"The period of time that we are currently living through – anxiety levels are high… prioritising self-care feels at times indulgent but is essential, otherwise we can’t do what we want to be doing…” - Katie Fox
In this episode we speak with Katie Fox, National Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead at Victim Support. We talk about Katie’s move into the charity sector, and how EDI can be represented by charities and advocated for actively to create positive working cultures and the impact on wider societal issues.
1. The drip drip effect of hate crime
Katie talked about the many small things lead up to hate crime, and that crime often intersects with poverty and marginalisation. The work of many of our charities is either directly or indirectly working to reduce poverty, marginalisation and other intersecting challenges. Every step that we make to address these issues is a move in the direction of reducing crime and potentially decreasing the chances that we and our loved ones will be victims of it.
2. How do we protect ourselves from the emotional strain of our work
Katie also raised the challenge that those experiencing trauma and seeking to help others with theirs risk further trauma by reliving these stories on a regular basis. There seems to be a thin line between coming to terms with our past traumas and bringing them up too much in our everyday lives. Like many of the wellbeing and mental health episodes that we have had on the show, one main theme is that we must all allow ourselves time and space to recharge, and have the professional and personal support networks in place to keep us well.
3. Creating Equality Diversity and Inclusion across your charity
In each organisation the why EDI might be slightly different. But it is important for organisations to be clear about the value of EDI both within the world and also specific to their work. This has the power to resonate with both those within your organisation and those that your organisation is engaging with and avoids tokenistic approaches to EDI. The business case, or financial benefit is perhaps a misnomer, reducing the human value to numbers. Wedding EDI to your mission as a charity is the answer to making it authentic, long-term and effective.
This episode of Charity Chat has been brought to you by our platinum sponsor Work for Good. Work for Good believes everyone should be able to turn the work they do into good. Through their fundraising platform, they offer charities a way to engage and work with small businesses, including founders, owners and sole traders who want to make an impact for charities through their sales. To find out more, please visit workforgood.co.uk.
We hope you enjoy this week’s episode.
Related episodes that you may be interested in:
E191 - Equality Matters with Javed Thomas -
E160 - Difficult Conversations part 1 with Jon Cornejo and Lily Lewis -
E146 - Diversifying our sector with Kemar Walford -
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