Following the tragic death of George Floyd two years ago, Active Suffolk, the Active Partnership for the county reaffirms their commitment to being an anti-racist organisation and share their success in supporting organisations to help tackle inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic, particularly amongst those from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Active Suffolk acknowledges that inequalities exist within sport and physical activity and their latest Diversity Action Plan outlines their commitment to increasing opportunities for everyone to take part in sport and physical activity at an appropriate level. In demonstrating this commitment, Active Suffolk have already played a pivotal role in supporting ethnically diverse communities to access sport and physical activity through the Sport England Together Fund project, formerly known as the Tackling Inequalities Fund.

Through this project, the Active Partnership have collaborated with a number of local charities and organisations connected with ethnically diverse communities in Suffolk after using insight to identify inequalities and barriers to sport and physical activity.

Karibu, the African Women' Support Group based in Ipswich were amongst the charities supported by the fund and received £1,358, which allowed them to support their clients to return to physical activity safely following the pandemic. Active Suffolk also worked with BME Suffolk who were awarded funding during two phases of the project, providing them with over £13,000, allowing their team to distribute exercise equipment to those from ethnically diverse communities during the lockdown, provide online physical activity sessions and offer swimming lessons for their youth groups following the lockdown.

In addition, PHOEBE, another Ipswich based charity who support women, girls, and their families from ethnically diverse backgrounds, were successful in securing over £4,000 with the support of Active Suffolk which allowed them to offer football sessions and upskill their staff with coaching skills.

Mollin Delve, Director of P.H.O.E.B.E said:

"Many of the mothers we support were really struggling during the pandemic. Every day was a struggle, however with this funding we were able to offer them the opportunity to bring their families together, to play football, be active and get out of the house.

It has allowed local families to connect and form a bond during these times which has given them a greater appreciation of sport and physical activity."

Other organisations supported by Active Suffolk to secure funding which allowed for physical activity provision for ethnically diverse groups in Suffolk via the Together Fund include Ipswich Community Media and the Shahjalal Islamic Centre.

Gareth Davies, Director at Active Suffolk says:

"On the second anniversary of George Floyd's death, Active Suffolk re-affirms our commitment to being an anti-racist organisation and is proactively tackling the racial inequalities that prevent or discourage people from leading active lives and enjoying the benefits of sport and physical activity, whether as participants, volunteers or by working in the sector. As part of the Active Partnership network, we have done so much around race equality over the last two years and much of that work was started in response to the horrific death of George Floyd.

We can be proud of what we have achieved over the last years, but we all know we have so much more to do to create the society free of racism and other forms of discrimination we all desire.

Active Suffolk uses insight to ensure that areas of inequality within the county are understood, in order that we are able to offer proactive support to improve physical activity levels. Our data shows that existing inequalities have been widened, with some groups hit much harder by the pandemic than others. This is the case for those from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds as well as other communities."

Active Suffolk is proactive in supporting organisations to level-up physical activity opportunities and tackle racial inequality and we will be continuing to identify groups, support local organisations and adhere to the commitments set out in our Diversity Action Plan."