About

I am very pleased to accept the offer to become one of UKIED’s first honorary patrons. As a strong advocate and campaigner for equality and diversity and human rights, I am very pleased to support UKIED’s charter mark standard. The introduction of the Equality Act in 2010 raised the bar significantly in terms of expectations of equality of opportunity and access, particularly for disadvantaged, black and minority ethnic groups and historically disadvantaged and under-represented groups such as women and people with disabilities. Given this more widespread and increased level of equality and diversity expectation, it is important that service providers and employers are able to respond positively not only to the challenges coming out of the Equality Act, but also to a society that is increasingly becoming more diverse and complex. The UKIED charter mark sets out to help organisations respond to the equality and diversity climate by achieving two important outcomes:

1. To support organisations to become more equality and diversity aware and sensitive by helping them to embrace and embed equality and diversity best practice.
2. To provide national recognition and quality assurance that confirms an organisation’s outstanding commitment and achievement to equality and diversity.

I think it is always useful to remember that we are all beneficiaries in a society that values and respects equality, diversity and human rights and I do believe that the UKIED charter mark will make a valuable contribution in this regard.

Rob Berkeley is the Founder and Managing Editor at BlkOutUk.com. Rob was Director of the Runnymede Trust, the UK’s leading race equality think-tank, from 2009 until 2014. He was Deputy Director of Runnymede between 2005 and 2009. His doctorial studies focussed on exclusion from school. He has been Chair of Governors at a South London primary school, Chair of Naz Project London (which provides sexual health and HIV prevention and support services to various minority ethnic communities), Chair of the Black Gay Men’s Advisory Group, a Trustee of Stonewall, and a member of the Commission on 2020 Public Services. He is currently a Trustee of the Equality and Diversity Forum.

Director of TASO HE

I was Director of Runnymede Trust until 2020, prior to which I was Runnymede’s Head of Policy and led the financial inclusion programme. I sit on the Department for Work and Pensions’ Ethnic Minority Advisory Group. I am also a 2012 Clore Social Leadership Fellow. My other advisory positions include Chair of Olmec (a social enterprise), the 2011 Census, the Household Longitudinal Survey, the Electoral Reform Society, the Payments Council, and as the UK representative on the European Commission’s Socio-economic network of experts. I am the author of Financial Inclusion and Ethnicity; Who Pays to Access Cash?; Why Do Assets Matter?; and The Costs of ‘Returning’ Home. I have also published many articles and reports on political theory and British political history for the Runnymede Trust over the past eight years and have spoken on topics including multiculturalism, integration, socio-economic disadvantage, and positive action, including giving evidence to the United Nations in Geneva, the European Parliament in Strasbourg, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, academic conferences in Manchester, Oxford, Paris, and Warsaw, the CRE Race Convention, the Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights, a Treasury/DFID conference on remittances, St George’s House (Windsor Castle), Wilton Park, and many other engagements in the UK and Europe.

I am pleased to be invited to be a Patron of UKIED and welcome the opportunity this role provides me to support the increasingly valuable work of UKIED particularly in driving up equality and diversity standards in terms of employment practice and service delivery.

I was very pleased to be invited to become one of UKIED’s honorary patrons. Since before my appointment as a Barrister of Law in 1969, I have had a very strong personal and professional interest in the protection of human rights, justice and equality and diversity issues. My extensive experience working as a judge as well as chairing a number of independent and governmental committees, bodies and enquiries such as the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Commission (Birmingham), Complaints Panel–Welsh Assembly and Race Council Cymru/Wales, for example, has enabled me to play an active role in promoting equality and diversity across a broad range of issues and sectors.

I am very pleased to champion and support UKIED’s organisational charter mark standard. The UKIED charter mark provides organisations with a coherent and very effective organisational development tool to embed equality and diversity best practice in terms of not only being compliant with equality legislation, but also ensuring that organisations are genuinely sensitised to the needs of their service users, employees and key stakeholders. I welcome the evidence based approach adopted by UKIED in addition to the involvement of key internal and external stakeholders in the accreditation process.

The general public have a greater sense of ‘fair play’ in terms of equality and diversity expectations regarding:

• Access to services
• Quality of service
• Employment practice
• Protection of disadvantaged and minority groups
• Rights and entitlements

The UKIED charter mark is an invaluable asset to all organisations committed to promoting and embedding equality and diversity best practice.