Celebrating innovation in diversity and inclusion

The UK has a long way to go to improve equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) across many aspects of society. From health and criminal justice to housing and wealth distribution, the country is blighted by discrimination and inequality.

 

According to King’s College London (KCL), one in six people from global majority backgrounds in the UK have been the victims of a racially motivated physical assault and more than one in four have been verbally abused due to their ethnicity, colour, or religion.

 

Researchers from KCL found that Black women have the most long-term health conditions of any ethnic group. The most common conditions identified are anxiety, chronic pain, depression, asthma, and hypertension.

 

Meanwhile, a major review of criminal justice carried out by Home Secretary David Lammy, when he was a backbencher, found that global majority people are disproportionally represented among those convicted of crimes.

 

This disproportionality is increasing, Lammy found. While in 2006 they represented one in four young offenders, by 2016 this had increased to two in five. This is despite the number of young people convicted of crime falling to record low levels during this period.

 

To help support those experiencing discrimination and to combat inequality charities are running increasingly innovative schemes.

 

Here we focus on three that were recognised in 2024 by an award scheme for innovation in diversity and inclusion. Through the award scheme, which is run by insurer Zurich Municipal, all shared £18,000 in prize money to further develop their projects.

 

 

Charities supporting young prisoners

 

Charity Spark Inside runs a project in prisons called The Black Hero’s Journey to support young Black and Mixed Heritage men in prison. This aims to provide a “safe and empowering space for them to express themselves and reclaim their identities”.

 

The scheme, recognised for excellence in innovation by Zurich, is based on Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces, a book about heroes in myths. It aims to support prisoners to move away from crime. Group workshops and one-to-one counselling sessions that continue after their release are included in the programme.

 

“Hero’s Journey blew my mind,” said one prisoner supported by the programme. “I could not believe that something like that even existed in the system and the reason why I speak so highly of it is because I didn´t know my purpose before this course. It opens your mind and soul, it makes you a better person. It shows you a path that you were already on but you just didn´t know.”

 

 

Helping pregnant refugee women

 

Many asylum seekers and refugees have endured considerable hardship and trauma in their home nation and as they look to find safety in other countries. Among the most vulnerable are pregnant women, who may have to go through pregnancy, labour, and birth alone.

 

Cardiff-based charity The Birth Partner Project supports pregnant asylum seekers and refugees by providing them with volunteer birth partners, who continue to offer support during the first eight week’s after birth too. So far more than 70 mothers have been supported.

 

The charity says that women who lack support during pregnancy suffer greater levels of stress and are more likely to experience complications during labour and delivery, as well as mental health challenges.

 

“Our Mamas’ voices are at the heart of everything we do as we support them through pregnancy, birth and early motherhood,” says the project’s Director Emily Roux.

 

The Zurich judging panel praised the initiative for offering a “culturally sensitive approach” that “ensures that every woman feels supported during pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood”.

 

 

Bringing generations together

 

Age can divide society through a lack of understanding of generations’ differing needs. East of England-based charity Yopey helps older and younger people better understand each other by running intergenerational community partnerships between sixth form schools and care homes.

 

According to Zurich judges, the charity “inspires, trains and supports teenagers to befriend care home residents, many of whom have dementia”. It works across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk and encourages young people to connect virtually with residents through letters, video, and sharing artwork. This launched during the pandemic and continues to take place.

 

“Yopey certainly has very limited resources and budget,” explains its Founder Tony Gearing. “We have only one employee and a handful of adult volunteers recruiting, training, and supporting hundreds of young people to ease the loneliness of elderly people living in care homes. About two-thirds of the elderly our YOPEY Befrienders visit have dementia which increases their isolation and can lead to them being abandoned by their families.”

 

*Zurich’s award scheme for innovation in EDI also gave highly recommended awards and £1,000 each in prize money to: Strut Safe for those walking home alone, children’s charity Afrikindness, Berkshire-based literacy organisation ABC to Read, community organisation Communitea Spaces, and disability charity Whizz Kidz.