Black Third Sector Summit 2020 – Survival in the era of COVID 19

As part of its commemoration of Black History Month, the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust is excited to announce the first annual National Black Third Sector Summit.

This 3 day virtual national event will bring together Black Third Sector stakeholders including; delgates from statutory organisations, directors of local and national businesses and CEO’s and Trustees of community based organisation which all serve Black communities in England. Together Summit attendees will explore the challenges posed by COVID 19 pandemic and determine how voluntary and community sector organisations working with black communities can adapt and respond.

Black communities have been disproportionately affected by the Covid 19 pandemic, making the black third sector especially critical to an effective national response and ensuring that existing inequalities are not further entrenched or worsened. A decade of underfunding and rapidly rising demand for services already left marginal black organisations in England struggling. This has since been exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic which has pushed England into a severe recession and the sector now faces further and more devastating funding cuts.

The Black Third Sector Summit 2020 will provide a unique opportunity for charities, local and national policy makers and funders, infrastructure organisations and commercial partners to explore how together we can assure the survival of England’s Black Third Sector organisations. We seek to explore how innovative approaches and technologies can help the sector to meet growing demands. The Summit will actively seek to answer the question ‘How can Black Third Sector organisations adapt to digital and socially distance delivery their services?’

The summit, which is free to attend, will be held on-line over three days from 13:30 – 17:30. Each day will focus on a priority theme in England’s black communities with break out sessions moderated by experienced sector specialists. The first day of the event on 26th October stakeholders will focus on health inequalities, including sexual, mental and general health. Monday October 28th will focus on children, young people and education, and finally, Friday October 30th will focus on black employment and enterprise.