On behalf of the Board of Trustees of AVIGuk I would like to acknowledge the delay in releasing a statement in response to the most recent events that have highlighted the ongoing struggles and inequalities faced by the black and minority ethnic communities; the murder of George Floyd and the impact of Covid 19 on the BAME community. As an organisation, AVIGuk recognises that structural inequalities exist within the organisation as well as the wider systems of justice, education, health and other public organisations, of which many of our members also belong to. In order to start to address these inequalities and work towards an organisation that is anti-racist and equitable for both members and other stakeholders, it is important that the leadership of AVIGuk demonstrates their commitment through taking action directly as well as supporting the endeavours of others within the organisation to take action. 

Action so far

• Meeting convened for interested practitioners, trainee practitioners and supervisors to start a discussion about actions needed

• Reading material published on practitioner and supervisors’ forums that will provide people with the information to start educating themselves about the issues, reflecting and taking responsibility for their own learning on these issues

• Anti-racism is a strand within the AVIGuk 5 year strategy (currently in draft) as part of a wider Equity and Diversity strand 

• Some board trustees have attended a webinar about recruiting of new trustees with a focus on diversity

Next steps

• Identify a trustee on the Board to be a champion for anti-racism and equity 

• Responsibility of all board members to be actively championing anti-racism with a standard agenda item at all board meetings

• Gather data of the demographics of the organisation and clients in relation to ethnicity, gender, disability, profession in order to be able to plan and take positive action to address inequalities

• Support practitioners, trainee practitioners and supervisors to consider how they can use existing frameworks and structures (e.g. the Skills Development Scale, progress through training, supervision) to co-produce spaces for learning and self-reflection in relation to race and other protected characteristics

• Develop a Structural Response document, describing the issues and responses needed to move AVIGuk towards an anti-racist organisation, that will then become part of the 5 year strategy

• Continue to meet as an interest group to monitor progress against these actions, liaise with the Board of trustees and propose further actions and debate that are relevant and important to our diverse AVIGuk community.