Author: Harris Bokhari OBE

Harris is board member for the Prince's Trust Mosaic initiative. He was appointed as Mosaic’s first honorary patron and was awarded the prestigious Beacon Award for Philanthropy Advocate 2013 for raising £1m within 12 months for various charities working in deprived communities in the UK, becoming the youngest and first Muslim to receive this honour. He now serves as a judge for the awards. Harris is the co-founder of the Naz Legacy Foundation, which aims to enhance educational excellence and positive integration. It was established in memory of his late father, Naz Bokhari OBE, the first Asian/Muslim head teacher in the UK. The Foundation was honoured to be awarded the Big Society Award 2014 by the Prime Minister. Harris is also an ambassador for the British Asian Trust. Harris’s interfaith work has included organising the first ever engagement event between national community, women and youth leaders from the Jewish and Muslim communities meeting with the new Chief Rabbi in Finchley Kinloss Synagogue. Harris was one of the first Muslims to be invited to the Chief Rabbi’s installation ceremony and was selected to be an Ariane De Rothschild fellow, in partnership with Cambridge University’s Judge Business School and King’s College. Harris also organised the first youth interfaith iftar at Lambeth Palace, which brought together the Archbishop of Canterbury, Chief Rabbi, Mayor of London and over 100 youth leaders from each of London’s boroughs – representing all faiths and none. Harris was awarded an OBE in Her Majesty’s Birthday Honours List for services for young people and interfaith relations; named as one of 40 people in finance who goes further for good causes by Financial News Extra Mile List; and named as one of London’s most influential figures by the Evening Standard’s Progress 1000 list.

We should work together to reverse the big drop in ethnic minorities on the honours list

Oringinally Published – Evening Standard

Britain has a long history of welcoming people in need from the Kindertransport, to Ugandan Asians and more recently Ukrainian families escaping the horrors in their homeland. Along with economic migrants, families who went on to live here have gone on to help build our country. We have all witnessed how these first and second generations of migrants have not only shaped our country, but the world.

However, despite some inspirational people — whose stories I tell below — appearing on the new honours list, for the first time there has been a significant drop of successful candidates coming from an ethnic minority background. If you are inspired by their actions, as well as by many of our other diverse community volunteers, help make the honours system more representative and nominate someone today at www.gov.uk/honours. Julien Isaac, Miranda Lowe and Raghib Ali are all fantastic examples of how children of migrant families have not only contributed to shaping our country but also shaping how the world views us.

The knighthood awarded to filmmaker and installation artist Julien Isaac highlights how a son of migrants from St Lucia — his mother a nurse and his father a welder — is now making an international impact shaping the arts and culture world. Julien’s work is held in collections that include Tate, London to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and he is now inspiring the next generation of artists as the professor of arts at UC Santa Cruz, California.

Miranda Lowe’s parents migrated to the Britain in the early sixties. Both her parents were also the backbones of our public services with her Grenadian mother a nurse, and her Barbadian father a train driver. From a young age Miranda’s parents would organise — “excursions” — coach trips for migrant Caribbean families to visit the beautiful countryside. This was extremely rare for minority families in the sixties and seventies, and it helped shape their values of the importance of the environment and the role we each must play to protect it. Inspired by her parents, Miranda went on to become a Principal Curator at the Natural History Museum and one the world’s leading scientists. For her contributions in highlighting the hidden and often unseen black botanists of the past and every year inspiring hundreds of young diverse people who can identify with her and her life’s journey to have a career in science and become the future advocates for our planet, she was awarded a CBE.

When Dr Raghib Ali’s father arrived in Liverpool from India, he was met by a cold reception. Not only was this the first time he had seen snow but also the first time he experienced racism and prejudice. Sixty years on during the COVID-19 pandemic, Raghib took leave from his university work as an epidemiologist and volunteered to return, unpaid, to frontline NHS duties. His work helped with understanding the causes of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minorities and improved the vaccine uptake as well as preventing an unnecessary lockdown in Christmas 2021. Raghib’s awarding of an OBE shows how first generation born children to migrant families despite the significant adversity in their childhood can overcome these challenges and have gone on to help and support our country in our darkest days while also shaping Government policy.

