As a college we firmly stand united against racism and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

A strong motive for all of us joining the LSBU Group are the values that we share. London is one of the most multicultural and diverse cities in the world. And at the outset, the founders of London South Bank University (the first member of the LSBU Group) spoke not only of learning but the need to promote health, wellbeing and equality. Over 125 years later, we still live by these values and fight for social justice - looking beyond race, gender and postcodes, to make a real difference to the lives of individuals and to our society.

As an employer, and more importantly, as influencers in education and on the lives of young people, we need to do more to provide equality of opportunity for black and ethnic minority people to access the high quality technical and professional learning that they need. We are on that journey. The formation of the LSBU Group is just one step in ensuring we have the capabilities to support our South London communities. And although we are proud of the successes we have seen in recent years in the reduction in our Gender Pay Gap and securing an Athena SWAN Bronze, we still have some way to go in eliminating awarding gaps. We also want to make sure that diverse talent rises to the top of our staffing structures. We acknowledge these challenges, and we will not shy away from them.

To our black students, teachers, alumni and staff: rest assured that we stand beside you and are here to support you. We sit here in privileged positions, and therefore it is our responsibility to proactively take action to stamp out racism so that the people of South London and beyond can work, study and live in a community that treats them equally.