#ShiftThePower

The Equality Project

Community-led journalism project looking at equality in the UK

Project

…facing discrimination in different areas of life has simply come hand in hand with living – it’s something that has been present throughout my existence. – Cee

Many people across the UK struggle to access the services and support they need. In a recent report, Equally Ours found that the Covid-19 pandemic simply added to pre-existing inequalities, placing certain communities at higher risk of the virus and its wider social and economic impacts.

We partnered with Equally Ours to develop a national community reporter network that brought together different communities and their experiences of inequality to better understand how we can inclusively build back better.

Process

What does equality mean for different communities and how do we get there? We brought together people from across the UK with Equally Ours to share their experiences of inequality and ideas for change. To do this, we trained and developed a network of 8 community reporters; together the group looked at the power of lived experience, ethics and keeping safe and how to report through their phones in a 3-week virtual training course.

Whilst many in the group had different backgrounds and experiences – crossing race, gender, age and sexuality – they supported and encouraged each other as they began to tell their own stories across a 4-week reporting sprint. 

Each week, reporters received a guiding question for their reports; all co-designed by the group and Equally Ours and there to prompt their own reflections and interviews with their communities. Throughout this time, the group had weekly drop-in sessions where they could seek reassurance or support. 

Impact

…but if you stand up and challenge and say that wasn’t right, that is one step to change it because you’re calling it out and it means that someone has to respond, someone has to do something. – Rajna

Across the 4 weeks, 7 of the community reporters were actively engaged and, through their mobile phones, shared 40 reports using text, audio and video. They covered what equality meant to them, how discrimination surfaces for their communities, and explored what a world where they felt equal would look like and what UK governments could do.

Together, their stories shaped an interactive deck that will inform Equally Ours and be shared at events. They also make up the Equality Project which will be launching soon.

Partner

Equally Ours

Links

Read the Equally Ours ‘Levelling Up: Firm Foundations’ December 2021 report