There are also many recent examples of migrants supporting and improving our country. Suleman Raza migrated to the UK from Pakistan in 2000 with just fifty pounds in his pocket. Celebrating a Platinum Jubilee can only happen once in our lifetime and for Suleman he is also able to celebrate an extremely rare coincidence of being awarded a MBE personally and also at the same time, as part of a group, the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, which is a MBE for voluntary groups. His personal MBE was awarded for being one of the country’s leading takeout’s “curry-preneur”, running a chain of Pakistani restaurants – with his flagship restaurant in tooting, Spice Village, which is regularly visited by international figures from Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London to Shah Rukh Khan Bollywood legend. This first known occasion of someone receiving both a MBE as an individual and as part of voluntary group is not surprising, given his voluntary group Spice Village Uplyft has feed thousands of the homeless and vulnerable communities.

Suleman Raza is just one among many migrants who are coming into our country daily who will not only help strengthen our economy but also support the most vulnerable in society, and we as a country we are better for it.

Queen’s Birthday Honours highlight great contribution Asians have made to the UK

Orginally Published – Eastern Eye

Ron, Miranda, Tariq and Suleman are all fantastic examples of how migrants contributed to shaping our country

Despite the recent successes of seeing better representation on the honours list with 15.1% BAME award winners in the 2022 New Year’s Honour List, this special Platinum Jubilee year has sadly seen a significant drop with only 13.3% successful candidates coming from an ethnic minority background.

This decline however comes with a possible historic moment. Celebrating a Platinum Jubilee can only happen once in our lifetime and for Suleman Raza he has the extremely rare coincidence of being awarded a MBE personally at the same time as being awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, which is a MBE for voluntary groups. Suleman migrated to the UK from Pakistan in 2000 with just fifty pounds in his pocket. His personal MBE was awarded for being one of the country’s leading takeout’s “curry-preneur”, running a chain of Pakistani restaurants – with his flagship restaurant in Tooting, Spice Village, which is regularly visited by international figures from Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London to Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood legend. This unique award is not surprising, given his voluntary group Spice Village Uplyft has feed thousands of the homeless and vulnerable communities.

The knighthood awarded to tech-entrepreneur Ron Kalifa has once again highlighted the great contribution Asian immigrants have made to the UK economy. Ron was invited to lead an independent Fintech Strategic Review for the UK at the request of the Chancellor of the Exchequer which was published in February 2021. The “Kalifa Review” helped to identify existing strengths in the UK and how to create a framework which would help continue innovation and support firms to scale, extending the UK’s competitive edge over other leading fintech hubs.

Miranda Lowe has been awarded a CBE for her work in the hidden and often unseen black botanists of the past. She is inspiring hundreds of young diverse people, who can identify with her and her life’s journey to have a career in science and become the future advocates for our planet. Her migrant parents were part of the backbones of our public services with her Grenadian mother a nurse, and her Barbadian father a train driver. From a young age Miranda’s parents would organise – “excursions” – coach trips for migrant Caribbean families to visit the beautiful countryside. This was extremely rare for minority families in the sixties and seventies, and it helped shape their values of the importance of the environment and the role we each must play to protect it. Inspired by her parents, Miranda went on to become a Principal Curator at the Natural History Museum and one the world’s leading scientists.

Tariq Shah’s OBE award is one of the prefect stories of migrant successes in the north of the country. With his grandfather arriving in the sixties and working on the railways, together with his father developed a thriving business while also being focused on supporting the most vulnerable in the UK and abroad. This sense of duty inspired Tariq to continue to strengthen the family business ensuring their successes were reinvesting locally in the Doncaster area through providing long term jobs and supply chains in the local community and in a voluntary role he chairs the Town Deal Board which is responsible for regeneration in Doncaster City Centre. Charity has continued to play important role in Tariq’s life, if that is as Chair of the Sleep Charity or as one of the founding board members of the Prince’s Trust Mosaic initiative which has helped thousands of the most vulnerable young Muslims raise their aspiration through mentoring.

If you are inspired by the actions of the award winners above, as well as by many of our other diverse community volunteers, help make the honours system more representative and nominate someone today at www.gov.uk/honours. Ron, Miranda, Tariq and Suleman are all fantastic examples of how migrants and children of migrant families have not only contributed to shaping our country but also shaping how the world views us. They are just a handful of the many amongst us who are coming into our country daily who will not only help strengthen our economy but also support the most vulnerable in society, and we as a country are better for it.

Harris Bokhari OBE is the founder and a trustee at the Patchwork Foundation which aims to promote and encourage the positive integration of disadvantaged and minority communities into British democracy and civil society.

