BME Volunteers CIC believe every child has equal rights. We have a duty and a responsibility to defend all children everywhere against discrimination and abuse (physical​, sexual​, emotional and neglect).

The harm that has been caused – and continues to be caused – by discrimination in our communities is a threat and a betrayal of our values. We acknowledge our duty to the important work and movements in raising our level of understanding of harm and of intersectionality, often at extraordinary emotional and personal cost as it unfolds for children and young people. We give thanks and due respect to all historical ingredients which have contributed for the betterment of child welfare to date.

We acknowledge the institutional and structural discrimination experienced by special or additional needs families, within families and communities, sectors, systems, policies, and organisations, official and official. We commit to investing our limited resources to tackle challenges faced by these families.

Our responsibility is to be part of community development and humanitarian sectors which reflects on colonialism, genocide, white and black supremacy deeply enculturated and embedded in the mindsets, customs, traditions, practices, and structures. Our work focuses on child and family post covid health welfare– an experience that is much more likely to be vulnerable and common in Black communities and communities of colour and for families in which someone is disabled visible and invisible. This is our lived experiences.

All these aspects of our work, along with our Equity Charter adds to the contribution made by our network and colleagues of colour, and those who are refugees and migrants, place obligations on us to listen with humility to their experiences and wisdom. “Listening is better” – deeply and repeatedly – is our first commitment. We will embrace the discomfort involved in an examination of the white and black privilege a minority benefit from. We create brave therapeutic spaces, bubbles along existing measures used to challenge and hold to account.

Listening is a necessary but insufficient condition for change – decision making positions, departments, titles, unity and other mechanisms, tools instruments can make rapid progress over short time on a global scale (Covid​ Vaccine’s). Matching this type of commitment, resources, and time to the following actions as a first step suggest what is possible. Reviewing and measuring progress, mistakes and lessons learned each regularly. The commitments below represent a framework for our thinking and suggestions. The work to deliver an action plan under each of these headings begins when you get in touch and sign our campaign, follow us on social media, recycle post, volunteer, donate, or join our service user panels.

BME Volunteers CIC commitment cannot replace the important strategies which are currently being co-produced, co-design, co-created with our People and Culture, Diversity and Inclusion Panel voices, Steering Groups, Networks, Collaborators, Guest, and Partners – they represent the commitments we are making and encourage you to make as Covid Children and Family Health Equality Advocates.

Our most urgent task is identifying where harm is being done and repairing it – domestic or international, structural, or institutional, and systemic or protected characteristics. These are necessary steps on our journey to being a supportive network. We recognise the latter is the work of a lifetime so we will publish on our website and social media outlets, surveys, research, videos, lived experience
stories, artwork, and any lessons that we are learning regularly. We actively seek internal and external collaborators, partners, feedback about our blind spots, conflicts of interest, accountability, and areas where we have fallen short of our aspirations, or where our own account of progress as made does not tally with the experience of colleagues of colour particularly those identifying as Alkebulans.

OUR PETITION COMMITMENTS AND PRIORITIES

1. We will regularly review our external impact, testing whether our efforts and influencing work is actively dismantling child and family health abuse and other forms of oppression and putting the most deprived and marginalised children at its heart. We will question everything and create brave spaces where all colleagues can shape our thinking about how we decolonise as necessary, dismantle discrimination with humanitarian action supporting anti-racial capitalists and other health and equality movements. We will seek more diverse partners across our development, humanitarian, and domestic work, learning, sharing, and hoping we empower and support each other. We commit to doing this as part of the wider Alkebulan family, so all parts of our global habitats have the choice to be involved.
2. Decolonise the storytelling of our health and nutrition history, legacy and holistic health impact of Slavery and Colonialism, Brexit and Covid on today’s Alkebulans, the evolution of medicine in Greenwich, London, and Diaspora. We endorse testing whether fundraising, communications, and existing campaigning
   work and covid health interventions have added value to existing agency, support mechanisms and dignity for our children. We must challenge white and black saviourism and the white and black gaze from our communications about our domestic and international work and ensure the lived experience of children living within Black families is at the heart of our support, training, advocacy, research, communication, and engagement.
3. We will test and re-evaluate our engagement programmes, looking at whether they build post covid health improvements for Black people and communities of colour, and how our offer could be even more inclusive.
4. We will ensure our people and culture is diverse, encouraging freedom of thought and expression at all levels. We will publish on our website our views and survey on the BAME Voluntary Sector Pay and Gaps in health service provisions. We want to work with decision makers to formalise anting up and stretching opportunities and resources to facilitate increased BAME exposure hoping for transparent competition for them. We have introduced a specific 16-24 Leadership Champion Programme for communities who are under-represented, including Black people and people of colour, working class people and people with disabilities. We will ensure all our policies and practices, particularly those relating to line management, create the conditions for unconscious bias, cognitive dissonance and microaggressions to be raised, debated, and challenged. An avenue to explore hate crime.
5. We will challenge ourselves and disrupt our thinking and actions to learn (and unlearn) more and to fulfil the commitments above without depending exclusively and solely on the unpaid labour of Black colleagues and colleagues of colour. We will, however, continue to be accountable to our Black colleagues and colleagues of colour, to our Alkebulan Health and Heritage Panel, Hate Crime Forums and
   Diversity and Inclusion Steering Groups, Stakeholders, and the next generation. We will actively intervene as individuals and as one voice to disrupt harm and to ensure that all our policies, processes and governance reflect diverse perspectives and protect children from harm.
6. Raise awareness of conflicting interest - we promote a duty to distinguish and challenge those identifying as Alkebulans and those appropriating African herbal medicine, resources, religions. We do so to avoid situations whereby direct or indirect interest conflicts, or possibly may conflict, with the health beneficial interests of those who identify as Alkebulans in the Diaspora, on the soil or impacted by intervention and outcomes. This applies to the exploitation of any
   health rights, protected characteristics, or opportunity.
7. Campaign for ringfencing and decision making led by those identifying as Alkebulans. Support utilising BAME infrastructure to deal with these issues foremost wherever possible.
8. Petition on the importance of COVID-19 monitoring where funds and resources are going through race equality data - specifically looking at leadership & governance, whether funds are going to BAME-led (Alkebulan Health and Heritage) organisations, not just organisations claiming to work with these communities.
9. Research and share feedback on improvements to accessibility, quality of provisions for families identifying as Africans, (health, housing, social care and justice system, education, employment, migration) barriers to communication, training, gaps in service provisions, weighted ringfencing, monitoring and accountability.

