At Asda we are proud to support and celebrate Black History Month with both our customers and colleagues, recognising the huge contribution that black people have made to the UK.
The event is a great opportunity to understand and learn about what it means to be black in Britain today and to celebrate black history. It also provides a key moment to continue to review and have productive conversations about race and ethnicity which can sometimes be uncomfortable but are really important for us, as a company that is determined to create a culture of inclusivity.
As part of this we have been working with Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC), the UK’s leading anti-racism educational charity. We are planning a number of interactive workshops with the organisation, involving a hundred different colleagues across the business.
We want people in our communities to also benefit from the great work that they do, so we have made a donation to SRtRC. Like many charities, the pandemic has had an enormous effect and they have not been able to hold workshops in their usual face-to-face manner. So we are thrilled that our donation has given them much-needed stability and the opportunity to invest time and money in interactive webinars that they will start delivering to schools, very shortly.
Outside of the work we are doing with SRtRC we continue to provide Unconscious Bias Awareness training and during Black History Month we have a calendar of events with colleagues. We are hosting a webinar on the importance of Black History Month, which is led by Nancy Evbuomwan, and we also will be hosting a session titled ‘talking about race’, where we will delve into more detail around how we can all feel confident when it comes to having conversations about race and ethnicity.
There will also be a panel discussion, featuring the likes of SRtRC, Business in the Community and Inclusive Employers, to discuss the impact of what has happened in 2020 and what we as a business and as individuals can do to really make a difference. There will also be a colleague-led session of what we have learnt during the month to share perspectives.
These are all important steps and we will continue on this journey beyond October, working really closely with external organisations and listening to customers and colleagues to ensure that we are truly inclusive.
