Today is International Day for Countering Hate Speech.
This year, the UN’s focus for the day is about AI and the speed with which that can acceleratee and amplify hate speech. You can read more about their strategy and plan of action here.
For our founders, challenging discrimination and calling out hate speech is not just a day job, it’s in our DNA.
This image is taken from an on-line council meeting in 2021, where Liz Mayers called out the (then) Leader of a council for racism and inciting racial hatred.
Refugees and asylum seekers are often a contentious topic, being used and manipulated by some political parties to win votes. But they are not a “topic” they are people.
At times of economic hardship, it is easy to look for someone to blame. However, the story we are being fed about refugees is nonsense.
As the UK continues to debate immigration policy, one narrative conveniently overlooked is the positive economic impact of refugees. Far from being a burden, refugees contribute significantly to the UK’s economy—through work, entrepreneurship, taxes, and cultural enrichment.
Refugees Fill Critical Labour Gaps
In sectors like healthcare, social care, agriculture, and hospitality, refugees often take on roles that are hard to fill. Many arrive with professional skills and qualifications, and with the right support, they integrate quickly into the workforce. According to the Migration Observatory, immigrants—including refugees—have a net positive fiscal impact over time, especially when they are able to work and contribute taxes.
The UK government’s 2025 immigration reforms, outlined in the white paper Restoring Control over the Immigration System, have been framed as a necessary recalibration of national sovereignty and fairness. But behind the rhetoric lies a system that many human rights advocates describe as cruel and dehumanising.
Among the most alarming changes is the prohibition of citizenship for anyone arriving via irregular routes, including small boat crossings. This effectively bars thousands of refugees—many of whom are fleeing war, persecution, or trafficking—from ever becoming British citizens, regardless of their need or the legitimacy of their asylum claims.
The reforms also extend the path to settlement from five to ten years, leaving even long-term residents—teachers, NHS staff, care workers—in a prolonged state of legal limbo. The message is clear: belonging must be “earned,” but the criteria are arbitrary and exclusionary.
Victims of modern slavery now face stricter evidentiary requirements to access support, with rejection rates soaring. The government’s approach treats survivors as security risks rather than individuals in need of protection.
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Refugees are twice as likely to start businesses as native-born citizens. Sadly, because of discrimination against refugees, it is often harder for them to secure appropriate employment (there are many examples of highly qualified doctors, lawyers, engineers having to accept manual or low skilled jobs) so becoming a business owner is preferrable. These businesses not only create jobs but also stimulate local economies. From restaurants and tech startups to retail shops and logistics firms, refugee-led enterprises are thriving across the UK.
Boosting Local Economies
Refugees are often forced to settle in areas facing economic decline. Their presence can revitalise communities, increase demand for housing and services, and bring new life to high streets. According to the Migration Exchange report, the growth of refugee-focused charities and services has also been linked to broader community development.
Long-Term Fiscal Gains
While initial support costs exist, studies show that over time, refugees contribute more in taxes than they receive in benefits. A 2025 report by the UK Parliament notes that although in-donor refugee costs have risen, the long-term economic integration of refugees offsets these expenses.
A Time for Solidarity Amid Hostile Borders
Welcoming refugees is not just a moral imperative—it’s also an economic opportunity. With the right policies—access to work, training, and legal stability—refugees can and do thrive. And when they do, so does the UK.
Each year, Refugee Week offers a moment of reflection, celebration, and solidarity for people who have been forced to flee their homes. In this climate, Refugee Week is more vital than ever. It is a reminder that refugees are not statistics or threats—they are people. People with dreams, talents, and the right to live in safety and dignity.
This week let’s amplify refugee voices, challenge harmful narratives, and demand policies rooted in compassion and justice. Let’s remind our leaders that human rights are not optional, and that the UK’s strength lies not in exclusion, but in its capacity to welcome.
Visit Refugee Week to find out how to get involved with their Simple Acts and resources. Or, Channel 4 recently aired the documentary Go Back to Where You Came From, where six British people got to experience refugee life, if you do nothing else, please take a watch and remember the human beings behind the headlines.
