March 28, 2024

We recognise that a racist incident took place at the Sheffield Recovery Forum on 29th November 2023 against Ursula Myrie. We acknowledge the experience of as a result of the incident was one of trauma and upset for Ursula.  We acknowledge and sincerely apologise for that. Although the incident was an example of interpersonal racism, it reflected the presence of structural racism within our sector and the wider Sheffield system, the existence of which was confirmed by the Sheffield Race Equality Commission Report in 2022.

We, as the organisations named below, accept that we did not respond in a supportive way during the recovery meeting, and we regret this.

–          Sheffield City Council

–          Project 6

–          South Yorkshire Housing Association

–          Voluntary Action Sheffield

As a community we are determined to learn from what has happened and seek to work with all members of the Recovery Forum to understand how structural racism operates, and how we can respond to it with Anti-racism. All those involved in the perpetration of the incident, including ourselves, will approach this work in a non-defensive way.

We will continue to set aside time for a thorough and open discussion and then agree a set of actions that we can all take so that the principles of Anti-racism can take root in the Recovery Forum and with its members. The Recovery Forum is facilitated by Sheffield City Council, and we are confident it will learn and grow from this.

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