The information in this post was brought to my attention over the weekend. It's notable because the BLM movement  is rightly not going anywhere, and also last month was Pride Month.

When the country was being locked down in March, I was so impressed with all of the school pupils, perhaps nudged a little bit by their teachers, wanting to help charities during the current coronavirus crisis. I have had a lot of enquiries from older children and young adults about volunteering.

A good friend of mine has a son. He's Black British, the media would say BAME and I know many don't like that acronym. Sorry if that term causes anybody any offence. He's also LGBT. He's a fine young man who will do great things in his life. The son's best friend is White and not LGBT.

They both applied on the same day, at about the same time, to become volunteers before going away to university this autumn. They both got emails thanking them for taking the time to apply and the charity would be in touch real soon. It's a local charity, which has some charity shops, quite well known in the local area.

As soon as early Covid-19 data showed a frightening difference between ethnic origins where BAME persons are more likely to die and have serious health complications if they overcome it, they both emailed the charity again to ask about PPE. At this point, my friend's son told them he was Black and LGBT. Both young men were thanked for contacting the charity on that very serious issue.

A few weeks ago, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson started to relax lockdown restrictions and reopen non essential retail, like charity shops, only the best friend was contacted with an update. So when they talked to each other with what should have been shared excitement, only to realise what had actually happened, my friend's son emailed the charity's CEO to ask why.

He received an email a few days later, not from the CEO, but instead from the Head of Human Resources that said "I have looked into the points you raise regarding the difference in communication you and your friend have received. Whilst some applicants may have received different emails, I am confident that this is not discriminatory in any way. As many other charities have done in recent weeks we have reflected on our diversity and inclusivity. We’re proud that people talk about the family feel they get when they volunteer or work with us and we don’t tolerate discrimination against anyone because of any protected characteristic. But when it comes to equality, diversity and inclusion, we know we can do much more particularly in bringing more diverse ethnic groups to work and volunteer with us".

That's got to be a prepared statement. This charity's board of directors are also planning "to work on a Diversity and Inclusion Initiative that will help shape our approach to anti-racist practice and tackling all forms of bias. We are passionate about improving things and we will ensure that we take the time to learn, reflect and make changes to our work, to make sure our differences and diversity serve to unite us. This will include engaging, listening and working with the black community and people from minority ethnic backgrounds to help us."

I can't help but think the Head of HR was misquoting the late Labour MP Jo Cox, it recently being the fourth anniversary of her murder. Meanwhile, his best friend received another email from one the charity's volunteering officers, who had also gone to the trouble of adding him on Linkedin, seemingly rubber stamping his application from a few months ago. I'm sure this volunteering officer is a lovely lady, as volunteering officers are, but she's not a person of colour. However, this volunteering officer is now the lead contact for this charity's Diversity and Inclusion Initiative according to her Linkedin. What kind of message is that sending? Do they have no persons of colour who could have done that?

These young men live and grew up in a multi-cultural area, their local sixth form college is ethnically diverse, there's no obvious hate crimes, and there's a real community spirit of togetherness. I would love to know what everyone thinks about this. I hope and pray this charity won't turn this very serious issue into a box ticking exercise.