9 Key Messages that the community members of CAG would like to communicate regarding the review.
This Review came about only because community members fought for it: For many years the community has raised concerns about racism at the Trust and in their dealings with community. From 2015 Westway23 systematically raised this with the Trust Leadership privately and publicly.
The Westway Trust are guilty of Institutional Racism: The historical Institutional Racism that existed was proved beyond a doubt and damaged many individual lives and removed opportunities from generations of young people in the community.
Institutional Racism continues in the Westway Trust: Despite a willingness to undertake this review there was clear evidence in the process of review of continuing institutional racism in the trust, in particular in the inability and unwillingness to engage with the community as equal partners.
The nature of the CAG: In undertaking this review the Leadership of the Trust has joined with members of the community to Co-Lead the CAG. The community members have remained autonomous in this process in order to be able to robustly represent the ‘conscience of the community’ throughout this difficult process.
The CAG needs to continue with this challenging but productive collaboration: It is difficult though possible for this work to be done together. We have come a long way and if we continue to have the courage to have the many difficult and direct conversations, we will continue to make the changes the community needs.
There is a need for a large scale reparatory program: There is a clear case for and need for reparations to develop neglected areas of the Trusts responsibility, and this is a large-scale undertaking that will take many years to fulfil. But must be undertaken to regain faith in the community and faith in itself and its mission.
The work must not be delayed: We must start the work now, people, families, and communities have been damaged, and delay ONLY further damages them and the relationships with the Trust, we must start bridging the gap now.
This Report should be the driver for change: The Trust has a duty to carry out the recommendations of the report.
This is a new Trust Leadership: During the process of review as the truth began to emerge there has been an exodus of the old guard and addition of more members of community to the board. The new community membership is not responsible for what the old guard did before them, they are however responsible for correcting systemic problems they have inherited.