We make these commitments publicly, in a spirit of accountability – they are the least Black communities and colleagues, and communities and colleagues of colour, can expect. We actively invite feedback and challenge on them and will maintain open and transparent communication on progress. We will re-evaluate our commitments as we learn more. We embrace the challenges ahead – knowing that we will make mistakes and must commit again and again to the work. We will embed these commitments in our own personal objectives and the accountability and reporting mechanisms for our Board of Trustees. We expect all those identifying as Alkebulans to be held to account for the speed and ambition of this work and will be working with our covid health inequality panels and hate crime forum members to set timelines and targets for this work.

We respectfully urge you to support our vocation and ambition to improve the health and rights of the next generation. You can support us by signing this petition, donating​, volunteering, joining our Panels, attending our forums, following, and sharing our post on social media.

Thank you in advance for affording us your time and resources.

Black Major Community Engagement Team (BMCET)

SPECIFIC TO GREENWICH, LONDON

What support can BME Volunteers CIC, and its Greenwich network expect directly from Greenwich Local Authority Councillors if it would like to setup the following independent Black in BAME audit panel (considering 2019 Naomi Goldberg Metro GAVS and Gilles Gabon GRIP Race Scorecard Report, Brexit, Covid and subsequent voluntary sector and Healthwatch listening events 2020 feedback). 

We have had some informal conversations with other community equality and human rights supporters in Greenwich who have suggested the following so far; 

A cry for an Independent Black in BAME Audit Panel initiated by us for us attached to funding and health decisions at contract and remuneration level to audit (Local Authority, CCG, NHS, PHE, Third Sector and other Persons of interest with significant influencing or decision making or management functions where these decisions affect or particularly impact Black in BAME within Greenwich and particularly Thamesmead, Plumstead, Woolwich, Charlton – statistically high Black in BAME vulnerability presence: 

Research, analyse and co-develop, co-design, co-produced pre agreed proforma templates for auditing the remuneration in relation to equality/race scorecard targets. Undertake credibility and other due diligence background, experience, and culturally relevant reviews/training of key decision makers and or persons of interest with significant managing, decision making or influencing functions within Greenwich as legal or private persons. 
Get access to, review and advice on existing mechanisms for feedback regarding services commissioned by Greenwich Local Authority or in receipt of taxpayer funding from an Independent Black in BAME service user feedback source. 
Review, identifies and advice on Conflict of Interest, Discrimination (Hate Crime) and other equality measures in place, not in place or inadequate in Greenwich. 
Review how mechanisms hold themselves to account in relation Black in BAME equality. 
Do independent short surveys on accessibility, barriers, and challenges of Black in BAME within Greenwich 
Contribute to existing and other measures of equality.  

What resources financial, non-financial, good will (equipment - laptops, telephones, infrastructure (BlackApp), online access, office space) will Greenwich Council, NHS, PHE, CCG, Councillors, Directors or said local authority commission and provide to BME Volunteers CIC support initiative and continue with this work if any? 

It would be disappointing yet again to take another of our suggestions and commission another service to do this work. This adds to the inefficient utilisation of limited resources. It is cost inefficient and profit marginalisation. We collectively can do better. 

We look forward to hearing from ALL with regards to supporting us with these challenges as far as Black in BAME specifically is to be considered in Greenwich. This could act as the template for other authorities to follow as our work in other areas of London and diaspora suggest this is needed elsewhere to tackle existing health inequality, discriminatory and racial capitalists practices.

BMEVOLUTEERS.ORG (Email: bmcet@blackmajor.onmicrosoft.com or call 07496 443361)