This week is International Men’s Health Week. Originally starting in the USA in 1994, before becoming an international awareness event in 2002, when it was marked for the first time in the UK.
This year’s theme—Shoulder to Shoulder: Connecting for Health—is a powerful reminder that no man should face health challenges alone. From physical conditions like heart disease and prostate cancer to mental health struggles and loneliness, this week is about standing together, speaking up, and supporting one another. The Men’s Health Forum is a registered charity in the UK campaigning for better, strategic healthcare, providing resources and training for Men’s Health Champions.
Men’s Health Week is important, as men are statistically more likely to ignore symptoms, delay seeking help, and suffer in silence. The consequences are stark:
1 in 5 men in the UK die before the age of 65
Men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women
Prostate cancer is now the most diagnosed cancer in men in England
These numbers highlight the urgent need for awareness, early intervention, and open conversations.
Key Health Issues to Watch
❤️ Heart Disease
Still the leading cause of death among men in the UK. Regular check-ups, a healthy diet, and exercise can significantly reduce risk.
🧠 Mental Health & Suicide
Men aged 45–49 have the highest suicide rate in the UK. Reducing stigma and encouraging men to talk about their feelings is vital.
🧬 Prostate & Testicular Cancer
Early detection saves lives. Know the symptoms, and don’t skip screenings.
😓 Stress & Loneliness
Social isolation and chronic stress are silent threats. This year’s theme encourages men to connect, talk, and support each other.
Men’s Health Week is a call to action for everyone, whatever your gender. If you’re a man, perhaps it’s booking a check-up you’ve been putting off, opening up about your mental health, or simply checking in on a mate. For everyone else, supporting the men in your life to prioritise and look after their health, every step counts.
Loneliness is a deeply human experience—something we all feel at times, yet often struggle to talk about.
Registered charity, The Marmalade Trust, created Loneliness Awareness Week in 2017 to raise awareness and help combat loneliness.
This year’s theme, Meeting Loneliness Together, encourages open conversations and collective action to reduce the stigma surrounding loneliness.
Loneliness can affect anyone—regardless of age, gender, background, or circumstance.
It’s not just about being alone.
We can sometimes feel lonely in a busy room full of our nearest and dearest. It’s about feeling disconnected, unseen, or unsupported.
Prolonged loneliness can impact mental and physical health, increasing the risk of depression, anxiety, and even heart disease.
By raising awareness, we can help people feel less isolated and more empowered to reach out, connect, and support one another.
And it’s easier to do than you think. Please take some time this week to:
Start a conversation: Ask someone how they’re really doing.
Saying “Hello” or smiling at the neighbour we don’t know.
Host a community event: A coffee morning, shared lunch, or walk can go a long way.
Volunteer for a befriending charity: There are lots of regional charities that provide support and companionship for elderly or vulnerable members of the community.
Share your story: Talking about your own experiences of loneliness can help others feel less alone and open up too.
If you or someone you know is struggling with loneliness or mental health, these organisations are here to help:
Marmalade Trust
Focus: Raising awareness and reducing the stigma of loneliness.
Loneliness is not a weakness—it’s a signal that we need connection. This Loneliness Awareness Week, let’s come together to listen, support, and remind each other that no one has to face loneliness alone.
Race Unity Day is observed annually on the second Sunday of June, which falls on the 8th June this year.
Race Unity Day started in 1957 in the United States by the Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly. The Baháʼí Faith (which has 9-10 million followers globally) believes in the oneness of God, religion and humanity. They believe that God periodically reveals His will through divine messengers, like Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, with Baháʼu’lláh being the most recent. The faith emphasises unity, progress, and service, advocating for the abolition of prejudice and the pursuit of a just and harmonious world. The Bahá’í understood that racism is a hindrance to peace, so they started this day to promote racial harmony and understanding.
This day, along with other events like Race Equality Week and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, aims to promote understanding and unity among different racial and ethnic groups. So whatever your faith, we hope you use this day as reminder to keep working towards unity.
