I’m really pleased and excited to see and get involved in the activities our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) group have arranged throughout October for Black History Month.
The main themes for the month are education and celebration. The Black Lives Matter movement and the responses in our recent EDI survey have shown that we want to learn more about cultures and religions, and that it is more important than ever to inform ourselves so that we can help create a more just society. This can be an intense and humbling process, especially with the pandemic causing extra strain so it’s important to give yourself time to reflect on your thoughts and emotions. That being said, Black History Month is importantly an opportunity to celebrate and honour the struggles and achievements of black people throughout history and look forward to the future. There are going to be some great resources shared from the EDI group to help celebrate and learn about black history including a list of recommended books and films for adults and children.
The recent cooking session had a great turn out; focused on how to cook the perfect Jamaican rice and peas with Monique Phillip-Bayliss on Friday. Massive thanks to Monique for doing the demonstration, the full recipe and a recording of the session will be shared on this staff hub this week.
The quiz on Friday at 12-1pm is going to be a fun and maybe slightly competitive way to test your knowledge and learn more about black history as well as having the chance to win a £50 meal voucher. Myself and SMT will be joining the quiz so I hope to see as many of you take part as possible. I’m personally looking forward to learning of the rich and often not widely told contribution of the black community to all our histories. With a personal interest in history, looking back at my school education the history taught was centred on slavery and nothing on the amazing history of diverse nations in Africa and the contribution of people of African descent have made to the world.
On a final note, World Mental Health Day was over the weekend and with restrictions constantly changing it’s more important than ever to look after your own wellbeing and to check in with your colleagues. The personal experiences our Mental Health Champions shared on Friday, provided great examples of how assessing how you are feeling. It is so important to have open conversations about mental health, and speaking to someone can be the first step to getting the support you need.
Throughout this week, we expect further announcements on new restrictions coming into place from the Government in addition to the tiered approach announced yesterday and I will be reflecting on these later on in the week.
Take time to look after yourself and check in with others.