Let’s unite in this second locked down Ramadan

Orginally Published – Evening Standard

Last night marked the start of the second Ramadan, the month of fasting, under lockdown for Muslims across the UK. For many, this Ramadan will be particularly difficult as there will be empty chairs at the dinner table as they end their fasts at sunset.

I do not know a single Muslim family that has not been impacted in some way by Covid-19, many losing family members or grappling with the crippling effects of long Covid. My father-in-law caught the virus in October last year and spent months in ICU.

At one point his family were asked to say their final farewells, but unlike many in his position, he made a miraculous recovery and will be home this Ramadan thanks to the boundless support and care of our NHS.

Despite the initial disparities in the take up of the vaccine within ethnic minority communities, vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi, who lost his uncle to coronavirus, has empowered places of worship including mosques, churches, synagogues, temples and gurdwaras to become vaccine hubs.

This enabled people of faith and none to take the vaccine in places of local importance. This has not only helped to dispel Covid-19 myths, but according to a recent Ipsos Mori poll, resulted in a 16 per cent increase in vaccinations in these communities.

Many vulnerable Muslims, including my mother, will have their second vaccine appointment in Ramadan. They now have a renewed sense of confidence after the UK’s leading religious authorities last week confirmed taking the second injection during Ramadan will not break their fast and is a spiritual requirement for their safety and the safety of our nation.

With social distancing measures still in place, virtual iftars, the evening meal to end the fast, will again play a vital part in helping communities unite in our struggles and celebrate what we have in common.

With more than 500,000 people taking part in last year’s Naz Legacy Foundation’s Virtual Iftars, launched by the Prince of Wales, the foundation will continue to connect diverse communities during this Ramadan and will be joined again by leading faith leaders and Cabinet members, including the Foreign Secretary and Health Secretary.

As we enter the next phase of easing out of lockdown, these small but important steps of uniting communities will help us build back better.

Harris Bokhari is founder and trustee of the Naz Legacy Foundation

Let’s unite in this second locked down Ramada

Orginally Published – Evening Standard

As we enter the next phase of easing out of lockdown, these small but important steps of uniting communities will help us build back better.

Harris Bokhari is founder and trustee of the Naz Legacy Foundation

We can’t ignore the mental health epidemic

Originally published in the Evening Standard on 27th Oct 2020

Figures released last week show that one in six children aged five to 16 now identify as having a probable mental disorder, compared to one in nine in 2017. But the worst may be yet to come.

Many of the young adults supported by the youth charity I founded have shared stories of their own precarious mental health; and the impact that lockdown, isolation, bereavement and uncertain employment has had.

This ranges from amplified anxieties, compulsive behaviours and concern about loved ones, to sheer exhaustion and depression.

The acute need for increased pastoral support has made me re-evaluate how we not only work with young people but how we as a society and youth charities in particular approach mental wellbeing. How can we combat mental ill-health? I don’t have all the answers, but I know that we can only do it together as a community.

None of the youth charities I founded were based on the provision of mental health support. Some young people I mentor have told me about their attempts to commit suicide, most recently during lockdown. What then of the disadvantaged young people we work with who don’t have the support structures to help them cope with the challenges of life?

Students returning to school after lockdown reported worse mental health and a decrease in support

For too long, youth charities have been focused on “churning out” young people to chase funders who care more about parading the numbers of young people they fund than understanding their long-term needs, including their mental wellbeing.

Young Minds’ research said there was an 11 per cent increase in students who described their mental health as poor since they returned to school after lockdown. These students also reported a 23 per cent decrease in support for pupils in schools since the pandemic.

Over 75 per cent of all mental disorders start before people hit the age of 24. I believe everyone who comes in contact with a young person — no matter the interaction — should have at the front of their mind how they can contribute to that young person’s mental health.

This will take a culture shift and strong and effective campaigning not just with youth charities but corporations and foundations which seek to fund them — we cannot afford to ignore this silent epidemic any longer.

The need to understand our shared histories has never been more important – to help shape our shared futures

Originally published in the Evening Standard 16th Oct 2020

In light of the recent Black Lives Matter demonstrations, the need to understand our shared histories has never been more important – to help shape our shared futures.

