Diversity & Inclusion

Black Lives Matter: Our Commitment 

To our Black staff, volunteers and communities. We recognise your anguish, pain, and turmoil as well as the systemic disadvantages you have experienced. As a community organisation, we are committed to providing spaces for people to lead their own change. The shocking killing of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matters protests have highlighted an urgent need for change to the structural inequalities of racism and discrimination that plague our society. We stand in solidarity with everyone actively speaking out against racial injustice to create change. We condemn all forms of racial injustice and discrimination; they have no place in our organisation, community and wider society.

We know that white privilege exists, and this is reflected in the profile of staff on our Leadership Team and across our Boards. We will work to change this. We have started having open and honest conversations across our staff teams and with young people about what changes we need to make to ensure our organisation is reflective of the diverse communities that we work with and how we can contribute towards systemic change. These conversations are ongoing and we look forward to sharing the outcomes with you. We realise that we need to do more to tackle the issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement because they directly affect our staff members and the communities we serve. We aim to develop a more considered response to this as a priority.

No one should have to put up with racist comments or actions, but we understand that Black members of our community have put up with this throughout their lives. We recognise that we have a vital role to play in challenging and reverting this intolerable reality. We will not be silent on issues of racism and inequality but will use our resources to safeguard, support and listen to our community. Coin Street is proud to be truly at the heart of a diverse, vibrant and inspirational community and will continue to push for an equal, inclusive society.

Race Equality Network

We are a committed member of the Race Equality Network; The Race Equality Network is a collaboration of organisations, individuals, race networks, experts in the field, allies, and employees. The focus is on creating solutions and implementing meaningful change. The shared goal is to ensure that this moment becomes a movement that creates change.

From 1 – 7 February 2021 we are proud to have taken part in their initiative, Race Equality Week. Race Equality Week is a UK-wide initiative to unite organisations and individuals in activity to address issues affecting ethnic minority employees. The Themes were Transparency and Accountability. Throughout the week we sent daily communications to our colleagues to facilitate the eradication of racism in our workplace.

Visit the Race Equality Network's website