News from The Equality Trust (May/June 2020)

 

Whilst the lockdown continued, and the notion of a little thing called inequality might have a part to play, Equality Trust Executive Director Wanda Wyporska continued to spread the word. Wanda has appeared in a number of media, webinars, talks and podcasts.

Building The Movement
 

Wanda spoke at The Mint event Split: Class Divides Uncovered…. by Covid-19? Wanda spoke alongside Ben Tippet, you can re-watch the full event in the link above. In early May, Wanda spoke to students as part of the Learn Lounge speaker talks. Titled Plan, what plan? Wanda discussed her career journey and inequality with students of all ages.

Wanda has also appeared in podcasts for DSMNTLFiLiA and Private School Policy Reform on a wide-ranging set of issues, connected by one thing: inequality. 

Listen to these podcasts below:

#BlackLivesMatter
 

The video of the final 8 minutes and 46 seconds of George Floyd’s life is a traumatic reminder of the structural and institutional inequality faced by many Black, Minoritised Ethnic and Indigenous peoples across the world. This inequality is very real, impacts generations and, is often, extremely violent.

Wanda spoke about the fight for racial justice on Sky News and LBC Radio. We also added our voice of solidarity to those protesting for racial injustice. We have published a number of social media posts on the specific inequalities faced by Black, Asian and Minoritised people in the UK. We actively encourage you to share our statement below and join the campaign to #fightinequality in all its forms.

Racism is not just something that happens “over there”. Racism is deeply embedded within UK society too. It’s the rate of black people dying from #Covid19, it’s the pay discrimination faced by Black women, it’s the number of Black, Asian and Minoritised workers in low-paid and insecure work, it’s the lack of redress for victims of the #GrenfellTower fire, it’s gentrification, it’s the #WindrushScandal, it’s Black men being disproportionately targeted and brutalised by the Police, it’s the attainment gap for Black students in British universities, it’s the online abuse faced by Black female MPs – it’s everywhere.

Inequality is quite literally killing Black people in the UK. But inequality is a choice, and it doesn’t have to be this way.

#BlackLivesMatter #BlackLivesMatterUK

P.S. You can sign the petition calling on the Government to improve maternal mortality rates and health care for Black women in the UK and to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting. You can also write to the Secretary of State for Education to ask for an introduction of Black British history to the curriculum (via The Black Curriculum).

 
Sign the petition to improve maternal mortality rates

Today we are also supporting the launch of www.imnotyour.co.uk. This is a reworking of ‘Who We Are, Who We Aren’t‘, the acclaimed exhibition by our Young Equality Campaigners that explores race, class and identity through artistic activism.

Funded by your donations via The Big Give, this website will enable these crucial young voices to reach new audiences and be heard as part of the global civil rights movement we are currently living through.

50 years is long enough
 

On Friday 29th May, we joined a host of civil society organisations and trade unions online marking the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act and amplifying the issue of gender pay inequality.

We launched our new report into pay discrimination in the FTSE 100, our analysis featured in The Guardian and Financial Times and the campaign was also covered by the Argus in Brighton and the Manchester Evening News. Our supporters sent more than 150 letters to their MPs, we launched our new online platform50 Women. 50 Years, and 110 people joined our interactive online conference to discuss what’s next. 

In case you missed it, or want to watch back, the full conference (with British Sign Language) can be found on our YouTube channel. We’ve also created a playlist containing separate videos of each speaker for easy sharing and playback.

It’s not too late to take action – use our campaign toolkit today!

Donate Today

If you would like to support us to do more of this work, please make a donation.

Just £10 will allow us to tell more stories and to increase our influence across a broader reach of people.

DONATE TODAY
The Equality Trust holds its first webinar 
 

My Fair London, The Equality Trust and Toynbee Hall have been working together to combat inequality in London. We were delighted to welcome Ann Pettifor for an evening for an interesting discussion on COVID-19 and the case for the Green New Deal. Ann is a political economist, author and public speaker known for her work on sovereign debt and the international financial architecture.

You can watch the webinar on our website.

Equality Oswestry: staying home and staying active

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 Equality Oswestry Committee members agreed to stay safe at home and focus on the effects of the virus on local and national inequality issues. 

While setting up video meetings to discuss plans for the future were not considered necessary yet, the committee members have kept the Equality Oswestry Facebook Page active, sharing relevant inequality articles and content.

As soon as Equality Oswestry can hold its next committee meeting, they will be reviewing the outcomes of the well-received public meeting with the Town Mayor-elect held in March 2020. A number of inequality issues were focused on, with proposed actions to tackle them. The Shropshire Domestic Abuse Service is a specific focus for the Mayor-elect. In addition, the group will be following on with it’s work with the local Syrian Refugee community after meeting with Shropshire Council’s Syrian Refugee Liaison Officer just before the crisis.

Meanwhile, the group’s coordinator, Mo, has been glad to join two Zoom meetings with other national Equality Trust local groups to share how each group is faring and continuing to campaign during the current crisis.

Bournemouth gets zooming

The Dorset Equality Group (DEG) held their first DEG with members feeling it went well and agreeing to continue these in the future. While the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in the deferment of the scheduled Danny Dorling visit to east Dorset, speedy work of group members has confirmed Danny Dorling for 1st October 2021.

The group reviewed its priorities including action on the NHS surcharge for non-EU migrant workers, which Downing Street reversed shortly after their meeting!. The group is also considering writing to local companies as furlough measures are withdrawn, in support of local workers. 

The group is considering, what actions the DEG mailing list can take to press on the local MP to consider the glaring inequalities so they can “Build Back Better” coming out of this crisis.

South Wales looks to transport inequalities

South Wales Equality Group has secured Deputy Minister for Transport, Welsh Government, Lee Waters AM for its transport inequalities event. Included in the line-up of presenter, speakers and panellists is John Sayce (Chair of the Swansea Bay Cycle Group), Dr Hilary Stanworth and Professor Charles Musselwhite. The event will be held on the 12th November, 7pm. To find out more or get involved with the group, get in touch.

A Liverpool group has formed!

We now have a new group in Liverpool! The Liverpool Equality Group promotes open discussion and the sharing of information which highlights inequality within Liverpool. 

The 2019 Deprivation in English Constituencies report shows that 4 of Liverpool’s Parliamentary constituencies are rated in the top 40 most deprived, with Liverpool Walton being ranked first nationally.

A number of fantastic organisations are doing great work to highlight and fight this and the new group hopes to be able to provide them with support and to help bring about inequality within the city, and nationally. Currently meeting online, all Liverpool or Merseyside inequality campaigners are welcome to join their Facebook group for regular discussions. You can also give them a follow on twitter.

Do you want to make a difference in your community?

Find your local Equality Trust group or contact us via info@equalitytrust.org.uk to find out how you can start an Equality Trust group in your area.

INEQUALITY RESOURCES

LATEST BLOGS / COMMENT / RESOURCES

INEQUALITY IN THE NEWS

BEST INEQUALITY READS AND LISTENS

Thanks again for all your support. Please get in contact to find out more about any of our projects.

Best wishes, Wanda, Jo, Rianna, John, Frankie & Angela.

The Equality Trust Team

The Equality Trust
Resource for London
356 Holloway Road
London
N7 6PA

+44 (0)20 3637 0324

info@equalitytrust.org.uk