Reclaiming Narratives

Certitude’s Director of Strategy and Transformation, Nicholas Campbell-Watts, talks about what Black History Month means for Certitude.

Black History Month is a time when we celebrate the significant contributions and achievements of Black individuals and communities throughout history. It’s also a moment for us to highlight the amazing impact of Black culture and heritage on our wonderfully multi-cultural society, helping to correct historical narratives, and further emphasise the vital importance of embedding diversity and inclusion in all areas.

However, while it’s important that we celebrate, we must also acknowledge the continuing challenges that so many ethnically diverse communities face globally. These communities are often disproportionately affected by wars, economic hardship, and persecution, which devastate lives and fracture families and communities. Closer to home, we know that Black communities continue to face disparities in access to quality healthcare, with higher levels of poverty and economic instability, and challenges with equal access to education and employment opportunities.

Addressing these challenges requires a concerted effort. At Certitude, we are committed to fostering an inclusive environment, advocating for equity, and supporting initiatives that aim to reduce these disparities. By raising awareness and taking action, we can contribute to a more just and equitable world for all.

Building an inclusive workplace

We are proud that 56% of our colleagues identify as ethnically diverse, higher than the 40% ethnically diverse population in London, and the 49% among our London sector peers (Skills for Care 2023). Our ethnically diverse manager population stands at 50.5%, compared to 17% in Adult Social Care, reflecting the diversity of our overall colleague population. 352 of our colleagues have an African heritage and 97 have a Caribbean heritage.

And by recognising and celebrating our diversity, we provide an opportunity for everyone to learn about each other’s unique experiences, enhancing our collective wellbeing and development. This understanding is crucial in helping us deliver better support and enable people we support to live their best lives in our diverse city.

Our senior leaders play a key role in sponsoring and championing diversity and inclusion. By actively promoting and participating in initiatives like Black History Month, we help to build the inclusive workplace we want to see, ensuring that diversity and inclusion are not just policies on paper but lived experiences that shape our organisational culture and practices.

One excellent example of this is Moving Up, a Skills for Care programme that’s designed for Black, Asian, and minority ethnic leaders and managers who want to progress in their careers but have faced blockages and resistance. In the past two years, 22 of our colleagues have benefited from doing this programme, which we fund, with 18% advancing to more senior roles or completing higher level qualifications within the organisation.

We’ve also run several campaigns and initiatives to support our Black colleagues, including #MyNameIs, which considered the positive impact of remembering to pronounce people’s names properly, and ‘How comfortable am I talking about race?’, a discussion for colleagues about Black and Asian Mental Wellbeing in the workplace.

All our diversity and inclusion work is underpinned by our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2023-26, and our recently updated Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

As our Intercultural Network’s sponsor, I am proud to champion diversity and inclusion within Certitude. My role involves advocating for cultural awareness and understanding within our organisation. And by supporting Black History Month, I aim to highlight our incredibly rich cultural diversity and encourage meaningful conversations that can lead to greater empathy and collaboration.

This year’s Black History Month theme, “Reclaiming Narratives,” focuses on recognising and correcting the ways Black history and culture have been told. At Certitude, we are committed to celebrating the achievements and contributions of the Black community across all spheres of life. For our colleagues, we also aim to raise awareness of the challenges that Black people face and celebrate the progress made in society so far. Throughout October, we will share stories internally from Black colleagues and will highlight the ongoing work needed to further foster diversity and inclusion. We also look forward to our colleague network event jointly hosted with Notting Hill Genesis which will take place later in October.