In the UK, Black History Month takes place every October and it is an opportunity to learn about and understand Black history and culture.

It is an occasion to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions of black people to British society. This year's theme focuses on ‘Saluting our Sisters’ and #WeMatter to celebrate the exceptional achievements of black women who have helped to shape our history.

At Torus, we have been celebrating black women’s impact in our communities, broadening our understanding of black cultures and encouraging people from black ethnic groups to join our Colleague Networks and Tenant Voice.

Campaigning for equality and inclusion

We were honoured to welcome Cllr Rahima Farah to a special Microsoft Teams Lunch and Learn session with Torus Group COO, Catherine Murray-Howard, which was attended by colleagues from across the Torus Group.

As a Councillor for Toxteth, we work closely with Rahima to make sure we are meeting the needs of our tenants, and her constituents living in the area. But as the first Somali female Muslim Councillor elected in Liverpool, it was great to learn more about Rahima’s inspirations and her drive to provide a voice for people in our communities who feel like they don’t have one.

A taste of the culture

Torus Foundation’s Food Security Officer toured our offices, offering a taster of authentic African and Caribbean food. Colleagues were lucky to be able to try chicken gumbo, jerk-seasoned vegetables and Caribbean-style chickpea curry and take home free recipe cards.

Providing tailored support to our customers

The communities that we work in are diverse – to make sure we can continue to respond to the specific and ever-changing needs of our tenants and customers, we are increasingly spending more time in our communities. This Black History Month, we have been visiting communities where we know we have a large proportion of customers from black ethnic groups, encouraging them to have their say on our services by becoming a Tenant Voice volunteer, completing our Customer Insight Survey and speaking to us with their concerns.

While Black History Month is coming to an end, our commitment to improving our workplaces and communities for black people working for Torus and living in Torus homes continues. We are already looking forward to more Lunch and Learn sessions with inspirational black women in our communities and are recruiting for our Colleague Networks.

If you would like to join a place where everyone belongs, be sure to visit our careers page for our latest vacancies.