The CBE given to trailblazing headteacher Yvonne Conolly is a wonderful example of how this can be achieved. Yvonne, a member of the Windrush generation became the first black headmistress in 1969 and sadly the only surviving from the original first black headteachers, which included Tony O’Connor and Beryl Gilroy. For over four decades successive Governments have overlooked the contributions made by our pioneering black headteachers, with none of them receiving a senior national honour. At the start of Black History Month, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson dedicated his video message to Yvonne and how “she inspired and mentored not only her young charges but also generations of educators.” The awarding of the CBE, has gone some way to correcting the decades of neglect and sacrifices that our first BAME headteachers made, not only in breaking the glass ceiling but facing abuse and death threats from the far right for just doing their job.

This was the most diverse honours list ever with 13 per cent of successful candidates coming from BAME backgrounds beating the previous highest percentage of 12 per cent in the New Year list of 2019. The public honours system in recent years has become more independent from political influence. Nominations are made by the public and assessed by independent committees. The public honours should not be confused with the political honours list which is decided by the sitting Prime Minister. However each year the Prime Minister of the day can set strategic priorities for these independent committees and it is clear this round the focus was on the Government’s “levelling up” agenda, with the list reflecting the length and breadth of society. Read more ‘A remarkable lady’: Charles honours UK’s first black headmistress

Business leaders in the north have been recognised. For example, Blackburn’s Issa brothers, Mohsin and Zuber who recently brought the 71 year old Asda supermarket chain back to British ownership after 21 years. Their entrepreneurial expertise in securing countless jobs in the north of the country has seen them being awarded CBEs.

But what makes this list so unique from previous honour lists was the Prime Minister’s inclusion of over 400 additional Covid-19 heroes. For raising nearly £1m for charity by walking while fasting during Ramadan, 101 year old Dabirul Choudhury was awarded an OBE, whilst Rajinder Singh Harzall ‘the Skipping Skih’ received a MBE for encouraging elderly people to stay active in lockdown. The Covid-19 recipients have embodied the blitz spirt which was led by the Captain Tom who was awarded a knighthood earlier in the year.

There is never a better time to put forward someone for a honour, from anywhere in the country. The Government sets out very clear guidelines, on how to nominate someone, at gov.uk/honours. All you will need to do is fill out an online form, describing in no more than 500 words why your nominee is deserving of an award. You also need two supporting letters of reference. Now is the best time for us have a honours system which reflect the whole of society, so nominate someone today.

Why it’s vital that the first BAME heads are recognised

BAME headteachers have to work 10 times as hard to be acknowledged for the work they do – so it’s wonderful that Yvonne Conolly has finally been appointed CBE, saying Harris Bokhari

The achievement of being the first person to break a glass ceiling for your community can never be underestimated. And being an excellent educator and outstanding headteacher isn’t easy at the best of times. But being the first of your community to do this means you have to work 10 times harder without making any of the mistakes afforded to others. This is rarely acknowledged when awarding national honours.

My father became the first Muslim headteacher in the early 1980s and faced racist abuse from day one of his appointment. He was an excellent headteacher and turned his school into one of the best in the country, but along the way he faced abuse from elements of the education establishment and from parents who didn’t want to see him succeed.

These pioneers know that if they make one mistake they could lose their career, which could then impact the next BAME (black, Asian or minority-ethnic) educator who applies for a headship. That’s what makes these educators exceptional and why we need to recognise them at the highest of levels. Combined with the voluntary work that many of them do in their own and wider communities, the question I ask myself now, given that I sit on the honours committee, is: why did my late father receive only an OBE when many of his non-diverse counterparts were knighted while achieving the same results without having faced the same level of prejudice or having made such contributions in their voluntary work?

But the biggest injustice of all has been the sidelining of the generation of “first” minority headteachers. More than 50 years ago, we had the first generation of black headteachers. The Windrush generation brought a level of excellence in education that was needed to a country developing into a rich multicultural society. When Tony O’Connor, a former RAF sergeant who had served in the Second World War, became Britain’s first black male headteacher in 1967, it came at a time when race relations were at their worst in Smethwick, coming off the back of the most racist electoral campaign in British history. His appointment led to the school walls being daubed with swastikas and racist slogans. Death threats were commonplace and were also faced by both the first and second black female headteachers, Yvonne Connolly and Beryl Gilroy, with Connolly needing to take a bodyguard with her to school.

One thing that the three first black headteachers had in common is none of them ever received a senior national honour. They were exceptional headteachers, just as good, if not better, than other headteachers who had received senior honours. So why were they overlooked when they were in the education system and, more importantly, when they retired?

