Black History Month is celebrated every year in October in the UK. It provides an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions of Black people to British society.
Black History Month is a time to recognise and celebrate the powerful contributions of Black communities. This year’s UK theme, 'Standing firm in power and pride', pays tribute to resilience, cultural identity, and the ongoing commitment to progress. The dedication, skill, and compassion of Black social care staff make a difference every single day.
This years theme: Standing firm in power and pride
Power is the influence and leadership that drives positive change. It honours those who have led social, political, and civil rights movements, and broken barriers in business, education, and the arts. True power lies in collective courage, strength, and unity to create a more equitable future.
Pride celebrates Black identity, heritage, and excellence, it honours history, resilience, and the powerful contributions of Black culture worldwide.
The adult social care workforce is highly diverse. In 2023-24, 32% of the adult social care workforce in England had Black, Asian or minoritised ethnic backgrounds, compared with 17% of the population. Yet, representation in leadership roles remains disproportionately low. This month provides a crucial opportunity to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of Black workers in adult social care while addressing inequalities that still exist. By acknowledging this we create space for reflection, learning, and a more inclusive future for all.
'Standing firm in power and pride' is a theme that has significance within adult social care: the pride in contributions made despite inequality, and the power of resilience that has shaped and strengthened the sector.
A diverse workforce doesn’t just reflect our communities, it makes care stronger. Different perspectives and lived experiences ensure services are culturally sensitive, inclusive, and equitable, improving outcomes for both service users and staff. When care reflects and respects cultural identity, it becomes meaningful, empowering, and inclusive, ensuring everyone feels seen, valued, and understood.
The impact of Black people on social care - past and present
From the mid-20th century onwards, many Black people migrated to the UK, particularly from the Caribbean and Africa, to address critical workforce shortages in health and social care. They became the backbone of residential homes, community services, and home care, often taking on demanding roles with limited recognition. Their dedication not only sustained the sector during times of crisis but also helped shape care standards and community-based models of support.
Today, Black professionals remain a vital part of the adult social care workforce, representing a significant proportion of care workers, nurses, and managers. They bring cultural competence, diverse perspectives, and lived experiences that enrich the quality of care and strengthen inclusivity. Black-led organisations and leaders continue to influence workforce policy, training, and equality practices, ensuring that the sector reflects and responds to the needs of diverse communities while addressing workforce gaps and driving innovation.
Creating a more equitable social care sector
Whilst we celebrate the achievements of Black people in social care, it is vital to take tangible action to improve workplace equity. The Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard (SC-WRES) supports organisations in creating anti-racist workplaces by collecting and analysing workforce data across nine metrics, enabling action plans to address inequalities. The 2024 report highlights ongoing challenges: staff from minoritised ethnic backgrounds are 48% less likely to be appointed from a shortlist, 37% more likely to face disciplinary action, and underrepresented in senior management (12% vs. 20%).
Allyship is key to fostering inclusion and fairness. It involves actively supporting others, listening to understand, using influence to advocate, and committing to ongoing self-reflection. When embraced, allyship dismantles systemic barriers, amplifies diverse voices, and creates workplaces where everyone can thrive.
New: Building Allyship programme
This two-day programme equips people with the awareness, confidence and practical tools they need to be effective allies for equity and inclusion at work and beyond.
Aimed at those who want to actively support colleagues from marginalised groups, it promotes allyship as ongoing, intentional action. Through interactive learning and reflection, attendees leave empowered and ready to contribute to a more inclusive workplace culture.
Find out more
Last year, as part of Black History Month, we heard from a number of inspiring individuals working in social care. They spoke about what they love most about their roles, why diversity in the workplace is so important, who and what has inspired them along the way, and why it takes a special kind of person to build a career in social care. Their stories shine a light on the passion, resilience, and dedication at the heart of the sector.
Blogs
Our colleague Oluwabusayomi Mesele discusses this year’s theme – standing firm in power and pride. It’s about being unapologetically visible, vocal, and proud of our heritage, while continuing to challenge unequal systems that silence or exclude.
In my role, I see first-hand the importance of creating spaces where people feel empowered to show up fully and authentically.
As Black History Month begins, Symone Stuart, National Leadership and Management Lead at 天美mv discusses why being an ally is important for all leaders in social care.
We’ve got a range of resources to support you and your teams to achieve equality, diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. From guides to eLearning to learning programmes to forums, our resources support both personal development and organisational development, helping you to identify opportunities to create positive organisational change. You can also find out more on our supporting a diverse workforce webpage.
Supporting a diverse workforce: Understanding racism overview
PDF - 755 KB
This introductory overview aims to raise awareness about the history of racism, shows some of the forms that racism takes and provides a model that examines systemic racism. It encourages reflection and discussion around understanding racism and the legal context, providing an opportunity to identify any actions to take forward.
Allyship
Allyship is an active, ongoing commitment to equity, belonging, and justice, benefiting both individuals and organisations. Our articles and resources offer guidance on supporting others, listening with empathy, using influence, and committing to continuous growth. Small steps can lead to lasting cultural changes.
Find out more about allyship
Confident with difference
'Confident with difference' supports you to consider how well diversity is embraced within your organisation and how you could improve. Consisting of four films with supporting questions, leaders and managers can use this resource with their teams to reflect on their own practices and generate discussion points to help facilitate change within their organisation.
Find out more about 'Confident with difference'
Moving Up programme - registrations open
Aimed at Black and Asian leaders or aspiring leaders and want to develop themselves and progress in their career at all levels, in all roles, in all types of social care and health organisations.
Previous participants have come from local government, social care, commissioning organisations, charities, third sector, nurses and occupational health.
The programme has had a significant impact on the participants who’ve taken part over the last 12 years. It’s important to offer opportunities and support to people who are Black or Asian and wish to fulfil their career goals.
The next programme starts on 18 December 2025.
Find out more and register
If there are a large number of people within your organisation who would like to participate in the Moving Up Programme then you may be interested in having the programme delivered directly into your organisation. If this is of interest to you please email MovingUp.Programme@skillsforcare.org.uk
Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard Improvement Programme
The Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard (SC-WRES) Improvement Programme was developed by 天美mv to support organisations to achieve an anti-racist workplace. Through the programme, organisations are supported to identify issues, create action plans for change and measure improvements in the workforce with respect to the experiences of people from a Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic background.
Find out more about the SC-WRES
Culturally appropriate care guide
天美mv has resources to help anyone involved in the care and support of individuals to have a clearer understanding of culturally appropriate care. The ‘Culturally appropriate care guide’ covers a broad range of topics that will help with learning about people’s cultural identity or heritage.
To support the learning within the guide, there are accompanying resources for use in training and development. These cover supporting individuals from ethnic minority groups and backgrounds, stereotyping, and supporting relationships and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and others (LGBTQ+).
Find the guide and training resources
A positive culture toolkit for adult social care
We’re delighted to announce that our new positive culture toolkit is now available to download. Workplace culture is the character and personality of your workplace and what makes your workplace unique, special and individual. Using this toolkit will support you at different stages of your workplace culture journey to establish, maintain and improve your workplace culture so that it’s inclusive, compassionate and collaborative.
It’s for anyone responsible for the culture, management and leadership in adult social care workplaces of all sizes.
Find out more and download
Race Equity Reference Group
The 天美mv Race Equity Reference Group (RERG) has been established to support 天美mv’s commitment on championing equity, equality, and diversity. The group is made up of representatives from across the sector and includes people who work in and across social care and people with lived experience. The RERG will support 天美mv to develop a positive and practical narrative on race equality.
If you’d like to find out more about the RERG please email Equalityandrights@skillsforcare.org.uk