This Pride Month, we celebrate the resilience, love, and courage of the LGBTQ+ community—but we also recognise the challenges that persist.
This year, it seems particularly important that we recognise how Trans people have always been central to the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, playing a pivotal role in shaping the movement and pushing for broader inclusion. Marsha P. Johnson, Stormé DeLaverie and Sylvia Rivera were central to the Stonewall Riots in 1969 and the wider fight for LGBTQ+ rights. The Trans Community have consistently advocated for their own rights and fought for all LGBTQ+ rights legislation.
In a landmark and controversial decision this year, the UK Supreme Court ruled that gender is defined strictly by biological sex. This ruling has sparked widespread fear and concern among the Trans Community, allies, advocates, educators, and human rights organisations. The ruling, which is being legally challenged, has already impacted policies for policing, workplaces and schools in the UK. Where Trans people (and cisgender people who don’t conform to societies standards of “feminine” or “masculine”) may now be subjected to humiliating scrutiny, physical violations and be restricted from using facilities that align with their gender identity.
This decision has contributed to the UK’s sharp decline in LGBTQ+ safety rankings across Europe, highlighting the urgent need for continued advocacy, education, and solidarity.
Now more than ever, Pride is a protest.
Now more than ever, your voice matters.
Now more than ever, we must stand together.
At EDI Accreditation, we don’t change our logo to rainbow colours for June – that is us, all year round! But, let’s use this month to celebrate the community and the progress which has been made, AND most importantly, to recommit to the work ahead. As the Supreme Court ruling has shown, Equality is not a given—it’s a fight. And we’re in it together for the longterm.
This Pride month, please consider showing your support for LGBTQ+ communities and rights by getting involved – campaign, protest, be heard and donate.
Some great charities supporting LGBTQ+ rights and communities are:
Today marks the 5th anniversary of George Floyds tragic and very public murder.
In the midst of the Covid pandemic, his final moments were played out on social media for the world to see. Rightly, his death sparked outrage and horror, and a surge of support for the Black Lives Matter movement, both in the USA and UK.
The officer responsible for his death was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 22.5 years and was also convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights, for which he is serving a concurrent 21 year sentence. The other officers on duty at the scene also received various sentences for their part in his murder.
But 5 years on, what (if any) lessons have been learnt?
Data for 2020–2024 reveals 1198 Black people have been fatally shot by the Police in the USA since his death. Included in these sickening statistics are people like Sonya Massey, who made the headlines when she was murdered by police in her own home in July 2024, after calling 911 for help.
And this is not just an American problem. According to the Institute of Race Relations, Black people in Britain are twice as likely to die in police custody and seven times more likely to die following restraint by police than White people.
13 Black and Asian men have died during or following restraint or detention by police in the UK since 2020.
The BBC2 documentary Backlash: The Murder of George Floyd is a hard-hitting account of his murder and the events that followed. It also examines the aftermath of his murder, police brutality and racism in the UK. Featuring Sal Naseem former Director for London of the IOPC, who has played a pivotal role in numerous high-profile investigations of racism and police misconduct, it gives a stark insight of how much work is still to be done.
So today, in remembering George Floyd we also want this to be a call to action – to learn lessons from his death. Action for Race Equality works across Employment, Education and Criminal Justice to bring this change. The Alliance for Police Accountability, their Steering Group Chaired by Lee Jasper is working tirelessly to transform policing and address serious violence.
Please consider donating and supporting their essential work.
Today is Transgender Day of Visibility. The day celebrates the joy and resilience of trans and non-binary people, while also combating disinformation, discrimination, and hate.
The day was created in 2010 by trans advocate Rachel Crandall, who wanted a day to celebrate the lives of transgender people while acknowledging the challenges they face.
Today, 15 years later, Transgender Day of Visibility is more needed that ever. With governments in the UK and USA targeting trans people, attempting to remove their rights, making their paths to gender affirming healthcare more difficult than ever and transphobic hate crimes increasing, there has never been a scarier time to be a trans person.
