Charity leaders must be “constantly vigilant” about discrimination and prejudice inside their organisations, the chief executive of Shelter has warned.
Polly Neate said yesterday that structural social injustice makes it inevitable that charities will be affected by issues such as racism and sexism.
Neate was speaking at an event in central London hosted by the charity think tank NPC.
Invited to speak about charities and social justice, she told the audience that her first thought was: “‘Are we part of the solution or are we part of the problem?’ I think it is as basic a question as that. If we are not here to change things then we are complicit in systems that cause people’s lives to fall apart and then blame people for it.”
She added: “We as charities don’t change lives. We often say that we do, but actually we don’t.
“We work alongside people, at best, who change their own lives.
“We are not empowering people. We are discovering people’s power alongside them.”
Neate said the voluntary sector must avoid a situation where it is “being paid by [government] agencies to tidy up their mess”, and should “aim higher than just numbers and helping more people” by pursuing progressive changes across society.
As a result of structural social injustice, she argued, “it is inevitable that we, as charities, are part of the problem, because we are porous entities, absorbing racism, sexism, classism and other injustices, continually. Of course we find that in our organisations.
“Our charitable values don’t create a holy forcefield around us that keeps all of the societal influences out of our sacrosanct and lovely organisations full of super kind people.”
She added: “We have to be constantly vigilant, and in that we are just like any other organisation.”