THEY are barriers which have existed for generations. Yet within just 100 pages, one Hampshire man believes he can break them down.

The mastermind behind a new book covering an exhaustive range of issues, Hamid Samiy is determined to make a difference.

He has spent the last three years compiling a guide to living in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for black and minority ethnic communities.

He is confident that helping people to become better informed will reap rich rewards. "I see this as something which is even more useful than the Yellow Pages," said Mr Samiy.

Insight The guide is light, bright and crammed full of photographs and cartoons to give people a comprehensive but easy-to-understand insight into subjects ranging from police powers to the NHS and dealing with debt to domestic violence.

Moving to a foreign country where you can't speak the language and know nothing of the culture, is a daunting prospect. This is something Mr Samiy knows only too well after he was sent to the UK from Iran as a 13-year-old in 1971.

"When I arrived at the airport, I couldn't speak any English," said the father-of-two, who lives in Fareham.

"One of the reasons why I wanted to do something like this was because some people may not be as fortunate as me to come at such a young age and not have many problems."

Mr Samiy believes that issues surrounding integration of ethic communities have become complex.

"We have problems not just with first generations of many communities, but second and third generations are now torn between two cultures," he said. "Through experimenting with things like this book, we need to integrate them so they can feel a sense of belonging."

Agencies including Southampton City Council, Eastleigh Borough Council, Basingstoke Council and Hampshire Police are endorsing the guide.

There is still time for more organisations to get involved and Mr Samiy is hopeful that the NHS and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service will sign up soon.

After a number of career changes which included work as an architect, author and publisher, Mr Samiy got involved in voluntary work with ethnic communities.

This led to a two-year project to increase the confidence in the Criminal Justice System before he set up his own consultancy and wrote the book.

"I found people had a lot of problems with not knowing their rights or knowing where to seek help so I thought it would be a great idea if I could do a little bit of research on a wide range of issues to inform them about their rights and obligations," he said.

The guide also covers subjects as diverse as buying and renting a home, looking for work, understanding the law, driving, the education system, bullying, truancy and immigration rights.

Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian pocket versions have been designed as well.