The USA has been grabbing headlines since Trump’s inauguration. With his immediate and extreme Executive Orders aligning with Project 2025 removing Trans rights, before moving on to women and everyone else. People have been likening the dystopian reality unfolding in the US to the book and television series The Handmaid’s Tale. If you want to know more about what is happening in America, Erin Reed is a great LGBTQ+ journalist who gives regular and insightful updates about anti-Trans and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation there.
Whilst, for some, it might feel like a more subtle attack in the UK, the Labour Party has been a huge disappointment to the LGBTQ+ communities since coming to power. With ongoing debates about gender recognition, gender affirming health care, single-sex services, and the impact of the Cass Review on youth gender services, and the government taking steps to clarify legal gender definitions – Trans rights are definitely under attack. The Labour government backtracked in February on promised reforms to make it easier for people to legally change gender.
Wes Streeting, Health Secretary claims to be “led by the evidence” but consistently relies on so called “independent evidence” which, at best leaves Trans voices out and at worst, is deliberately anti-trans. The Sullivan Review (commissioned by the Conservatives but being accepted by Labour) to review how data and statistics record gender identity and “biological sex” is yet another example. The review was led by sociology professor Alice Sullivan. However, Sullivan has ties to anti-trans groups such as Sex Matters. Her association with gender-critical groups should have been seen to compromise her position as an independent reviewer and was a “clear sign of bias” but is something the Health Secretary appears willing to overlook.
Aside from the government’s failing to understand, listen to or represent Trans and Non-binary voices, the media constantly echoes and amplifies anti-trans sentiments, spreading misinformation and stirring up hatred.
What is clear to us through our work, is those with strong anti-trans opinions, have rarely met or know any trans people. Their views have been entirely shaped by scare-mongering headlines.
That is why on this day of Trans Visibility we want others to actually see and hear about Trans people from Trans people. Get to know the human beings who are debated and vilified by a government and media who doesn’t know them.
Our Trans Inclusion Charity Partners Global Butterflies provide Trans and Non-binary Inclusion training, workshops and consultancy to help organisations become more inclusive. Their Global Butterflies Fund was established to support organisations working to advance human rights and protections for trans and non-binary communities in the UK and worldwide raising £33,000 in 2024.
Their founders Rachel Reese and Emma Cusdin said “Transgender Day of Visibility is a day where we celebrate the positivity, strength and resilience of transgender people worldwide. It’s a day where we come collectively together, in the face of growing discrimination towards our community, and stand tall, proud and unbowed. We need all our allies, on every day but especially this day to be loud and active.”
So, in these worrying time for Trans & Non-binary people what can you do to show your support and be a better ally?
In the workplace:
Ensure you have a zero-tolerance approach to transphobia and misgendering
Have positive policies affirming your commitment to equality and respect in the workplace
Ensure Leadership teams and hiring managers have been trained on Inclusive Leadership and hiring practices
Train employees on inclusion topics, including Trans & Non-binary inclusion regularly
Encourage participation in Employee Resource or Special Interest Groups for shared support and learning
Create a safe and inclusive culture where all your people have a sense of belonging and can show up as their authentic selves
Personally:
Learn – educate yourself. Seek out podcasts, books and blogs (start with the ones listed above) that will increase your understanding and help you see the human stories behind the headlines
Always make the effort to use people’s preferred pronouns – if you accidentally mess up, apologise and do better in future
If you hear someone being deliberately or repeatedly misgendered, speak up and correct the mistake
Call out transphobia wherever and whenever you see it
Be an ally to anyone who you see experiencing transphobia
If you care about equality, diversity and inclusion in your workplace, check, do you have a Trans & Non-binary inclusion policy or plan? Do you have Trans or Non-binary staff or customers who you think you could support better?
An International Day of Remembrance is not enough. Most “Days of Remembrance” are not enough to truly honour the victims of whatever atrocity took place, be it a murder, a massacre or a war.
