© Eleanor Church
Equality Diversity and Inclusion
Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion
Central to London Wildlife Trust’s mission is our belief that everyone has a right to access and benefit from our city’s nature.
Our vision of a London alive with nature, experienced and enjoyed by all, goes hand in hand with the creation of a diverse organisation that reflects the communities that we serve. The differences of thought, skills, ideas and experience brought by a diverse team of staff, trainees and partners will be invaluable in tackling the future challenges faced by nature in London.
We are committed to building a working environment in which all individuals are free from discrimination and in which opportunities are equal to all.
Where we are now
© Arnhel de Serra
Marginalised groups are most affected by environmental damage, yet experience exclusion from environmental movements through racism, lack of privilege and cultural gatekeeping (RACE Report, 2023). Overall, only 6% of environmental charity workers are from a minoritised ethnic background compared to 15% of the UK’s workforce (ibid); in the environmental sector this is 4.8%, making it the least diverse after agriculture (SOS-UK, 2022).
At the most recent survey of 63 employees at London Wildlife Trust, the following data was collated:
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Ethnicity: 58% white, 19% from Black, Asian or other minoritised ethnic backgrounds, 25% not disclosed. There is room for improvement here, however, given the lack of diversity in the environment sector, these statistics are a relatively positive baseline to build upwards from.
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Socio economic (self-identified): 14% from lower socioeconomic background, 41% are not, 45% unsure or did not disclose.
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Gender identity: 58% female, 17% male, 0% non-binary, 25% not disclosed.
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Sexual orientation: 58% heterosexual, 14% from the LGBTQIA+ community, 28% not disclosed.
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Disability: 13% living with disability, 64% not living with a disability, 23% not disclosed.
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Age: 8% aged between 16-24, 42% aged between 25-34, 13% aged between 35-44, 6% aged between 45-54, 8% aged between 55-64, 23% not disclosed.
Analysis of the above EDI statistics for the staff body highlight that there has been a 2% increase in ethnic diversity from 17% in 2022/23 to 19% 2023-24. There has been a 1% increase in staff coming from lower-socio-economic backgrounds. There has been a 1% decrease in staff living with a disability. Overall non-disclosure statistics have increased, for example for gender identity 25% have not disclosed in 2023/24 compared to 2% in the previous year. This year age has been included in statistics (previously not reported on in 2022/23) showing that the majority of the staff body (42%) are aged between 25- 34 years. The Trust is broadly reflective of the demographics of London for living with a disability (14% of staff compared to 15.7% of all Londoners).
Our Senior Management Team (SMT) of five includes two women, both of whom identify as being from under-represented backgrounds.
Over the year 2023/24 there has been a total of 15 paid trainees, (for young people aged 18-25), at London Wildlife Trust, the following data has been collated:
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Ethnicity: 80% from Black, Asian or other minoritised ethnic backgrounds.
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Socio economic: 66% living in areas of higher socio-economic deprivation.
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Gender identity: 60% female, 13% male, 27% non-binary.
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Disability: 53% living with a disability.
Currently the Trust has a Board of 9 Trustees. Last year the Trust didn't hold a full set of EDI data on the makeup of the Board, however in 2023/24 the Trust has surveyed the Trustees, and baseline data collected:
- Ethnicity: 67% white, 22% from Black, Asian or other Minoritised Ethnic backgrounds, 11% not disclosed.
- Socio economic (self-identified): 22% from lower socio-economic background, 67% are not, 11% unsure or did not disclose.
- Gender identity: 33% female, 55% male, 0% non-binary, 12% not disclosed.
- Sexual orientation: 89% heterosexual, 0% from the LGBTQIA+ community, 11% not disclosed.
- Disability: 11% living with disability, 78% not living with a disability, 11% not disclosed.
- Age: 11% aged between 25-34, 11% aged between 35-44, 33% aged between 45- 54, 11% aged between 55-64, 22% aged 65 or over, 11% not disclosed.
In 2022/23 The Trust launched a Youth Board recruiting 12 young people (aged 17-26 years). Last year the Trust didn’t present EDI data on the first year of the Youth Board, however in 2023/24 (year two) the Trust can report the following statistics:
- Ethnicity: 33% white (4/12 members), 66% identify as from Black, Asian or Minoritised Ethnic communities (8/12 members).
