The Black Lives Matter movement is important to many of our candidates and we want you to know it’s important to us too.

Here are the facts:

• In the last 10 years, 453 people (2.7%) who have gained one or more of our qualifications are recorded as being from a non-White background, compared to 16,319 recorded as White. Of those 453, 198 are recorded as Mixed Race, 122 as Asian, 34 as Black and 99 as Other.
• Recent research into the Mountain Leader qualification found that non-White-European candidates are both less likely to get to assessment and also to pass their first assessment. The causes of this are not clear and will require further research.
• All our employees are White.
• All our non-executive directors are White.
• Throughout the national Mountain Training organisations*, of the 574 approved course directors, none of them are recorded as Black or Asian; one is recorded as Mixed Race.

* Mountain Training Cymru, Mountain Training England, Mountain Training Scotland, Mountain Training Board Ireland, Mountain Training UK & Ireland.

What are we currently doing?

All of the national Mountain Training organisations include increasing diversity in their strategic aims. To date our actions have had a limited impact on the ethnic diversity of our candidates.

We have signed up to the Sport and Recreation Alliance’s commitment to tackling inequality

We strive to showcase ethnic diversity in the images and illustrations we select for our website and publications.

When recruiting non-executive directors, we state that we particularly welcome applications from candidates from underrepresented groups including women, people from ethnically diverse communities and people who consider themselves to have a disability.

Mountain Training Scotland and Mountain Training England both have a bursary scheme for people for whom financial constraints may be a barrier to participation and whose participation may promote our commitment to diversity.

We’re part of the BMC’s Equity Steering Group which reviews and acts on a range of issues relating to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Our vision and ethos

Our vision is for a diverse and active outdoor society, supported by inspirational leaders, instructors and coaches.

We believe in supporting equal access to our sport for people from all backgrounds. This is stated in our ethos and supporting film

We oppose racism in all its forms.

We want to encourage more people of colour to get involved in hill walking and climbing.

We want people of colour to view our skills courses and qualifications as options available to them.

We want to learn more about how racism prevents people from engaging in our schemes so that we can work towards changing the status quo.

We need to continue working with partners to improve ethnic diversity in our sector as we’re aware that people of colour are under-represented.

As organisations currently run by White people, we will have blind spots and be influenced by unconscious bias which likely affects our decision making. We will seek to address this.

We welcome your thoughts and suggestions on how things might be different so please do get in touch: info@mountain-training.org.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We believe these definitions, adapted from a US organisation called the Ford Foundation, will help us over the coming months and years:

Diversity is the representation of all our varied identities and differences (race, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, tribe, caste, socio-economic status, thinking and communication styles, etc.), collectively and as individuals. We seek to proactively engage, understand, and draw on a variety of perspectives. We believe that the solution to the problems we hope to address can be found by affirming our similarities, as well as by finding value in our differences.

Equity seeks to ensure fair treatment, equality of opportunity, and fairness in access to information and resources for all. We believe this is only possible in an environment built on respect and dignity.

Inclusion builds a culture of belonging by actively inviting the contribution and participation of all people. We believe every person’s voice adds value, and we strive to create balance in the face of power differences. We believe that no one person can or should be called upon to represent an entire community.