For the estimated 15 million victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which lasted almost 400 years, it is definitely not enough.
Some would argue that the Transatlantic Slave Trade was abolished so long ago the victims are no longer alive, so is it still relevant? While it’s difficult to definitively pinpoint the single “last” enslaved person’s death, Hannah Durkin, at Newcastle University, identified an enslaved woman, captured in Africa in the 19th Century and brought to United States called Matilda McCrear who is thought to be one of the last. Matilda died in Selma, Alabama, in January 1940, at the age 83. Daniel Smith, who was believed to be one of the last children of an enslaved person, died on October 19, 2022, at the age of 90. Which brings the distant past frighteningly close.
Even for distant descendants of enslaved people, the implications are still felt today. Our founders’ families are of West Indian descent. The Mayers name undoubtedly linked to John Pollard Mayers, Joseph Mayers or Joshua Mayers Gittens. All registered owners of enslaved people in Barbados. The Pearson name also has ties to the Slave Trade in Jamaica. Surnames giving clues to their ancestral families histories. Family trees that come to an abrupt halt, with DNA tests now the only way to trace their true origins.
There have been many campaigns for reparatory justice in the form of economic and social compensation the over the years. Reparations is a complex and contentious subject. How do you begin to value the lives taken, the trauma and suffering caused and the lasting economic damage? And who is going to foot the bill?
Many countries have issued “statements of regret” instead of apologies, resistant to the idea of accepting responsibility and weakening their stance on owing reparations. In September 2015 the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, on an official visit, told the Jamaican Parliament that “the Black people should cease looking back to slavery days and focus on the future.” As a descendant beneficiary of a fortune made by his enslaver ancestors in Jamaica, the Prime Minister’s statement was particularly insulting and misplaced.
Worse than the refusal to consider reparations or even provide an apology, is that in 1835 after slavery was abolished, British slave owners were compensated for their “loss of property”. A staggering figure (for 1835) of £20million was paid to slave owners. A debt which according to the Tax Justice Network, British taxpayers finally finished paying off in 2015, the same year as Cameron’s visit to Jamaica.
Let that sink in for a moment… every taxpayer in the UK up until 2015 was paying the bill for compensating slave owners. Meaning every Black working person in Britain between 1835 and 2015 was compensating the families that had potentially enslaved their ancestors.
When the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade is taught in schools, we hear the names of compassionate abolitionists who campaigned for (and eventually achieved) the abolition of slavery on the grounds of social justice and humanity. However, we are not taught about the revolutions of enslaved people taking place in Haiti led by Toussaint Louverture, or Jamaica by key figures such as Samuel Sharpe and Nanny of the Maroons, or across the colonies. Without these uprisings, and a decline in the economic importance of slavery due to the industrial revolution, it is questionable whether the abolition movements would’ve achieved success.
The famous billboard slogan “We did not come to Britain. Britain came to us.” makes an important distinction for those people who are anti-immigration, anti-refugee, (or just plain racist). It is because of Britain’s history, its colonial past and participation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade that we have a wonderful multicultural society today. For a fascinating whistle-stop history lesson on Black History, Colonialism and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, that you didn’t get at school, we highly recommend checking out Akala’s address at the Oxford Union.
We believe understanding Britain’s true history, not the “white-washed” version taught in schools throughout the Commonwealth, plays a really important role in improving ethnic pride, integration and acceptance. For us, more than a day of remembrance, that acceptance would really honour the victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Yet today, 60 years later, António Guterres Secretary-General of The United Nations acknowledged in his personal message “The poison of racism continues to infect our world”. Going on to say “I call for universal ratification of the Convention, and for States to implement it in full. And I urge business leadership, civil society, and everyday people to take a stand against racism in all its forms…”
In the last 60 years, some progress has been made. The Race Relations Act came into force in the UK in 1965, banning racial discrimination in public place places, and made the incitement of racial hatred illegal. In 1968, the Act was updated to address the issues of discrimination in the workplace and accessing accommodation. In 1976, the Act was extended again to define and include direct and indirect discrimination. The Commission for Racial Equality was formed in 1976 too (later replaced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2007). In 2000 we saw the Race Relations Amendment Act requiring public authorities to actively promote racial equality. Then 15 years ago in 2010, the Equality Act came into force, updating and replacing the previous legislation.
