Better Bankside’s commitment to inclusion

Better Bankside exists to improve the experience of our neighbourhood for everyone.  We believe in celebrating the differences that define the unique character of Bankside.

Inclusion is a value that guides everything we do, working with our diverse network of businesses and encouraging participation to help shape our programme across the whole neighbourhood.

As an organisation, we stand against and will call out all forms of discrimination and inequality, including age, gender, disability, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or socio-economic background.

We commit to working with our members and wider networks to create an inclusive, welcoming neighbourhood where everyone can feel they belong.

• We will celebrate and promote the diversity and difference that makes Bankside a unique place, raising the profile of businesses that are owned or led by historically under-represented groups
• We will work with artists and creatives from diverse backgrounds that reflect our local community, curating a public realm that is open and welcoming to all
• We will identify ways to help our members to recruit, retain and develop diverse talent, developing new talent pipelines and challenging the biases and barriers to career success that affect people from under-represented groups.
• We will work with our members to enable them to create inclusive, welcoming and safe organisational cultures, that allow people of all backgrounds to thrive.
• We will bring people together, through the Bankside Inclusion Networks, as a place of support and to share experience, knowledge and insight to inform how Better Bankside works with its members to create meaningful change.

Better Bankside is also committed to making changes within its own operations:

• We commit to measuring and tracking diversity at all levels of our organisation, in particular ensuring that our board and other governance structures are representative of the communities we serve
• We are committed to changing our recruitment practices, removing biases and barriers and ensuring a fair process for all candidates
• We will review our procurement processes to include diversity as a key criteria, ensuring we support local diverse-owned or led businesses where possible.
• We will better identify member businesses that are owned or led by people from under-represented groups, to help us champion and raise the profile of these organisations.

We know that this is an ongoing process and we commit to regularly reviewing and updating how we work with our members and operate as an organisation.