Next week, 3rd – 9th February 2025, is Race Equality Week 2025, and this year the theme is #EveryActionCounts.
The annual UK-wide initiative was established by community interest company, Race Equality Matters (REM), following the seismic and devastating events of 2020. It aims to address the barriers to race equality in the workplace and be a positive force for action that unites hundreds of thousands of organisations and individuals across the country.
Each year, the theme is selected by the REM community. Last year, the campaign focused on #ListenActChange to encourage more action for race equality, rather than simply relying on words.
Race Equality Week 2025 aims to keep the momentum going and “accelerate change” by uniting people into action to seriously address race inequality in the workplace.
Selecting a theme for Race Equality Week 2025
The theme reflects ongoing findings and feedback, such as:
- Only 40% of the REM community believes their organisation focuses on action, change and impact, and not just words, to address race equality in the workplace
- More than 1 in 4 members of the community (26%) believe that less than a quarter of allies are actually helping to tackle race inequality
- Almost two thirds (64%) said senior leaders and managers in their organisation are committed to tackling race inequality, but less than half (46%) said they were actually making an impact
The theme has therefore been selected to remind individuals and organisations that: “Every small step you take is like sowing the seeds for change – whether big or small, each action matters.”
Sadly, REM believes that, although there has been lots of listening and discussion, there has been “very little action and even less meaningful change.”
They want the 2025 theme of #EveryActionCounts to galvanise people into taking action so that real and lasting change can take place.
They explain:
“Everyone has a role to play in the fight for racial equality in the workplace, from the top of each organisation to the bottom. The sooner we act, the sooner change can become our reality!”
That is why the 2025 Race Equality Week theme is #EveryActionCounts.
Take part in a Race Equality Week 2025 challenge
Organisations across the UK can access free solutions, tools, resources and digital assets on the Race Equality Week website, or can develop their own activities. Solutions for participating organisations include:
- The 5-day Challenge – Back for Race Equality Week 2025 after being introduced last year, this challenge provides 5 simple 5-minute daily activities for your colleagues to engage in over 5 days to help employees reflect and take that all-important action to tackle barriers to race equality.
- #ItsNotMicro – this helps empower your colleagues to confidently call out so-called ‘micro-aggressions’ in the workplace by raising awareness and providing key skills and tools to tackle them.
Organisations, individuals and race networks can also donate to help fund Race Equality Week 2025 and help end racial inequality in the workplace.
Raj Tulsiani, Co-founder and Chair of REM and CEO of Green Park says:
“Race Equality Week has become a vital part of intersectional progress.
“Firstly, it has created a time and a place to sustain the momentum after the events that took place in 2020. Race Equality Week allows organisations to both reflect and pursue action towards tackling race inequality.
“Secondly, it has grown from Javed and I, to now 4 million people and 4500 companies across the UK, it proves that the topic of race equality can’t be ignored or handled in a tokenistic manner.
“Thirdly, it provides guides and solutions to create inclusive work environments, and these solutions have been shaped with the help of people in the community who have a lived experience of discrimination. We put the spotlight on organisations who care.”
Meanwhile, Mark Lomas, Head of Culture at Lloyd’s a co-headline partner of Race Equality Week, said of the theme:
“I think it’s really simple, everyone needs to take action to make progress.
“If 1000 people undertake a small change / a small action. That small action makes a huge difference.”
2 in 5 Global Majority workers experience racism at work
Inclusive Employers support Race Equality Week 2025.
They cite research which revealed that 2 in 5 Global Majority colleagues (41%) have faced racism at work, but only 1 in 5 reported it.
The TUC report, published in 2022, said that the number of Black and minority ethnic (BME, or Global Majority) workers who had faced racism at work in the previous 5 years increased to more than half (52%) for those aged 25 to 34 years old.
For younger workers aged 18-24 years old, it increased to almost 6 in 10 (58%).
