Fortunately, 2022 has not so far not produced Covid-19 spikes of the scale that we experienced in the preceding two years. However, it was still an important part of our planning at the start of the year, as we moved from the height of the pandemic towards living with Covid as a long-term reality.

We have been very successful at preventing large-scale outbreaks at our services throughout the pandemic. Because of this, to continue keeping our customers and staff safe we decided to maintain several of the policies we had already deployed. At services we continued the practice of using masks in public spaces, and of social distancing wherever possible. We also took steps to make sure that testing equipment remained readily available for customers. We continued to limit the number of people who could work from our head office, but relaxed some of the other precautions including the use of masks in communal areas.

Since then, we have also re-introduced internal reporting processes that allow services to track and note all positive Covid-19 cases. In addition, our information team is sending data about positive cases to Area Managers to help them to track infection rates. We have kept all our guidance up to date and made sure that managers have the information they need to support their teams.

Looking ahead to the next winter, we will continue to do everything we can to limit the spread of Covid-19. We will always prioritise customer and staff safety, but also appreciate the need to begin living with this disease as a feature of life in the long-term.

By March this year, we had trained over 40 members of staff to be Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs), as part of our commitment to supporting colleagues’ mental wellbeing in the workplace.

MHFAs are trained to identify mental health emergencies and emotional distress, and support colleagues when these issues arise. The training they receive, accredited by the Royal Society of Public Health, enables them to do this alongside to their day-to-day roles.

MHFAs are not qualified counsellors or mental health workers. Rather, they are a first step in helping colleagues to find the appropriate support they need. If someone is having mental health issues, they can step in to provide a range of responses. They can have initial conversations, reassuring them and supporting them; they can share self-help techniques and coping strategies; they can also design intervention action plans, and signpost to external support which can help with mental health recovery or successful management of symptoms.

Colleagues can discuss things confidentially with MHFAs, without their names or data being stored. Confidentiality will only be breached if it is judged that there is a safety risk to someone. They are easily identifiable and contactable, and we continue to raise internal awareness about them and the services they provide.  We continue to work in partnership with MIND who delivered the training and provide us with expertise to support colleague wellbeing.

We would like to thank everybody who has volunteered to be a MHFA and are extremely pleased with the impact that they have already had on the organisation.

This Spring we released our first Race Action Plan.

In 2021 our Equality Diversity and Inclusion group (called ‘Your Voice’) identified race as a priority issue for us to focus on. We began our response to this by collecting staff feedback on the topic, including through a whole staff survey on race (with a response rate of 55%), and listening events facilitated by our EDI Advisor, Fatima Musa. We listened to what colleagues told us what was and wasn’t working, and have now developed a comprehensive action plan to make change happen.

The plan has five key focus areas:

• Representation – increasing ethnic diversity and representation across all levels of Evolve, including in the senior leadership team.
• Safety at work – ensuring that all colleagues feel safe and that policies are in place to prevent discriminatory behaviour.
• Learning and development – ensuring that all colleagues have equal access to learning and development opportunities, particularly those related to moving in management and senior positions.
• Monitoring and progress – setting targets for representation at all levels of the organisation and implementing the procedures needed to measure these.
• Leadership and Management – increasing understanding by management and senior staff about diversity and inclusion and the challenges that colleagues of different ethnicities may experience.

Under each focus area there is a list of actions, along with timelines and members of staff accountable for their success. We will report on our overall progress twice a year.

The Leadership Team and Board are fully committed to making significant progress on race equality in the workplace. We would like to thank every member of staff for their contributions, whether they attended listen and learn sessions, shared feedback in meetings or completed the staff survey. We would also like to thank the Your Voice EDI group, who have been instrumental in creating this plan.

Individuals

Adetoun Isikalu, Andrew McGuckin, Anouska Tamony, Alison McGibbon, Andrew Wakeman, Anita Kaur, Angela Johnson, Caroline Mason, Anna Williams, Anouska Tamony, Charlotte Page, Chris Pullen, Clare Stratford, Conor Macklin, David Dunman, David Shrimpton, David Williams-Campbell, Dores Schembri, Doris Herbertson, Elizabeth Rodger, Emma Heslop, Glen Routledge, Jacob Hunter-Flack, John Haw, Jyoti Patel, Julie Taylor, Karen Norman, Kim Pullen, Maggie Denman, Mark Colhoun, Mina Amin, Nicholas Berwick, Pat Ward, Rajan Amin, Simon McGrath.

Volunteers

Alex Bull, Andrew Cooper, Beatrice Curtis, Ben Zuka, Brenda Baxter, Brenda Njose, Charmaine Charles, Chester Rogers, Christopher Bridger, Esther Mercer, Gloria Nwosu, Islamiat Agunbiade, Jamel Leander-Thomas, Janine Daguio, Josephine Birungi, Joshua Piercey, Kelly Walker, Liam Straite, Lianne Small, Oluwaseun Omotayo, Mary Liz Brown-Maclean, Paolo Nyberg, Patrick Ward, Ricardo Whyte, Shamim Katasi, Shivani Sharma, Silindiwe Dube, Svitlana Asobayire, Thelma Weekes ,Tim Henderson, Valerie Idemudia.

Local Authorities

Greater London Authority, London Borough of Croydon, London Borough of Lambeth, London Borough of Merton, London Borough of Sutton, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Trusts and Foundations

National Lottery Communities Fund, St Giles Trust, London Hostels Association.

Food donors

Blue Jay Cafe, Brown and Green Cafe, City Harvest, Costco, Coughlans Bakery, FoodCycle, Jones Bros, Marks & Spencers, Morrisons Wimbledon, Nando’s, Pizza Hut, Pret a Manger, Sainsbury’s, Sunshine Tropical Foods, Torchlight Ministries, Wimbledon Food Bank.

Corporates and Community Groups

Archway Building Consultancy, Argos, Auditel, BBC Newsnight, Callaly, Chaffinch Brook School, Cleanovation, Croydon BID, Coversure, DTT Removals, Fidelity Energy Ltd, Hey Girl, idverde UK, IWS Integrated Water Services, ITV Studios, Kensington and Chelsea Rotary Club, Kick Game, Liberty Hygiene, Life City Church, London Homeless Charities Group, Lush, Millbank LLP, Optimal Maintenance, OusideIn, Pin Point Recruitment, SA Law, Sainsbury’s, SME Group, Soundproofing UK, St Mary of the Boltons, Stonegrove Ltd, St Winifred’s Church, Suna Interiors, The Housing Executive, Torchlight Ministries, Trinity School, Tropic Skincare, Walter Lily.

Diana Coman (Audit Committee member)

Evonne Hudson (Audit Committee member)

Paul Infield

Simon McGrath

Paul Perkin (Chair)

Isabel Sanchez

David Shrimpton (Audit Committee Chair)

Chief Executive
Jeremy Gray

Director of Operations
Debra Ives

Deputy Director of Operations
Pamela Newman

Director of Corporate Services and Company Secretary
Jenny Strudwick

Director of People and Culture
Elspeth Hayde