- Socio-economic: 58% from IMD (Indices of Multiple Deprivation) postcodes.
- Gender: 42% male, 50% female, 8% prefer to self-describe.
- Disability: 25% living with a disability.
Analysis of the above EDI statistics for the Youth Board highlights that the majority of the Youth Board members (66%) identify as from Black, Asian or Minoritised Ethnic communities. There is a higher percentage of female Youth Board members (50% compared to 42% male), with 25% living with a disability.
Some other steps we are taking:
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We support the aims on BITC's Ban the Box campaign, which is increasing fair opportunities for people with criminal records to compete for jobs. We will only ask about criminal convictions for roles deemed necessary, for example, where the role may involve working with children. We will only ask at conditional offer stage before conducting an enhanced DBS check. Criminal convictions will not automatically exclude someone from working with us; any previous convictions will be risk assessed depending on their nature and the position applied for.
- We are part of the Disability Confident scheme and working towards our next level of accreditation, which includes ensuring all candidates living with disabilities are given an interview if they meet all of the essential criteria within the person specification.
- We have signed up to Show the Salary scheme, which provides salary transparency for every role we offer.
Keeping it Wild Traineeship
© Arnhel de Serra
London Wildlife Trust have taken advice from fair internships campaigners and we no longer accept unpaid internships, to prevent those who couldn’t afford to work for free from being locked out of the opportunity to gain essential experience with us.
The Trust’s Paid Traineeship programme has been running since 2018. Since then, a total of 69 trainees have completed the programme. It continues to be clear that the Trust's Paid Traineeship scheme has had a very high success rate and has been significantly responsible for diversifying the organisation as well as helping to diversify the sector more broadly. For the entire duration of the Traineeship programme to date, 77% of Trainees are coming from Black, Asian or other minoritised ethnic backgrounds, 61% are living in areas of higher socio-economic deprivation, and 38% are living with a disability. Eight Trainee alumni now work at the Trust which equates to above 10% of our total staff team.
The Keeping it Wild project received an award from the London Faith & Belief Community Awards and was highly commended by The Festival of Learning 2020.
Further reading:
News: Keeping it Wild: changing the face of the environmental sector
Creating change and next steps
© Charlie Nwanodi
Everyone at the Trust has a role to play in ensuring that individuals are valued, treated with dignity and respect and that discrimination does not occur. Our inclusive working environment which already has a strong foundation in the values of our staff is implemented in relevant EDI policies, objectives and working practices.
The Trust has a quarterly EDI Working Group which is open to all staff and consists of representatives across all departments. The EDI Working Group is Chaired by Leah McNally, our Director of Learning Youth & Communities who is organisational lead for EDI.
London Wildlife Trust (the Trust) began its Equality Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) journey in 2011, a Diversity Action Plan was created and representatives from across the Trust began meeting regularly to progress actions. With the launch of our youth engagement project ‘Keeping it Wild,’ in 2016, a renewed approach to EDI was taken, the project acted as a catalyst.
In 2021 the Trust worked with consultants from The Diversity Partnership to review (including interviews with key staff) our EDI journey to date, create a new strategy and provide two online training sessions to the whole staff team. The Diversity Partnership created an EDI Strategic Framework for the Trust which identified five key strategic areas:
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360 Ownership: EDI must be ultimately owned and driven by leadership, aligned to and a level of ownership felt by the broader organisation. EDI should be at the heart of the organisation and built into the way the Trust operates.
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Culture of Allyship: The Trust should, and is, building an inclusive and supportive culture that supports all people from all backgrounds and characteristics. Activities such as training, education, socialisation and EDI supporting partnerships are required to drive inclusivity.
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Process and Policies: The Trust to ensure that policies, procedures and processes across the business support diversity and drive inclusion to ensure consistent support and application.
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Reporting and Accountability: The Trust to introduce, prioritise and share metrics that track progress over time, ensuring all employees are accountable.
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Leading the Way: In a sector that struggles with EDI, once the Trust is delivering against its objectives, the Trust should be positioning itself as a leader in order to help others and improve the entire sector.
More information
© Eve Edwards
To find out more about how you can support Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic led organisations, we've included a list of relevant UK organisations below to which we will continue to add.
Wen - Women's Environmental Network
London Wildlife Trust are keen to help promote Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic environmental organisations. If you would like to contact us about this, please get in touch by emailing marketing@wildlondon.org.uk