Summary of our updated Diversity Action Plan published

We are pleased to announce that we've published a summary of our updated 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.

Also included within the plan are our ambitions for 2021 and beyond. These include:

• Continuing to improve our capture and collation of robust equality, diversity and inclusion data and best practice to better understand what action can be taken to address inequalities in the sport and help shape future policies, programmes and procedures.
• Further enhance the profile and development of women and ethnic diversity within coaching.
• Sign the Sporting Equals Race Equality Charter and embed within the organisation the recommendations from the ‘Let’s Talk About Race’ series.

Chris Jones, our Chief Executive Officer said:

"When we first launched our Diversity Action Plan in 2017, we stated our commitment to providing fair, safe and inclusive opportunities for everyone to access our sport. Four years on, we remain as determined as ever to lead positive change in our sport where it is required, through close collaboration and consensus with our valued partners, member clubs and running groups who already do some fantastic work in this space."

"Whilst we are of course pleased with the progress that’s been achieved so far in delivering our plan, we also recognise there is still much work to do. There remain inequalities and barriers to participation in athletics and running that we need to address by working together at all levels of the sport. We firmly believe that sport can be at the heart of the country’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, therefore, it’s more important than ever that we ensure it reflects wider society’s understanding of what true equality, diversity and inclusion looks like."

Click here to download the Diversity Action Plan summary (PDF 600kB)