and good practice
  • Community development and empowerment
  • Coordination of more effective links between public, private, University, education and voluntary sectors
  • Development of links across the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS), particularly in relation to equality organisations (across ‘protected characteristic’ communities)
  • Engagement with policy makers and political representatives
  • Equality impact
  • Equality policy and legal understanding
  • Facilitation of empowerment and engagement opportunities, particularly for those with ‘protected characteristic’ identities
  • Facilitation of training/learning and development opportunities
  • Holocaust and genocide related awareness work
  • Incorporation of Human Rights policy and considerations
  • Interpretation of policy implications
  • Learning on ‘protected characteristic’ identities, cultural understanding and competencies
  • Lived experience of mental illness and autism
  • Operation of equality measures, including structures, initiatives, strategies and policies
  • Project evaluation studies and reports
  • Research into relevant issues
  • Signposting to services
  • Supported involvement in key initiatives and on identified bodies/groups

For information on fees, please click here