Warm Words, Cold Comfort: UK civil society’s ongoing racism problem
Report from ACEVO and Voice4Change England and authored by Dr. Sanjiv Lingayah, co-creator of the Home Truths 2 programme. The report is based on survey responses of 139 Black and Minoritised Ethnic people with current or recent experience of working in UK mainstream civil society. The survey ran online from 17 July to 12 October 2023.
Key figures
- 77% of respondents have experienced or witnessed racism within civil society within the last five years.
- 68% of respondents have felt the need to “tone down” their behaviour or to be on their “best behaviour” to fit into mainstream civil society.
- 73% of respondents feel that mainstream civil society has a racism problem
- 59% said they doubt the commitment of civil society leaders to combat racism effectively
- 46% of contributors feel that anti-racism/race equity is taken seriously in their organisation
- 47% feel they have already seen real progress on anti-racism/race equity in their organisation, but 27% feel they have not seen any real progress.
- Only 33% felt that their organisation has ongoing learning and development for staff and trustees on anti-racism and race equity
- Only 33% felt their organisation seeks to understand experiences of Black and Minoritised Ethnic people working within it, e.g. through anonymised surveys
Last modified on 19 December 2023
