This month’s policy roundup aims to give you a taste into what the policy and influencing team has been up to over the past month.
By Shareen Patel, policy and influencing officer.
Climate Week
Last week we held our inaugural Climate Week. This was a week of focused content on encouraging civil society leaders to take action on climate change. Back in 2019, we declared a climate crisis and have since been working to provide more information and drive stronger climate leadership across the charity sector. As set out in the article that appeared in Civil Society News at the start of the week, we held Climate Week in efforts to engage our members and all charity leaders, encourage people and organisations to take action, and to promote the importance of this work to ensure the sustainability of our sector and society at large.
Throughout the week, we published a thought leadership piece from ACEVO’s CEO, Jane Ide, held a webinar where Andrew Brown (executive director at Veolia Environmental Trust) talked to Mamta Borgoyary (executive director at SHE Changes Climate) and Caroline Macfarland (founder, Common Vision and director, The Better Conversations Initiative) about whether civil society can afford to care about climate change, hosted our first-ever LinkedIn live where Jane was in conversation with Areeba Hamid (joint executive director at Greenpeace UK), and published a special podcast episode where Jools Townsend (chief executive at Community Rail Network) spoke to Jabeer Butt (chief executive at Race Equality Foundation) and Kamran Mallick (chief executive at Disability Rights UK) about the intersection of climate and social justice. From each event, the general message is that we need to come together and work as a collective, hold on to the hope we have and win as a movement, and ensure everyone has a voice in the climate debate, especially those that are most affected.
We have now published a piece wrapping up the week whereby thoughts, reflections and challenges were shared when it comes to taking action on climate change.
Home Truths 2
Session three of our Race Equity Series is coming up on Tuesday 24 September 10.30am-11.30am. The focus is on intersectionality and will see Sanjiv Lingayah (Home Truths 2 race equity lead) talk to renowned writer Kimberly McIntosh. Book your place now!
In the run up to this session, we have now published a helpful resource with Martha Awojobi to understand the often-misunderstood concept of intersectionality. You can also catch up on the first two themes, watch the videos and read the notes.
We have held the first launch event for the first cohort of leaders on Further, Faster – a flagship of the Home Truths 2 programme – which is bringing together a group of committed civil society CEOs and senior executives committed to serious action on anti-racism and racial justice, in their organisations and civil society as a whole. The cohort will be supported to understand and dismantle systems of oppression and to imagine and build life-affirming alternatives in civil society that centre racial and social justice.
Engaging with the new government
Following the fruitful meeting with the Secretary of State, Lisa Nandy, ACEVO CEO Jane Ide recently met with Stephanie Peacock, the new Charities Minister, and received a warm letter from Sir Keir Starmer who believes in a “mission-led Government, which will be delivered through a true partnership between Government and civil society.”
The policy and influencing team is here to help! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at policy@acevo.org.uk or with me directly at shareen.patel@acevo.org.uk.
