Image: Snapshot from the Map of Community Views To understand different communities’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement, Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard and the GLA Community Engagement Team convened a series of virtual roundtable conversations and community meetings with groups and community leaders between April and September 2020. These conversations covered a range of complex issues. We heard about the overexposure of Black and Asian Minority Ethnic communities to the pandemic because they often work in frontline roles; the upsurge in hate crime against East and South East Asian Londoners; heightened need for domestic abuse support and better community language translations including specific dialects; the deep impact the virus has had on specific groups such as Somali, Bengali and Pakistani Londoners, particularly because of challenges with housing arrangements; the challenges for families around education for many groups including Gypsy, Roma, Traveller communities; concerns for LGBT+, Younger and Older Londoners; the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement; faith communities having to adapt their services and facing loss of income as a result, and much more. It was clear throughout that grassroots Faith and Community groups have played a crucial role meeting essential needs. The map of community views does not name specific groups but captures themes that can be addressed at policy level in close partnership with those affected, by recognising the strength of London’s community sector. 21 Roundtables and Community Meetings 250 Civil society and community groups reached
