In January 2022 London TravelWatch adopted a new EDI strategy which will focus on three areas:

  1. Becoming an anti-racist organisation
  2. Improving staff wellbeing- with a particular focus on mental health
  3. Bringing in an equity framework for how we make decisions about our work

London TravelWatch is committed to supporting, developing and promoting equity and diversity in all its practices and activities. We aim to establish an inclusive culture free from discrimination and based upon the values of dignity and respect. We want our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society, where each colleague feels respected and able to give their best.

And we’ll be putting a particular focus on these three areas in the coming year.

Becoming an anti-racist organisation

It’s not enough to be ‘not racist’, London TravelWatch needs to become an actively anti-racist organisation. What will this mean for us?

  • Being an active advocate for racial justice. Looking at how we can deliver greater racial equity in our culture, values; structure, decisions, partnerships, campaigns, and the way all staff approach their roles
  • Addressing racism at a systemic level. Look to see where bias and prejudice are built into our systems, policies, processes, customs and practices.
  • Introducing a zero-tolerance position on racism. Clarifying our position and policies on anti-racism and discrimination. Treating allegations of racism seriously and always taking action. Building a culture of trust where employees feel empowered to come forward.
  • Committing to sustained action through visible leadership and willingness to change. Appointing a race champion in the management team to take responsibility for progress and focus attention on delivering change. Encouraging leaders to educate themselves about race, to talk openly about race and encourage discussions internally and externally to support change.
  • Ensuring that Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is a permanent item on the Board’s meeting agenda.
  • Reviewing our people management approach from end to end, through multiple inclusion perspectives, including race, to address blockers and biases in hiring; performance management and career progression.
  • Continuing the organisational conversation about race, creating an open and safe environment to do so.
  • Looking at our portfolio of campaigns to see if we have missed opportunities to put the experiences of ethnic minority transport users in the foreground.

Improving staff well-being

We take staff well-being seriously at London Travel Watch and already have: flexible working; a menopause policy; an employee assistance programme; and initiatives to make sure that colleagues have opportunities to get exercise and daylight during the working day.

We aim to build on what we’ve done already, but also to have a particular focus on mental health. It’s an objective in our Business plan this year to create a culture where everyone feels comfortable talking about mental health.

Creating an Equity Decision making framework

We think it’s important to make sure that our outward-facing work reflects our values when it comes to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion. We want to formalise what we do already by creating an Equity Framework to inform our policy and advocacy work, and how we make decisions about what to prioritise.

An Equity Framework is way of making sure all the possible impacts of a decision or policy are captured and addressed before a decision is made. It is a way of mapping out who might be more likely to be disadvantaged, based on things like ethnicity, income, gender, age or disability.

The next steps are to:

  • Investigate how Equity frameworks have been used by others and decide how we could adapt and learn from them to create our own
  • Map out the key equity issues in relation to transport in London, and wider policy areas such as housing, employment and education to give us a better-informed understanding of what is affecting people living in London
  • Decide what we would want to include in an equity framework
  • Decide how it may look and be used in day-to-day work to inform more equitable policy and advocacy work