Black Lives Matter
Nobody is equal until everybody is treated with the same solidarity, decency and basic respect that we all command as human beings.
When it comes to social injustices such as systemic racism we believe that staying silent is tantamount to complicity, which is why we want to be clear on where we stand, Black lives matter.
CoppaFeel!’s message has always been intended for everyone, but we must acknowledge that up until now we have operated on the understanding that “everyone” implicitly includes Black people and sadly, and far too often, it does not. We have to ensure that Black people are an active and intentionally included part of every conversation that we lead.
We know that we haven’t gotten this right, that we can do more and are committed to change to better represent the voices of all of our beneficiaries. We would love for this to be an ongoing, open discussion, so if you have any feedback that you would like to share then please contact us and similarly if you have felt that our message isn’t for you, or hasn’t felt quite right then we want to know.
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION AT COPPAFEEL!
Breast cancer doesn’t discriminate and neither should we.
Our message is for everyone, and to ensure that all breast cancers are diagnosed at the earliest stage possible we need an organisation that is more representative than the beneficiaries that we serve. We believe that everyone deserves the right to be equipped with the tools and knowledge to detect cancer early. Despite the risk of breast cancer being greater for certain groups, we believe our message is important and should be accessible for everyone – because getting to know your boobs, chest or pecs could save your life.
Our higher purpose is ultimately equality for all. We want all people to have access to our message regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective.
That is why we are working towards a culture of inclusivity. Which encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voice of our community. But we know that certain groups have been historically underrepresented and left out of the conversation, meaning they need and deserve our support now more than ever.
What does this mean?
We need to take action and responsibility for a more inclusive and just future. Despite being a charity and perceived to be more progressive than other organisations within the charity sector, we are an organisation composed solely of people with privilege working within a space that is largely failing to reach many communities with advice and support. We need to take more proactive steps to instil inclusivity across everything that we do and better represent, amplify and support the voices of all of our beneficiaries.
What are we doing?
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An Equality Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) taskforce within the CoppaFeel! team was created in March 2019
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We commissioned an independent EDI audit in 2019 with Diverse Matters to seek recommendations for improvement
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We implemented a recruitment process as recommended by Diverse Matters to have more inclusive recruitment at Board and team level.
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We improved representation of our materials by offering a greater range of boob costume skin tone.
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We launched our annual awareness raising campaign Grab Life By The Boobs in July 2019, which aimed to normalise boob checking by featuring a diverse cast intentionally including representation in the black and trans male and trans masculine communities.
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Secured partial funding and established relationships with key organisations, such as Thera Trust, Alafia Health, Brook and Black Women Rising to help us review and update our health messaging to be more inclusive and accessible in different formats.
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Improved EDI data monitoring to better understand the profile of our supporters and identify where we are under represented.
What we commit to doing?
Panel
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An inclusivity panel who will work alongside the CEO & EDI taskforce to develop an inclusivity strategy and establish short and long term objectives to improve representation at CoppaFeel! This panel will have agency, accountability and ownership and their recommendations and results will be publicly published.
Accessibility of our Messaging
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In consultation with the EDI panel and organisations already operating in this space we will be commencing our health review from July 2020, reviewing all of our health communications to ensure that they are representative and serving all of our beneficiaries in an impactful and relatable way.
Profile of our team and ambassadors
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Review our volunteer programmes to improve their relevance and appeal amongst the diverse voice and needs of our community.
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Improve the profile of our volunteers across the organisation by taking proactive steps to improve recruitment practices, data monitoring and the inclusiveness of activities to ensure all opportunities are accessible and appealing to all.
Strategy / Long term commitment
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Recruitment of a Trustee to champion diversity (as set out in the Charity Governance Code) within our organisation. We would like to recruit this candidate from the BAME community to shape our strategy and to improve representation on our Board.
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Development of an Inclusivity strategy which will underpin our operational plans and infiltrate every sub-strategy.
Accountability
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Publish an annual diversity paper to address where we are at versus the objectives that we set. This will be shared publicly and at Board level.
