At England Athletics we work to grow opportunities for everyone to experience athletics & running, to enable them to reach their full potential. Our vision is that athletics & running will be the most inclusive and popular sport in England, led by a network of progressive clubs and organisations and supported by a sustainable, respected and trusted governing body.
Diversity Action Plan
In January 2021 we updated our Diversity Action Plan which details our ongoing commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. The document outlines the progress made since first launching the plan in 2017, in line with A Code for Sports Governance.
This includes:
- Improved female and ethnically diverse representation within our own governance structure.
- Delivery of education and training for senior leadership teams and staff across equality and diversity, unconscious bias and mental health.
- Enhanced engagement with valued equality partners across the sport and beyond.
To improve equality, diversity and inclusion in athletics and running we will:
- Ensure that the principles of equality and diversity are owned and are embedded throughout the Leadership of England Athletics
- Improve our understanding of equality and diversity issues within our organisation by better understanding the equality profile of our sport and organisation
- Raise awareness of and embed the principles of equality and diversity throughout our organisation by regularly reviewing our policies, procedures and practices to ensure they are inclusive and do not discriminate; and provide information for clubs, coaches, officials and members to help them tackle inequality and discrimination in athletics and running
- Understand and tackle barriers for under-represented groups in athletics and bring athletics and running to new audiences. We will encourage all sections of society to participate in our sport
Our commitment to increasing diversity and inclusion across our sport can be demonstrated though:
- Our current work aiming to achieve the Advanced Level of the Equality Standard for Sport by 2021
- Our work as a signatory to the Mental Health Charter for Sport and Recreation
- Being a signatory of the Governments Sports Charter anti-homophobia and transphobia campaign
We are living in an era when we have to not only understand equality and diversity, but practice it by ensuring it’s at the centre of how we do things. As an athletics organisation to achieve this, we have to address the symptoms that create the gaps that exist in equality and diversity representation. I believe in leading by example by creating a diverse and equal workplace, we will be able to draw on a wide range of ideas from a workforce full of different skills, experiences, resources, talents and energies.
Anne Wafula-Strike, our Board Diversity Champion