What also makes this more upsetting is that each of them was active in public service in a voluntary capacity during their working lives and even into their retirement. Dr Gilroy was an active member of the Race Relations Board as well as being a founder member of the Camden Black Sisters. Connolly founded the Caribbean Teachers’ Association, served on the home secretary’s Advisory Council on Race Relations and was a member of the Independent Broadcasting Authority. Sadly, both O’Connor and Gilroy are no longer with us, and national honours cannot be awarded posthumously.

But after four decades of successive prime ministers and governments ignoring the contributions made by our pioneering black headteachers, justice has finally done by Boris Johnson awarding a senior national honour, a CBE, to Yvonne Connolly.

At the start of Black History Month, the prime minister dedicated his video message to Connolly and told of how “she inspired and mentored not only her young charges but also generations of educators”.

The awarding of the CBE has corrected the decades of neglect and sacrifices that our first BAME headteachers made, not only in breaking the glass ceiling but facing abuse and death threats from the far right just for doing their job.

Fifty years on, Connolly has received tributes from HRH The Prince of Wales and the education secretary Gavin Williamson. What is important is that we never forget the contributions our pioneering headteachers have made but also remember that we need to recognise those headteachers and educators who still face prejudice on a daily basis – be it related to their race, sex, faith or sexuality. The impact on children from minority backgrounds of having a headteacher who looks, sounds and comes from the same background from you can never be underestimated.

As the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said in his mayoral victory speech: “It was my headteacher Naz Bokhari, an outstanding teacher and a role model for me and thousands of other children at Ernest Bevin College, who encouraged me to go to university and aim to give something back into society. He made me realise that skin colour and background should never be a barrier to fulfilling your potential.”

Now is the time to remember our diverse educators, so please nominate them today at gov.uk/honours. Let’s not allow another generation of educators to pass without acknowledging their contribution to our country.

Harris Bokhari is a national board member of Mosaic – The Prince’s Trust mentoring programme, and founder of the Naz Legacy Foundation

Record number of Ethnic minorities receive honours

Rajinder Singh Harzall ‘the Skipping Skih’ receiving a MBE

By Harris Bokhari

The recent Black Lives Matter demonstrations have highlighted the ongoing inequalities faced by Black communities across the UK. Over the last four honour rounds we have seen the number of BAME recipients consistently decline, so the timing of the most ethnically diverse honours list to date, with 13 per cent of recipients coming from an ethnic minority background cannot be better.

Recipients of CBEs are represented by numerous BAME history makers. Farmida Bi came to the UK from Pakistan aged six. She made history by becoming the first woman and ethnic minority to be elected chair of Norton Rose Fulbright LLP and the first Muslim woman to lead any of the “magic circle” firms. She joins Blackburn’s Issa brothers, Mohsin and Zuber who have brought the 71 year old Asda supermarket chain back to British ownership after 21 years as well as Kofi Adjepong-Boateng the Chair, of Economic Justice Programme, Open Society Foundations and leading philanthropist being awarded CBEs.

After four decades of successive prime ministers and Governments ignoring the contributions made by our pioneering black headteachers, with none of them receiving a senior national honour, justice has finally been done by also the awarding of a CBE to Yvonne Conelly. Yvonne, a member of the Windrush generation, became the first black headmistress in 1969 and sadly the only surviving of the original first black headteachers which included Tony O’Connor and Beryl Gilroy. At the start of Black History Month, the prime minister dedicated his video message to Yvonne and how “she inspired and mentored not only her young charges but also generations of educators.” The awarding of the CBE, has gone a little way to correcting the decades of neglect and sacrifices that our first BAME headteachers made, not only in breaking the glass ceiling but facing abuse and death threats from the far right for just doing their job.

The Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020 is also the first honours list to have 11 per cent of recipients under 30 and no one represents this better than the Forbes 30 Under 30 Entrepreneur Josh Babarinde being awarded an OBE. One of the UK’s leading social entrepreneurs Josh has helped rebuild the lives of hundreds of young ex-offenders from a live of crime to employment.

But what makes this list so unique from previous honour lists is the inclusion of over 400 additional Covid-19 hero recipients. From the raising just under £1m for charity by walking while fasting during Ramadan, 101 year old – Dabirul Choudhury who was awarded a OBE to Rajinder Singh Harzall ‘the Skipping Skih’ receiving a MBE for encouraging elderly people to stay active in lockdown.

