Cancer Research UK has admitted it has “made mistakes” in tackling racism and pledged to be an inclusive organisation committed to promoting diversity across its leadership and research.

The charity has made the series of pledges in its equality, diversity and inclusion plan, setting out the immediate action it will take.

This includes being an actively anti-racist charity that challenges racism and discrimination in its field of cancer research.

It will use its influence to promote equality and inclusion across its organisation and among organisations it deals with.

Data collection is to be ramped up to better understand its audiences.

Health inequalities will also be tackled and it has pledged to “develop a more diverse and inclusive research community through the research it funds”.

Governance, readership and its advisory role are among areas to be looked at “making sure decisions are made in an inclusive way”.

In launching the strategy CRUK chief executive Michelle Mitchell has also promised to publish regular updates on its progress and that the charity will “be open about where we can improve”.

“We have made significant progress over recent years, but we have much further to go,” said Mitchell.

“I’m proud of the progress we’ve already made over the past few years. We’ve doubled female membership on research committees, addressed a lack of diversity in clinical trials and published a report on socioeconomic inequalities in cancer.

“But we’ve also made mistakes. We could’ve done more to tackle racial biases in academic research, had a stronger voice on health inequalities, and acted quicker to make sure that our communications materials reflected the diversity of our community.

“By publishing this plan, I want to make a public commitment to change for the better. We will share our progress each year, be transparent where we haven’t got it right, and always be open to learning.

She added: “At Cancer Research UK, we all share a common mission of beating cancer, and beating cancer means beating it for everyone. We’re the largest independent funder of cancer research in the world, providing health and patient information to millions of people each year and influencing governments.

“And we’re a large organisation, employing thousands of people and supported by many thousands more volunteers. We believe we have a clear responsibility to address inequalities and to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in all of these areas.”

We @CR_UK launch our first charity-wide Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy, which will make us a stronger charity, keep us accountable for our progress & help us beat cancer https://t.co/SXP7Fh5huu

— Michelle Mitchell (@Michelle_CRUK) January 29, 2021

CRUK is among a number of charities and charitable organisations seeking to take action to tackle racism and promote equality.

In December last year Westway Trust, the London community charity that supported Grenfell Tower tragedy victims, promised to address its “long term culture of institutional racism”.

Also last year Save the Children UK has pledged to improve quality, diversity and inclusion after research found almost a third of those in its organisation have felt excluded or oppressed.

Meanwhile last November, Versus Arthritis reported itself to the Charity Commission over reports of racism and bullying last November.

The NCVO is another voluntary sector organisation to launch an action plan last year to tackle structural racism in its organisation.

Figures released last year showed that BAME charity staff earn on average 20% less than their non-BAME colleagues. This is worse than the previous year.

Charity Times has produced a guide to diversity, equity and inclusion resources to support charities.

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