One of the most famous black players in the Premiership says rugby union isn’t doing enough to get ethnic minority children from state schools into the game.
England and Wasps wing Christian Wade says the sport still suffers from a “white, public school” image.
He believes that big clubs are ignoring a large pool of untapped talent. More
Black and minority ethnic coaches (BAME) will be offered work placements with senior England teams to help increase diversity in football.
It is one of the measures outlined by the Football Association in a new equality action plan.
The FA said in January it was working on plans to increase equality in the organisation and the wider sport.
“We want the FA to reflect modern society in this country,” FA chairman Greg Clarke said.
“It will not happen overnight, but this is a significant step in the right direction to make football more equal, more diverse and more inclusive for all.”
The three-year action plan, called In Pursuit of Progress, puts forward a range of measures and targets it wants to hit by 2021. More
It’s Pride month in the UK, and the government is launching its new strategy to tackle discrimination and improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
It says the aim is to help make life better for LGBT+ people in Britain. More
Diabetes Awareness Week runs from 11 to 17 June and with this in mind we have chosen Jeremy Irvine as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month.
Jeremy was inspired to become an actor by his former drama teacher, and in June 2010, was cast in the lead role of the Steven Spielberg film War Horse making his acting debut.
The casting process lasted for two months, with Jeremy auditioning several times a week. In an attempt to prepare himself for the role of Albert, he took up weight training and also underwent two months of intensive horse riding. Jeremy spent so much time recreating the Battle of Somme scene in the film that he ended up contracting trench foot.
For his work in the film, he was nominated for the London Film Critics’ Choice Award for Young British Performer of The Year and Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer.
Jeremy has had Diabetes Type 1 since childhood along with his two brothers. During 2005 and 2007 he was been involved in trials with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to test an artificial pancreas and he introduced his experiences with diabetes to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, the President of the JDRF, during a visit to the Cambridge Welcome Trust Clinical Research Facility in February 2012.
Jeremy avoids the spotlight realising very quickly that he didn’t want to be famous. He said in relation to his success and fame that ‘The work my mum does, a lot of it is re-housing homeless people, that’s a real job. I play make-believe and dressing up for a living!”
To find out more about Jeremy’s work see here
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3528539/
To find out more about Diabetes Awareness Week see here
Greenwich claimed a hat-trick of wins last night at the Charlton v Homophobia football tournament.
Finishing top of their pool put them in the final against the team from Fans for Diversity. The match finished in a draw so it was all to play for in the penalty shoot out. A heroic performance by the Greenwich goalkeeper meant that a successful penalty by Greenwich would win the tournament and the next taker duly obliged tucking the shot away very nicely.
Well done to all involved a very successful event yet again.
It is 50 years since the first wave of black head teachers took up their roles in English schools, yet ethnic minorities remain under-represented in senior roles.
BBC News Online examines the impact of these pioneers of the profession as they overcame prejudice and multiple rejections on their rise to the top of their field. More
The England and Wales Cricket Board is to implement a ‘Rooney Rule’ for all coaching roles in the national men’s, women’s and disabled teams.
It means that at least one applicant from black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds will be interviewed for future jobs.
That follows the biggest study the ECB has ever conducted into cricket in South Asian communities.
The Rooney Rule was implemented in the USA’s NFL in 2003.
Named after NFL diversity committee chairman Dan Rooney, it requires clubs in American football to interview at least one BAME candidate for each head coach or senior football operation vacancy.
The Football Association adopted a similar stance for positions in the England football set-up in January. More
Deaf Awareness Week is from 14 -20 May and with this in mind we have chosen Rachel Shenton as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month.
Rachel is an actress appearing in many well know shows but most notably as Mitzeee Minniver in the TV show Hollyoaks. She also spent two years in the US TV show ‘Switched at Birth’.
Rachel got involved in raising awareness of deafness in the UK when her father became deaf whilst undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Following her father’s death Rachel learnt British Sign Language and in 2011 she became an Ambassador for the National Deaf Children’s Society. She has completed various events in aid of deaf societies including, skydiving, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and climbing the BT Tower. In 2011 she helped launch ‘Viewtalk’ a social networking website for deaf people.
In 2018 Rachel wrote and starred in a short film ‘The Silent Child’, about a young deaf girl, which won this year’s Oscar in the Live Action Short Film category.
To find out more about Deaf Awareness Week see here http://deafcouncil.org.uk/deaf-awareness-week/
To find out more about Rachel see here https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2053650/
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s Resound ensemble will become the first disability-led group to play the BBC Proms this summer.
The group is led by James Rose, who has cerebral palsy and conducts using a baton strapped to his head.
His fellow musicians have conditions such as blindness, autism and partial deafness.
They’ll make their Proms debut less than a year after being formed, at a “relaxed Prom” on 27 August.
The low-key concert is aimed at children and adults with autism, sensory impairments and learning disabilities; and will be signed for those with hearing difficulties. More
Gymnast Ellie Downie and rugby union’s Maro Itoje were named sportswoman and sportsman of the year at the 2018 British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards.
Downie, 18, won all-around gold at the European Championships last year, qualifying for every individual final.
Itoje, 23, had a successful year for Saracens, England and the British and Irish Lions.
Pioneering footballer Cyrille Regis, who died in January aged 59, was given a special recognition award. More