With a record number of BAME recipients, there has never a better time to put forward someone for a honour. The Government sets out very clear guidelines, on how to nominate someone, at http://gov.uk/honours

All you need to do is fill out an online form, describing in no more than 500 words why your nominee is deserving of an award: it may be because of the amounts of money they have raised or the number of people they have helped. Remember, you must highlight the impact the nominee has had in their community — not just how nice they are. You also need two supporting letters of reference. Now is the best time for us to boost the diversity in the honours system, so nominate someone today.

Patchwork Foundation: providing a sense of family for young people

Harris Bokhari OBE (Maths and Management 1999) on making positive change.

Interview: Megan Welford / Photography: Hannah Maule-ffinch

Portrait of Harris Bokhari OBE

Original Article on this link

It’s easy to identify the inspiration behind my charity, the Patchwork Foundation – my father, Naz Bokhari. After his death in 2011, my sister, Hina, and I mapped out all that he had achieved and what would complement it. We started the Naz Legacy to promote education and integration, and the Patchwork Foundation came out of it. The aim is to connect disadvantaged young people, who are often locked out of society, with civic life.

My father was the first Muslim headmaster in the UK, at Ernest Bevin College, a secondary school in Tooting, and we were amazed at just how loved and respected he was. In the last two days he was in hospital before he died, we sent out an open invitation and a thousand people came to visit. He’d always been so low-key – he drove us into Buckingham Palace one day to get his OBE as if we were going on just another trip.

We grew up in Epsom, Surrey, where we were the only non-white family, and spent weekends in north London, Birmingham or Leicester setting up chairs in community halls or organising sports. We drank weak lemon squash and ate rice and mince from Tupperware containers. It was fun for us – we didn’t know we were participating in community events and helping people. But our father brought us up to give back, to try to make positive change in our environment.

I am so lucky to have had my father’s love and that my mother is my shoulder to cry on. In the Patchwork Foundation, we try to provide that sense of family for young people. Individuals provide the spark, but family is what allows you to achieve something. My dad advised me to become an accountant (rather than a teacher like everyone else in my family), and for that I am grateful. It allows me to do what I do, and I love it. I’ve always been comfortable with numbers – I like things to add up. Lots of things in society don’t add up, like me having a full fridge when others don’t.

Sometimes it can get a bit overwhelming, so I keep handwritten thank-you notes people have given me in my pocket. When someone says, “I’m alive because of you”, you know why you do what you do.

Harris Bokhari OBE won Imperial’s inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award in 2020.

Change means museums addressing their past

Original artilce published in Evening Standard on 20th July 2020

My late father, the first Muslimheadteacher in the UK, would regularly take me and my sister to museums from a young age, to broaden and enrich our cultural horizons. This wasn’t common for minority communities in the early Eighties and unfortunately things haven’t changed much today at the national museums, as many still feel these institutions are not for people “like them”.

Museums and galleries are beginning to welcome back visitors, and doing so against the backdrop of Black Lives Matter. As the first Muslim trustee of the Natural History Museum, I have been thinking about what it means to have museums that are truly for everyone.

Most museums have looked at ways to address the feeling that some are excluded, and the lack of diversity in their collections. Sandy Nairne, the former director of the National Portrait Gallery, made special efforts to promote black icons like Mary Seacole and bring in paintings such as the Ayuba Suleiman Diallo portrait, the first British oil portrait of a freed slave. Tours were organised for harder-to-reach communities.

The Natural History Museum has looked at how parts of their historical collection were built on the slave trade and how “cultural institutions have a history of denying and ignoring the violence… that this desire to collect inflicted upon others”. Slave ships were used to collect specimens — and slave owners would whitewash contributions of people of colour to science. Understanding our shared histories is important to shape our shared futures.

Real change means addressing past injustices. Let’s have paid internships for the under-represented

We also need to see better diversity throughout our cultural institutions, from trustees to senior management; BAME paygaps published; and senior management undertaking not only diversity training but also unconscious bias and anti-oppression training. To reach out to diverse young visitors we need to establish links with schools with higher BAME student populations and provide resources to help them to visit.

Real change means addressing past injustices, and we can do that via paid internships and scholarships for under-represented communities. We can also build stronger relationships with countries of origin. The next step is to address the change we need in society and that only comes by providing equal opportunities for everyone to succeed.

Harris Bokhari is a trustee of the Natural History Museum