Charities Colour Blind Approach Disriminates Against Black Volunteers

Covering 95 charities involving 263,000 volunteers the survey revealed:

1 in 2 charities did not monitor the ethnic make up of their volunteers; even in areas of black population, 1 in 2 of agencies did not monitor the ethnic make up of their volunteers

2 in 5 charities did not involve any black volunteers in their work

in charities using black volunteers, the percentage of black volunteers to all volunteers was just 2%

more than 1 in 3 charities (43%) had no black trustees

The survey showed charities' lack of commitment to equal opportunities practice. References to black stereotypes on 'reliability' and staying with their 'own kind,' were revealed. One respondent reported that their charity had to buy photographs of black people for inclusion in their annual report to impress funders! Last year Tony Blair launched a major Home Office funding programme for Active Communities spending £17.5 millions on 130 charities.

Were government funded projects any better at monitoring black opportunities? The Home Office was unable to give any figures on the participation of black trustees, staff or volunteers involved in the charities they funded. However the Millennium Commission not only monitored its Award Scheme, but had allocated 13% of its award funds to black and ethnic minority volunteers.

David Obaze, Director comments: In the light of the Stephen Lawrence enquiry it is disappointing to find that charities are not in the forefront of good equal opportunities practice. Given that black people are disproportionately affected by unemployment, it is shameful that volunteering, which can bring so many benefits, is seemingly not on offer to them. The Prime Minister talks of inclusion but black people are excluded from the mainstream and there are precious little resources for the black voluntary sector.

The National Coalition for Black Volunteering was set up in 1987. The Coalition is a charity (reg, 1056991) and offers training on involving black volunteers. The report Noticeable by Their Absence is available free, please send an SAE to:

NCBV, 35/37 William Road, London NW1 3ER Tel : 020 7387 1681