With 3.9 million Global Majority employees in the UK, the TUC raised serious concerns that hundreds of thousands of people face racist treatment and discrimination in the workplace.
Other key findings of the study include:
- More than a quarter (27%) of Global Majority workers had experienced racist jokes or “banter” at work
- More than 1 in 4 (26%) had been made to feel uncomfortable at work due to people using stereotypes or commenting on their appearance
- A fifth (21%) had experienced racist remarks directed at them or made in their presence
- The same percentage had been bullied or harassed at work
A majority of respondents (38%) had experienced this treatment at the hands of their colleagues, while 17% had been subject to racist treatment by a direct manager or someone else in a position of authority over them, and 15% had experienced harassment from a customer, client or patient.
Despite the seriousness of these behaviours, many go unreported. The TUC research found that less than a fifth (19%) of Global Majority employees who had experienced harassment had reported the most recent incident to their employer.
The reasons for this included:
- They did not believe it would be taken seriously (44%)
- They were worried about the impact on their working relationship with colleagues (25%)
For those who did report racist incidents at work, almost half (48%) were not satisfied with how it was handled and 7% said it resulted in their treatment getting worse.
The impact of racism and inequality in the workplace
Sadly, experiencing racism is forcing many people out of the workplace. Around 8% of respondents told the TUC that they left their job as a result of the racist treatment they received, while just over a quarter (26%) wanted to leave their job but were forced to stay due to financial or other factors.
Meanwhile, more than a third (35%) felt less confident at work due to racist treatment and others felt embarrassed (34%) or experienced poor mental health as a result (31%).
Inclusive Employers say that other research suggests that institutional racism can influence performance assessments, disciplinary procedures, promotion decisions and development opportunities.
They assert that it is “important to call out racism to prevent it from impacting our decisions at work.”
#EveryActionCounts in adult social care
Skills for Care is also supporting Race Equality Week 2025.
Throughout the week, they will be publishing blogs and articles sharing positive actions that organisations and individuals have taken to drive positive change in the workplace. They also offer a wealth of resources to help support equality, diversity and inclusivity in care workplaces.
These include:
- Supporting a diverse workforce: Understanding racism
- Videos about what it really means to work in adult social care, created during Black History Month 2024
- Confident with difference
- Culturally Appropriate Care – Supporting individuals from ethnic minority groups and backgrounds
- The positive culture toolkit
The Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard (SC-WRES) Improvement Programme also supports care organisations to address inequality through the collection and analysis of their workforce against nine key metrics, enabling the development of action plans to drive tangible change and improvement.
Skills for Care also runs a ‘Moving Up’ programme to support Black and Asian managers or aspiring managers in health and social care to overcome barriers and progress their careers.
Secure training for Race Equality Week 2025
First Response Training (FRT) is one of the UK’s largest and leading national training providers.
They deliver a wide and diverse range of training for businesses and organisations across all industry sectors and throughout the UK. Their course range includes training in the fields of health and safety, first aid, fire safety, manual handling, mental health, food safety, health and social care and more.
Their training is mapped to current UK standards and legislation and follows relevant industry guidelines, such as those issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Skills for care, the Care Quality Commission and the Resuscitation Council UK.
It includes training awards in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, as well as many more subjects.
Based on a common sense, proportionate approach to workplace safety, training helps learners to understand the true benefits of creating a healthy, safe and inclusive environment at work.
A trainer from FRT explains:
“Race Equality Week should serve as a reminder for all employers that if the workplace is not fully inclusive – which includes being safe, supportive and enabling for all workers – then you are potentially missing out on diverse talent, ideas, perspectives and experience.
“Protecting the health, safety and welfare of employees goes far beyond minimising risks to their physical safety and really requires a holistic approach to ensure they are properly supported and have a positive and equal experience in the workplace.”
You can download the free guide to Creating a Happy and Inclusive Working Environment from FRT’s website.
For more information on any of the training courses that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or e-mail info@firstresponsetraining.com.