The ‘Responding to #BLM Group’ was set up in the aftermath of the brutal murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA, on 25th May 2020, and the reverberations of pain felt in Black communities throughout the world and within our YMCAs.
Listening to the voices of Black staff and service users and trying to make sense of the phenomena responding to the #BLM call to action, a group of like-minded staff from six central-region based YMCAs formed a working group with the intention of creating structural change within the Region.
The Responding to #BLM Group is in itself not a ‘quick fix’. Participants have committed to work together for up to two years to bring about real change, with a carefully constructed and gender-balanced group of six participants, one from each YMCA (Black Country, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Heart of England, North Staffordshire and Worcestershire).
Building trust, understanding and learning from shared experiences were essential elements of this group’s formation, which holds great importance in being open, honest and vulnerable, and sharing language and ideas in a non-judgmental, supportive group.
Since its formation, the group has produced a term of reference and a work programme, both of which are now endorsed by Regional CEO Colleagues. 2021/22 priorities include facilitating a range of Diversity / Unconscious Bias training programmes for regional CEO’s and Chairs, promoting trustee Diversity Champions across all regional Boards, and conducting an equality and diversity perception survey within regional staff teams.
This nomination of the Responding to #BLM Group is a statement of intent, a work in progress and an intentional encouragement to get serious about diversity.