During the course of my work for the last thirty years I had to dispel many myths that floated around.

A large number of people truly believed those myths and as a result their attitude towards our multicultural society hardened.

I recall another interesting event. In 1985 we decided to organise a weekend camp for young people and police officers.

From 1974 to 1994 I had established strong links with the European cities and had great opportunities of sharing ideas with one another.

I recall my visit to Meinheim. We were invited to share some of our experiences with the race workers there. We spent five days there.

The initiative 'Newcastle City for Peace' will provide every member of the city with an opportunity of making useful contributions.

Sometimes people think in terms of big projects which are important. But every small step counts.

In the 70s people working in the health service had very little understanding about BME communities and their culture.

People think about peace only when their basic needs are met and free from tension.

Soon after I took up my post as the Director of the Racial Equality Council, I discovered that one of the most areas that needed immediate action was in the area of pre-school education.

Some five years ago, I thought of an initiative which proved very successful.

That was to publish a supplement. I made an appointment with the Editor of the Journal.

I recall another incident which shows how a person's intentions can be misunderstood.

One morning many years ago, a member from the Asian Community rang me and said that he had received a letter from the council saying the residents in Fenham have complained that he kept his shop open till 10.00pm.

One of my closest partners is the media. My partnership goes back to 1974.

One of the first things I did was to establish good working relationships with the media.

At a time when the second Race Relations Act was being discussed in the Parliament, the Nation was also considering whether we should go for integration or assimilation.

It was a very important issue and ad the end majority of people went for integration.