National Inclusion Week

Hear from Vice President of the Liberal Democrats, Isabelle Parasram.

This week is National Inclusion Week, a national event designed to celebrate diversity and explore new ways to make all aspects of community life as inclusive as possible.

The Liberal Democrats are an inclusive party: striving to create a free and open society is one of the cornerstones of our constitution. We believe that this is key to both individual and national prosperity.

We also believe that for inclusion and diversity to thrive, it is vital for the UK to remain in the EU. If we win the next election, we are committed to revoking Article 50 to ensure that we can remain the welcoming and outward-looking county we want to live in.

We are also working hard as a party to improve the diversity of our own membership to ensure that everyone feels welcome and valued and our party truly reflects the diverse society we live in today.

Our local parties play a vital role in engaging with local communities across the country. Here are some practical steps you can take to reach out to new people and groups in your local area and work towards making your local party as inclusive as possible:

1. Host an inclusive event. Get in touch with your local Diversity Officer or Regional Diversity Champion to organise an inclusive event in your area before the end of the year. Here is a calendar of important dates for the rest of the year - why not run an event to mark one of these dates?
   You can also use our inclusive event checklist to make sure there are no barriers to people from different backgrounds attending.
2. Appoint a Diversity Officer. If you don't have a Regional Diversity Champion or Diversity Officer, why not appoint someone? You can find out more about the role here: https://www.libdems.org.uk/local_party_diversity_officer
3. Commit to recruiting and supporting new members from different backgrounds. You can reach out to different local groups to tell them more about being a Lib Dem. Once someone from a different background to you has joined, make an effort to keep in touch and be a friendly face at local events. Make sure to ask if there is anything your local party could do to make events and activities more accessible and inclusive for them.
4. Get involved with one of our Specified Associated Organisations (SAOs). With groups including the Liberal Democrat Campaign for Race Equality, Liberal Democrat Women and LGBT+ Lib Dems, there are lots of different groups you can join. You can find out more about our SAOs and how to get involved here.

Happy National Inclusion Week!