In Global politics we also saw encouraging signs of change, with Apartheid being abolished in 1992, Paul Boateng becoming the UKs first Black Cabinet Minister in 2002, America electing its first Black President in 2009 and what was lauded as “Britian’s most ethnically diverse Cabinet ever” in 2019 with six Cabinet Ministers being of ethnic heritage. Including Rishi Sunak who went on to become Prime Minister in 2022.
Yet for every step forward we appear to take, we seem to take several backwards too.
In 1970, the infamous Mangrove Nine trial. In 1981, the Brixton Riots. In 1993, the murder of Stephen Lawrence, which prompted the Macpherson Report to be published in 1999, concluding that the Metropolitan Police was institutionally racist. The racially motivated murders of Mi Gao Huang Chen and Anthony Walker in 2005, and Mushin Ahmed in 2015. The Institute of Race Relations monitors deaths with a known or suspected racial element in the UK. Their research indicates that between 1993 and 2013 that there were at least 105 such deaths in the UK. The Windrush Scandal in 2018, exposed the wrongful detention, deportation and denial of legal rights to Commonwealth citizens who had settled in the UK and continues unresolved today. In 2024 Race Riots broke out across the UK.
In 2023, the Guardian reported that Black people are seven time more likely to die after police restraint. The Institute of Race Relations report included the IOPCs 2019/2020 statistics revealing that 23% of deaths in, or following, police custody are people of ethnic heritage, disproportionately much higher than the ethnic population.
Between 2013 and 2023, according to official data, police recorded hate crimes, in England and Wales rose from 41,294 to a staggering 145,214. In 2013/14 the number of successful convictions for racist or religious hate crimes was 10,532, just under 25%.
All this depressing reading doesn’t begin to detail workplace racism and inequality. Suffice it to say, the CIPD report two-thirds of Black employees in the UK experienced racism last year! Race Discrimination claims have also risen since 2018 according to legal firm Wright Hassall.
Our Charity Partner, Race Equality First are on the frontline working to eliminate racial discrimination and support the victims of hate crime. Their CEO Aliya Mohammed says “Racism continues to be a persistent and deeply ingrained issue in our society. While we have made legal and policy advancements over the decades, we still see racial discrimination in workplaces, in policing, in the justice system, and on our streets. At Race Equality First, we stand firm in our commitment to fighting racial injustice and supporting those affected by hate crime and discrimination. True change requires not just legislation but a collective effort from all of us to challenge racism wherever we see it.”
Their continuous work with the UN aims to bring about lasting change by contributing to international discussions on racial equality, providing evidence on racial discrimination in the UK, and advocating for stronger protections for marginalised communities.
So, 60 years on, what can we all do better to eliminate racial discrimination now?
In the workplace:
Ensure you have a zero-tolerance approach to racism
Have positive policies affirming your commitment to equality and respect in the workplace
Ensure Leadership teams and hiring managers have been trained on Inclusive Leadership and hiring practices
Train employees on anti-racism and inclusion topics regularly
Encourage participation in Employee Resource Groups for shared support and learning
Create a safe and inclusive culture where all your people have a sense of belonging and can show up as their authentic selves
Personally:
Learn – educate yourself on different ethnic groups, religions and cultures. Seek out podcasts, books and blogs that will increase your understanding of people with backgrounds different to your own
Take steps to understand your own biases and privilege
Understand the difference between “not being racist” and “anti-racist” – to create change we all need to be actively anti-racist.
Call out racism wherever and whenever you see it
Be an ally to those who are experiencing racism
If you care about equality, diversity and inclusion in your workplace, check, do you have an EDI policy or plan? Do you have employees of ethnic heritage and a good approach to inclusion to ensure all your people feel welcome and safe?
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