Our Black Network has been up and running for the last two years, and in October won the prestigious Best Employee Resource Group at the Black Talent Awards – an accomplishment we’re proud of for the amazing work the network has been doing.

We caught up with two of our Black Network co-chairs to learn more about what makes the Black Network such a success and how everything has come together for them since inception - L’amour Brandford (Intermediary & Conveyancing Panel Manager) and Brian Kinch (Business Analysis Practice Manager) shared their thoughts.

What is the Black Network all about?

L’amour: It’s a safe space for Black colleagues to get together to discuss life within the workplace, successes and challenges we might be going through and bring to life our realistic Black narrative to our colleagues and members.

Brian: We also wanted to reach outside the Society and see how we can build relationships with other organisations too. We wanted a Black community within the Society – previously, there were lots of individuals who would perhaps wave at each other across the car park, but now we have a small but well-formed community of Black people who support each other, coach each other, and help each other develop.

How does the network come together?

L’amour: We meet every 2 weeks via Teams and try to book in face-to-face meetings at least twice a year.

Brian: At the moment, we have a core of about ten co-chairs. As we build up to key events like Windrush Day and Black History Month, we have more planning sessions but some of our other meetings are more about getting together, let’s talk about things of interest that people want to bring to the session. We also try to have at least two face to face events too where we’re able to cook for each other, share stories in a relaxed environment and bond.

What can Black colleagues expect from the network?

L’amour: An understanding support network of colleagues you may not meet in your day-to-day job role. At its heart, it allows you to network and build business relationships with people who have a similar life experience to you. A bonus is also making genuine friendships and feeling like you’re around family. You are sure to feel inspired by the achievements of the group, and it’s so important to hear these stories from people who look like you.

Brian: We work towards our ambition of promoting the Black talent we have internally. We want to see everyone have the opportunity to grow, reach their potential and move into the right role for them. We provide coaching and support each other, from reviewing CVs to doing interview practice, and practising presentation skills. I think we’ve all worked with or grown up with talented Black people who haven’t achieved their potential, and it’s about trying to help people in our network. Some people will support you within the network, we’ll support you by connecting you with others across the business. We want our Black colleagues to grow and become more confident, and know that they can achieve more if that’s what they want to do.

How has the Black Network influenced the wider business?

Brian: We’ve used podcasts and our intranet to share stories and held events to share about our culture and history. We share to help people learn and try to remove some of the barriers that people may feel, so that people don’t feel so uncomfortable asking questions. I was approached by someone whom I’d hardly spoken to before, asking where I’m from, and shared that I was born in England, but my family and history are from the Caribbean. These are the kind of conversations people shouldn’t be afraid of. For our events, we may have our wonderful food to share, but we like to have the education side of things too. For this year’s Black History Month event, we had lots of sharing about Africa and sharing about their families and traditions. We’ve given a rich insight so far about ourselves and our culture to the society, and we’ll continue to do this.

We’re also building relationships externally. We work with Coventry University and our partner schools so we can put Black faces out there and allow young people to see role models. We’re also working with Mind on a Young Black Men’s project. Understanding that from age 11, there are more challenges mentally for Black boys, and several of us have volunteered to support on this. There’s so much more we can and want to do.

L'amour: Our suggested changes to the way D&I stats are reported have meant that the breakdown of the Society’s ‘ethnic minority’ targets is now split into different ethnicity groups. This gives us a more accurate representation of how Black colleagues are situated across the Society and in Managerial/Senior Manager roles.

Can you share a standout moment for the Black Network?

Brian: Something that jumps out for me was the first Windrush day that we all came together for – it was the 75th anniversary. We were relatively new as a community and weren’t sure how many people would turn up and whether it would be a success – but it was I think since then, we’ve put our all into our events with the mindset of we’re going to enjoy it, and hopefully that energy will rub off on others too. The other standout moment for me was the very first time a few of us got in a room together, when we first started the Black Network. We all met, and we were all a little cagey and very polite, but it wasn’t long before people started relaxing, opening up and getting emotional because we didn’t previously have that experience of a community. It’s grown and grown since then. We all have such different backgrounds and are from different parts of the country, but all have a common purpose – to see each other, and the Society succeed.

L’amour: Personally making over 100 cupcakes per event for BHM 2023, Windrush 2024 and BHM 2024!

And how did it feel to win the Black Talent Award for Best Employee Resource Group?

L’amour: It’s amazing! Winning an award like this at an early stage in the Network was so validating and celebrates what we have and can continue to achieve. I feel inspired by the people I’m surrounded by in the Black Network, and it’s fantastic that we’ve been recognised within the same platform as the other incredible black people, businesses and networks who were nominated across the different categories.

Brian: It’s very difficult to put into words! We all screamed, looked around as if to say ‘’that’s us!’’ and hustled up to the stage with huge smiles. We hadn’t appreciated how strong the story was behind what we’d done in the last two years. We were up against huge organisations like Lloyds and GSK – so we were there to have fun. We hadn’t realised that all the small steps we’d taken were quite powerful and meant a lot. I think part of the success was challenging our Execs and having a great exec sponsor in Rachel Macfarlane. We haven’t done all the things we want to do yet, so we’re not going to stand still following this win – we’re just getting started.