Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council

That the Parliament commends Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) for its work to support local communities during the COVID-19 lockdown; understands that the ELREC partnered with Fareshare and local businesses, Leith decides, and Edinburgh Community Food (ECF), to provide weekly food boxes to local communities, including BAME communities; recognises that ELREC provided 35 to 60 food boxes each week with the help of volunteers, providing over 2,000 food boxes to local communities; notes that ELREC launched the Equally Informed project to provide trustful information to thousands of marginalised people in Scotland, with the focus being to help those in Edinburgh and Lothians; understands that this was due to some communities relying on foreign sources for COVID-19 information and not the information that was provided by the NHS and local government because of certain barriers; understands that ELREC received many enquiries from BAME communities asking for help with digital devices, due to schooling, exams, and socialising having shifted to online approaches; further understands that, through a grant to Connecting Scotland, ELREC was able to secure and provide 85 digital devices to families in need in Edinburgh, and to provide a further 135 devices to low income, BAME and single parent families, and expresses its thanks to funders, volunteers, and active community members for their time and efforts.