The funding awarded to the Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality (ISCRE) will help the charity continue to deliver services aimed at empowering Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities in Suffolk.

The grant has been given to ISCRE from Comic Relief’s Core Strength initiative – a pilot core funding programme for smaller organisations with an income of between £100,000-£500,000.

ISCRE has reported a surge in the number of people referred to its services.

Phanuel Mutumburi, business and operations director at ISCRE, said: “This grant gives us breathing space to reflect on our current services and update them.

“This is seriously good news for Suffolk. 2017 is our 40th year in helping the county’s minority communities and this is the best birthday present we could have received.”

ISCRE has previously secured other grants to support other services, including the Tackling Discrimination in the East and Suffolk Law Advice Centre initiatives and the European Union funded Living Rights project.

For more information about ISCRE, see here.