Our Projects

Westway Trust Review

On 31 July 2018 Westway Trust commissioned The Tutu Foundation UK to undertake a comprehensive and fully independent review into institutional racism with regard to practices and policies of the Trust, both past and present.

Conversations for Change

The Tutu Foundation has created a framework called “Conversations for Change” that brings together people who live in the same physical community but different social communities.

The Foundation’s mission is to restore a sense of responsibility for one another and for the places in which we live. By building mutual respect and understanding and encouraging peaceful interaction between people of different ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds we aim to resolve conflict within communities.

The values underpinning the Foundation’s work are based on the South African concept of Ubuntu, described by Archbishop Tutu as “the essence of being human” and is an ethical approach to our relationships and responsibilities to each other.

We believe that people and communities affected by tensions and divisions are themselves best placed to find practical ways of overcoming them. The Foundation provides a safe space for people in conflict to engage constructively with one another. In partnership with local organisations already rooted in a community, it encourages collective action to bridge divides. The Foundation has initiated a series of projects designed to throw light on particular problems affecting individuals’ life chances in such areas as education, employment and the environment, and to inspire powerful actors to help bring about transformative action.

Ubuntu Roundtable

Out of Conversations for Change and the work of the Tutu Foundation, other organisations have been created such as Youth Futures which works with young people in Southwark, South London. The TFUK is working with Youth Futures and the Metropolitan Police Service, the UK’s largest police force, to develop a series of round table discussions, training and on-going forums between the police and local young people including people involved with gangs. The idea developed from local people who felt they were experiencing racial profiling. The objective is to improve the relationship and respect between the police and the local community, empower the local community who feel persecuted, reduce the cost of policing and develop local restorative justice programmes to reduce reoffending.

The Ubuntu Round Tables also provide training for many attending the events so they have the skills to help each other in their communities. These individuals are called Ubuntu Peer Coaches and it is often their first recognised qualification and some are trained as Community Facilitators, a further recognised qualification.

In Croydon, for example, The “Croydon Young Voices Against Violence” project culminated in a series of Round Table discussions with the police, ambulance service and Youth Justice Board chaired by the Youth Community Facilitators many of whom had been members of local gangs.

The NHS

Conflict in the workplace has a disruptive effect on individuals, their colleagues and the services they provide. When conflict is is not nipped in the bud it can lead to high levels of stress, long term sickness absence and diminished service to patients. Even when formal procedures are initiated resolution can be slow and the time and cost implications enormous. The NHS Litigation Authority’s running costs are estimated at several £m each year. The NHS environment has plenty of scope for conflict, personality clashes and challenging behaviours. The multi-professional, multi-disciplinary nature of the service can create tensions and misunderstandings. Most NHS staff are values-centred and come to work for more than economic gain, therefore they bring their hearts and souls to work; this also creates potential for emotional investment, and conflict arises when their values are not seen to be recognised. Mediation offers the possibility of resolving conflict quickly, before it descends into an intractable problem from which the individuals involved cannot recover. In addition, it may save the service money and help teams move forward productively.

The TFUK is talking to the National Health Service about using The Tutu Foundation Mediation Service to improve the resolution of complaints against the NHS for patients, staff and the NHS executive by reducing costs and, importantly and significantly improving the satisfaction and learning for patients, staff and the executive.

Annual Peace Summit with Regents University London

The Tutu Foundation UK has established an Annual Peace Summit with our long term partner Regents University London.

Each year we focus on an area of our work to help individuals and communities overcome or prevent conflict and the enormous challenges they face trying to do that. The day long events bring together leaders in their field to speak about their experience and area of expertise and others, who are less well known, to share their experiences of running significant projects or areas of research. The events include workshops and vibrant discussions. Previous speakers have included Martin Bell, the BBC journalist and MP, Sir Hugh Orde, former Chief Constable of Northern Ireland, Prof Dr Christian Schwarz-Schilling, former International Mediator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Nontombi and Mpho Tutu, the daughters of Desmond Tutu our Patron.

Belfast Facilitation

The Tutu Foundation UK was invited to work with community leaders from loyalist paramilitary organisations in Belfast communities that feel marginalised and divided by the Northern Ireland Peace Process. These community leaders were involved in “the troubles” and pivotal to the subsequent peace process.