The acknowledgement that ethnic minorities are by no means one homogenous groups and that one diversity or equality strategy will not fit all is essential. But the work of Operation Black Vote over the last 12 years has proved that, with an appropriate understanding of differing communities needs, great strides can and have been made to ensure that the higher echelons of public life starting to reflect the communities they are in place to serve.

Launched at House of Common's Jubilee Room on the 11^th July in 1996, this successful NGO is now more affectionately known as the ‘Home of black politics'. Borne out of the need to address the social and racial injustices in almost every sphere of British life, the architects behind the vision for OBV conducted research 12 years ago on how best to establish a solid base from which to politically engage black people.

Their findings revealed that the concentration of black communities in many urban areas meant that black people in reality had the potential to decide who is elected in over 100 constituencies in any general election.

‘We now felt we had a powerful narrative that would inspire black people up and down the country to register to vote and vote. The realisation of our voting power would also serve notice on mainstream political parties, who we argued would ignore us at their peril,' one of the founders and current OBV director Simon Woolley said the guardian's ‘comment is free'.

Since these research findings were made public 12 years ago, OBV have played important roles in nurturing and supporting politicians who now fill powerful places in government.

‘We have nurtured, and supported Black leaders of today and tomorrow such as David Lammy MP, Dawn Butler MP, Shahid Malik MP, Sadiq Khan MP, Adam Afiyee MP, Sayeeda Warsi, Sonika Nirwal, Gurpreet Dosanjh, Sean Baily and Wilfred Emmanuel Jones.  Today our long-term engagement programme has widened from our initial voter registration campaign that has registered many thousands to vote,' Woolley has stated.

 Their work has stood the test of time and OBV is now a respected organisation lobbying all mainstream political parties. Using a strategy that focused on the bastions of British power, of local and national government their successes are  attested to in magistrates courts, local councils, the  Welsh Assembly and  in Houses of Parliament.

Proactive in their work on public engagement their mentoring and citizen projects, which is designed and delivered  by their in house team is currently underway to educate and inform what they believe are the next generation of Britons' BME decision makers.

The programme is cleverly designed to get young men and women to understand political power within areas that they are familiar with  such as identity, media, fashion and music. Understanding power within these topic areas has proven to help them make the link more easily with power and civic society.

Since OBV lunched their first scheme in 1999  more than 500 people from all ethnic  backgrounds  from across the UK have taken part in projects that at their core empower individuals to understand and become civic decision makers. Their Citizenship project designed to help students to understand power has been introduced into more than  500 schools across the country.

The first 12 years of this pioneering orgnisations have been marked with unparralled success, which observers put down to good leadership and working well in a climate that has made this country ready for this kind of progressive change.

A testament to the work of the OBV team is their stability in producing a product of worth in a time when many in the black voluntary sector are struggling.

Concluding his commentary to mark OBV 12^th year Wolley said: ‘all my colleagues at OBV recognise the immense satisfaction of serving our communities and wider society. You won't be surprised to know that we remain impatient for long-lasting change, yet confident that what we are engaged in a process that will deliver it.

Visit OBV website to learn more or to sign up to one of their schemes.