#BlackLivesMatter

In June we posted the below blog post in response to #blacklivesmatter.  Since then we have been working on the points that we outlined and as promised, below you will find where we are, with each of them.

Review and update our equality and diversity policy.

• This is still under review and we will be looking to work with someone who specialises in this area.  We want to make sure that it is properly embedded and shared throughout the organisation.

Have conversations and conduct surveys to understand in more detail, the diversity across our volunteers and guests.

• In a recent survey, we asked our volunteers if they thought FoodCycle guests and volunteers represented the diversity of their local community, 66% answered yes. This was from a survey of 239 volunteers across the country (chart below).
• We will be conducting a guest survey in the next few months and we will be using this to understand, in more detail, the diversity of the people that we support.
• When volunteers first register, we ask them to provide information on their ethnicity/race.  We reviewed these responses and compared them to national statistics. We are pleased to report that the diversity of FoodCycle volunteers is much higher than the national average and we will be continuing to monitor this and ensure that we do all we can to keep it this way.

Find new ways to ensure that people from minority backgrounds are represented across the charity (employees, trustees, volunteers and guests).

• This is ongoing and something that we hope our working group will help and support us with.

Seek advice and guidance from charities and organisations working in this area and members of the BAME community, to help us address and drive change and look at how we can set up a BAME working group to support us longer term.

• We have been in touch with a number of people and charities that are working in this area and we will continue to seek support and advice where needed.  We are also in the process of inviting people to join our equality, diversity and inclusion working group, please see more information on this below.

Compile and share a list of resources and links with staff and volunteers to support them in educating themselves on the subject.

• This is something that we still need to develop and will enlist the help from the members of our new working group.

Share our learnings along the way, recognising that we will not always get things right, but we will listen and work to continually improve.

• We will share our next update in January 2021

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION WORKING GROUP

Can you help us continue to improve and develop in this area? We are looking for people from various backgrounds to join our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion working group.  We want a range of different people to reflect the diversity of the people and communities that we support. We would ideally want to ensure that we have representatives to cover the following areas:

• Individuals who identify as PoC/ BAME
• Individuals identifying as LGBTQ+
• Individuals who have lived experience of loneliness, poverty (food or other), low income, and/or mental health.
• Individuals who identify as having a disability

The group will meet (virtually), a couple of times a year to discuss topics such as how we as FoodCycle can continue to support diversity in our organisation. We want to truly reflect the communities that we are serving in, and make sure that we feel open and welcoming to all those who would like to get involved.  We are looking for ideas, and discussion on how we can improve our internal structures to be even more inclusive and open, and finally how is best to share and highlight these improvements and changes within FoodCycle and also with other organsations that we work with.

If you would like to join our working group, please email us on hello@foodcycle.org.uk

Blog Post from 11th June

At FoodCycle we bring communities together by providing a safe and friendly environment, where everyone is greeted with a big smile.  We strive for a society where no one is hungry or lonely and take pride in welcoming people from all backgrounds and walks of life, 85% of guests said that they had met people from different backgrounds at a FoodCycle meal.

We want employees, volunteers, trustees, supporters, guests and beneficiaries to feel valued, regardless of their race, background, religion, or circumstance.

Like many, recent events have made us stop and consider the changes that society can make to ensure we live in a world free from racism, and we want to constructively engage in the fight against it and help create change.

We want to work harder within our organisation to help stamp out racial prejudice and we want to support our staff and volunteers and encourage them to do the same.

We recognise that we are not alone in the charity sector in facing a lack of diversity amongst our employees, and we will take a lead to address that.

In particular, our senior management team and trustees will take concrete action to ensure the charity, as a whole, reflects diversity.

We have agreed that we will:

• Review and update our equality and diversity policy
• Have conversations and conduct surveys to understand in more detail, the diversity across our volunteers and guests
• Find new ways to ensure that people from minority backgrounds are represented across the charity (employees, trustees, volunteers and guests)
• Seek advice and guidance from charities and organisations working in this area and members of the BAME community, to help us address and drive change and look at how we can set up a BAME working group to support us longer term
• Compile and share a list of resources and links with staff and volunteers to support them in educating themselves on the subject
• Share our learnings along the way, recognising that we will not always get things right, but we will listen and work to continually improve

We will share another update on the above points in September.

If you have any concerns, suggestions or ideas on ways that we can make sure we are doing everything we can, or if you have any links or recommendations for our list of resources, then please email hello@foodcycle.org.uk