THE UK’S largest children’s charity is encouraging more black people to consider careers in the third sector.

Javed Khan, CEO of Barnardo’s, has said it is time the charity sector reflects the diversity from the inside out so that it can improve its services for people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

“The UK is increasingly diverse, and the children we support have changed over the last 153 years, with one in five now from BAME backgrounds. It’s time the sector reflects that diversity from the inside out so it can provide better support to the people it serves,” Khan said.

At Barnardo’s, just over 80 per cent employees are white and around 20 per cent of the people it supports are BAME. According to research from NCVO’s UK Civil Society Almanac, 91 per cent of charity fundraisers are white.

He added: “But while 10 per cent of our paid employees are from BAME backgrounds, the number drops to around five per cent when it comes to our volunteers.

“We want to change this by encouraging more people from black and other ethnic minority communities to consider charities like ours when applying for jobs or voluntary placements, not just in frontline services, but across a range of disciplines.”

As part of its efforts to improve the inclusion of people from BAME backgrounds in the charity sector, Barnardo’s aims to increase success rates for appointing BAME applicants to posts by 50 per cent and has an emerging leaders programme aimed at increasing diversity at manager level and above.

It also works to raise awareness of issues relating to equality, diversity and inclusion and to actively support people from underrepresented groups by pairing senior leaders with more junior staff from diverse backgrounds as part of a reciprocal mentoring programme.

Yesterday, Barnardo’s celebrated Black History Month with an exhibition and event at the University of Westminster. The charity’s exhibition showcased a selection of archive photographs of black children supported by Barnardo’s more than 100 years ago. There were also discussions on the challenges faced by black youth today. 

A number of celebrities attended to show their support, including DJ Pandora Christie, who also spoke passionately about her own experiences as a young mixed race woman, Barnardo’s vice presidents Floella Benjamin OBE, Bruce Oldfield, reverend Joel Edwards, actor Kate Holderness, Radio One’s Adele Roberts and singer Heather Small.

Also among the 150-strong audience were Barnardo’s service users.

Marisa, a 16-year-old young carer from London who is currently supported by Barnardo’s, spoke at the event.

Marisa said: “I think it’s great that Barnardo’s has done this event for Black History Month especially as a black person myself. I appreciate the support that Barnardo’s has given to young people for over 153 years, especially for people of colour who still face racism and challenges – and that’s on top of all the other things they are going through.”

Hugh Sherriffe, regional director of Barnardo’s Children’s Services, said: “Black History Month is an important time to take a moment to honour and reflect on the historical challenges that black communities faced – and still face. 

“We must continue to strive for racial equality and diversity to be embedded into our work culture every day; not just every October.”