Young Westminster Foundation believes that Black Lives Matter and stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

We recognise that racism is a significant issue in the charitable sector just as it is in the rest of society. In order to bring about meaningful positive change around diversity, equity and inclusion we must engage with unresolved questions around racism. We are committed to becoming an anti-racist organisation and to fighting racism wherever we find it within our YWF community and within society as a whole.

Our reflections and conversations over the past few weeks have made clear that our approach to date has been insufficient. We must listen, learn and work harder to understand what we must do to fight prejudice and discrimination and to overturn racism. 

This will be an long term approach based on the following principles:

• Acknowledging that there is a problem with racial diversity in the charity sector and our commitment to working to drive positive change.
• Listening to our community of practitioners and young people; open dialogue has never been more important. We will continue to facilitate and protect safe spaces for discussion and exploration in support of anti-racism through our member and youth worker forums. We will provide more information on how to get involved in these forums in the near future.
• We will consider the recommendations of reports such as Home Truths: Undoing racism and delivering real diversity in the charity sector (ACEVO, June 2020), which will guide our long-term action.
• Value and prioritise lived experience; listening to and learning from the lived experience of our Black colleagues – and also more widely to those from an Asian and minority ethnic background. We will also further educate ourselves on the issues of racism and structural disadvantage. 
• Review our recruitment, retention and staff/trustee training and development within our organisation. We aim to create a workforce that is as diverse and welcoming as the borough of Westminster itself. We will share this learning with, and learn from, YWF Members.
• Collaborate with our partners across Westminster and the Young People’s Foundation network; sharing learning and supporting action.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any of these principles in more detail. As with all our work we hope this will be a collaborative process towards meaningful change in support of building a more racially just society.

Join webinar #2 in Young Brent Foundation’s Black Lives Matter series: Global Thinking For A Future Without Racism

Date: Tuesday, 29th Sept 2020 10am

Location: Online Webinar Event

Click here to register your place.