Black History Month: Swim England on championing equality

In celebration of Black History Month, the Sport and Recreation Alliance has invited members to contribute thought leadership pieces, highlighting the invaluable contributions Black individuals have made and continue to make to grassroots sport and recreation. By engaging with leaders across the sports sector, the Alliance aims to showcase these achievements.

We spoke with Mike Hawkes, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Swim England, to gain his perspective on honouring individuals from all areas of our sport who are advocating for equality. Additionally, he has shared insights on how to use their platforms to address barriers to participation. Please have a read below:  

When asked to write this piece my immediate thought was ‘is it my place to do so?’ October each year sees many individuals and organisations engage with Black History Month for varying reasons. As the Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Swim England, I was conscious that inequalities remain within our sports, and I didn’t want to be disingenuous. I agreed to do so to share our experiences and, hopefully, provide some insight into our decision to engage, or not, with Black History Month. 

We are acutely aware that representation remains low at the elite level and whilst trailblazers such as Alice Dearing and Eva Okara have achieved ‘firsts’ at recent Olympic Games, there is still much to be done. It is our belief that we shouldn’t be creating content to garner a favourable reaction when we know that it isn’t backed up by year-round action. To do so is tokenism and should be rightly called out as such. 

For the last few years, Swim England has acknowledged Black History Month by celebrating the historical (elite) aquatic achievements from the black community. 

This year, we plan to evolve our approach to focus more on our community - celebrating individuals from all aspects of our sport who are championing equality. We will also use the platform to discuss some of the topics around barriers to participation.? 

So, what has changed for Black History Month 2024? 

Primarily, we now believe our actions are sufficient to underpin the words we will be sharing throughout October as part of Black History Month. We have progressed from bystanders to allies and our England Swims research has helped to inform the work we’re carrying out. An example includes the significant ongoing progress within the ‘Recruitment Academy’, a subsidised teacher training programme delivered via our training provider, the Institute of Swimming (IoS). By working with pool operators to remove the cost barrier and provide a supportive route into employment, we have seen the number of ethnically diverse learners increase from 8% in 2021 to 25% in 2024. We certainly do not consider this ‘job done’ but more of ‘job begun’. 

In Black History Month, we’ll also be spotlighting members from across our sports and activities including athletes, parents, teachers and change makers. Working with one of our team members, we’ll be providing education on hair care and, specifically, how to care for afro hair that may be exposed to chlorinated water. We found this to be the one of the largest barriers to aquatics for the Black community, with 23.5% of Black respondents citing hair care as a barrier to participation in comparison to a national average of only 5.2%. 

Whilst we are happy to be taking these steps, we remain mindful that inequalities remain. The examples above refer to teaching, insight and raising awareness but we know that other areas, such as coaching and our wider membership demographic, will require further support. We therefore hope to be able to spotlight this work in future years, in addition to what is ongoing. 

If I was to provide one piece of advice to other organisations, it would be to consider whether the content you publish during Black History Month aligns with the work that you know you are doing throughout the year. There is no one-size-fits-all and there is a fantastic amount of good practice to learn from across the sector from both charities and NGBs alike. 

If you have any questions, or to find out more about our work, please contact equality@swimming.org 

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