Recognising Black History Month at Elim

About Black History Month

This October we’ve recognised Black History Month; an important chance to acknowledge the contributions of black people throughout history and today. Black History Month has been recognised in the UK for over 30 years, though it has existed in the USA for almost 100 years.

The value and achievements of black people have been overlooked throughout history, including school curriculums which still focus more on the successes of white people. Black History Month is an opportunity to readdress this imbalance and consider the ongoing effects of racism in our society.

There are a variety of resources available to organisations to help educate everyone on these issues. The BBC has a range of online videos, assembly plans and articles for school children. For adults, charities like Black Lives Matter provide toolkits and information on how to actively challenge racism in society.

EDI at Elim

At Elim, we have set up a new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) working group. This working group will champion the delivery of our new EDI strategy and has the following aims:

• To make sure Elim is doing all that it can to develop a diverse and inclusive culture that delivers our Elim CARES values, and to support our staff, board, customers and stakeholders to fully engage with this culture
• To be brave enough to challenge, educate and inform ourselves and others to be able to contribute positively to Elim’s culture
• To ensure there is clear plan in place to deliver any initiatives that are required to improve our culture and proactively address any blocks or barriers to inclusion that are currently in place

As a new member of the Housing Diversity Network, we’ve recently been part of an October panel discussion on the impact of Black Lives Matter on the housing sector. There is a clear understanding that change is required, and that responsibility for driving this rests firmly with our leadership teams in the first instance.

We are proud that our EDI working comprises Board Members, executive team members and staff from each part of Elim’s business. There is a huge appetite for Elim to become part of the positive change the sector requires, and we hold ourselves accountable to take action that makes a real difference to everyone we work with

With the support of partner organisations and other local and national Housing Associations we are continuing to listen to the experiences of colleagues from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, learn from best practice and implement it at Elim. This extends to our training, leadership and cultural development, improved recruitment processes and smarter use of data to improve the accessibility and reach of our employment and progression opportunities and the services we provide.