Meet Our Equality Group Leads
Meet Our Equality Group Leads
In February 2020 the SCA Equality Group was set up to advise and prompt the staff, committees and the wider paddling community on all relevant aspects of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). The aim is to inspire more people from minority populations to paddle, supporting environments that feel welcoming and supportive to all, and that encourage progression and development for everyone within our sport.
The first Chair of the SCA Equality Group was Liz Cain who also served as Equality Champion on the SCA Board. Liz has been a major founder and driver of the work conducted by the Equality Group in its first year. Under Liz’s leadership the SCA Equality Group established several sub-groups (Female, Disability, Mental Health and Wellbeing, LGBTQ+, Ethnicity, and Young Persons).
In this first year, the volunteers in the Equality Groups have been promoting diversity in paddlesports by participating in national and international initiatives such as Rainbow Laces Day, International Women’s day, and Mental Health Awareness week. Work has started supporting the development of resources to help clubs and coaches to support paddlers with disabilities; whilst a series of webinars to share good practice principles of EDI have been running to spread the message. The Equality Group volunteers have also been integral to the new SCA strapline #IBelongOnTheWater, an initiative that aims to support the message that we are a diverse community of paddlers, each with our own identity, motivations and passions, but sharing that connection of belonging on the water.
Liz has recently taken up a new appointment in Wales and has had to give up her position as Chair of SCA Equality Group due to time constraints. We are very sorry to lose Liz and wish her well in her new role. Her passion and vision for equality, diversity and inclusion will not be forgotten by the new Chair, Gary Entrican, also the LGBTQ+ Lead (see below). Gary has stepped into the role for the immediate future and is looking forward to the next stage of the process which will include building up intersectionality between the subgroups.
We are also delighted to announce that Susie Benson has volunteered to take on the role of Equalities Champion on the SCA Board. Susie has been a Director on the SCA Board since November 2019 and has followed the development of our equality work with interest as outlined in her statement:
“Since the initial setup of the SCA Equality Group we have continued our journey to make our sport as inclusive as possible and improve paddlesport opportunities across Scotland, taking a particular focus on equality, diversity and inclusion. The SCA are fully committed to supporting the continual development of paddlesport for all and as such until recently Liz Cain has been the Equality Champion from the SCA Board of Directors supporting this area of work. Liz has carried out a great amount of work in supporting the creation of the Equality Groups and working with the staff and volunteer teams to help drive the development of these areas of work across the organisation. I am delighted to take over this role from Liz and would like to thank her and indeed the members of all groups for their hard work in bringing the groups to this stage.
Over the coming months I will be working with the SCA staff team along with the equality groups to not only make a positive difference to people participating in paddlesport, but also to ensure that this great work is championed across the whole organisation. As a Director on the SCA Board it is a priority for me to be able to share the fantastic work being delivered across the paddling community to ensure we are as welcoming and inclusive as possible”
Want to get involved?
We are still looking for people who are passionate about reducing inequalities and help to make paddlesport accessible to everyone. We have several new equality groups including the Young Person Equality Group, Lifelong Equality Group and Ethnicity Equality Group looking for additional members.
If you are keen to join or support any of these or any of the other equality groups
LGBTQ+ Equality Group, Female Equality Group, Disability Equality Group, Mental Health and Wellbeing Equality Group please get in touch at equality@canoescotland.org
We have a strong focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) moving forwards. Over the next 12-months we aim to have:
- fully established 6 Equality Groups focused on under represented groups with an action plan and monitoring systems in place.
- evolved the online activities programme into a sustainable and organised core programme meeting the needs of the diverse paddlesport community
We are also in the process of working up our next Strategic Plan, covering 2022 - 2025. EDI are core threads that are going to run strongly though all our activities moving forwards.
All of the SCA staff team are passionate about EDI and integrate those principles into all of the work they do. Roger Holmes and Lara Cooper are specifically involved in supporting EDI projects and the various Equality Groups.
Meet the SCA Equality Group Leads, and staff members by clicking on their profiles below.
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