Charity boss used N-word in full - while leading diversity training

A boss at an award-winning charity used the N-word in full - during a meeting about diversity, The Independent has learned.

Angharad Orchard, the former deputy chief executive of Mayday Trust, was leading the session in April 2023 and used the slur while making a point about the acceptable use of language.

Mayday Trust provides coaching to people “going through tough times” and has been referred to internally as “the language police.”

One of the presentation slides, seen by The Independent, said “instead of ‘queer’ - compare to the N-word, try LGBT+, LGBTQ+, in group term”, and Ms Orchard said the N-word in full and admitted to doing so, according to internal documents.

The incident prompted several colleagues to make formal complaints to the charity’s human resources department.

“Ms Orchard was unaware that the “N-word” must not be used in any context even if to highlight a point about her discomfort in using it to describe someone,” according to a HR letter replying to a formal complaint, seen by The Independent.

“Angharad did not use the word in a derogatory manner, nor did she do so in a violent way or within a racist statement.

“Mayday does not currently have established requirements, guidelines or policies around the use of language and therefore Angharad had no obligation to study the history and context behind the ‘n-word’ as part of her role as Deputy CEO.”

The Independent has approached Ms Orchard for comment.

Colleagues in the room, including chief executive Alex Fox, heard Ms Orchard use the word but nothing was said immediately in response and disciplinary action was never taken , according to the HR letter seen by The Independent.

She remained a safeguarding lead within the organisation for three months thereafter, several staff members said.

The diversity session did not cover the unacceptable use of racist slurs towards Black people such as the N-word and, according to former staff members, who have since criticised the charity for failing to take appropriate action.

According to an internal complaint seen by The Independent, a staff member who witnessed the incident says she “zoned out” from shock for the remainder of the meeting.

A senior Black staff member also raised a complaint about Ms Orchard’s use of the N-word. Shortly after this was lodged, that staff member was made redundant.

Following the complaints, the deputy CEO told the charity’s HR department she was aware that the N-word is offensive and should not be used, but she thought this was only in the context of trying to offend or describe someone, not within the context of a discussion around language, according to the HR documents.

Mayday Trust’s diversity policy states: “We believe that any form of direct or indirect discrimination is a barrier, both within ‘the system’  but also generally within society. These barriers create isolation, stereotyping and internalised damage.”

Additional concerns have been raised at the charity regarding race, including an absence of policy on how to deal with internal and external instances of race discrimination.

The charity has recently merged with mental health charity Platfform and also works with Homeless Network Scotland as part of ‘New System Alliance’, a collaboration geared towards helping people through “tough times”, such as poverty and racism, with over 100 projects and services across the UK.

The merger has been funded with public money, namely through the National Lottery Community Fund and the NHS.

No Black people sit on the board of trustees across Platfform, Homeless Network Scotland or Mayday Trust.

Meanwhile, the deputy CEO who used the slur and CEO who ultimately oversaw the charity response have since resigned and moved on to new roles within the social care and charity sectors.

Despite this, a number of former employees who spoke to The Independent, both Black and white, are calling upon Mayday Trust to apologise to all staff members who were affected by the deputy CEO’s language, and for the way in which the situation was handled.

Ex-staff members accused the Mayday Trust of institutional racism and called for the Equality Act to be enforced across the charity sector.

One former employee member told The Independent: “It’s important that I speak out because it’s about exposing how unsafe working environments like charities are. People often give quite willingly, financially, to charities, and don’t realise that they’re funding quite toxic working environments.”

Responding to the incident, a spokesperson from Charity So White, a campaign group that works to tackle racism within the charity sector told The Independent: “It is wild that in 2024 we are talking about why it is unacceptable for a leader in the charity sector to use the N-word. Even the most obviously hurtful and dehumanising of racist slurs like this are excused and defended by charities.

“Time and time again, we see charity leaders go to extraordinary lengths to shift the goalposts of ‘acceptable behaviour’ and infantilise themselves to avoid anti-racist accountability.”

A spokesperson for Mayday said: “We are aware of the allegations relating to Mayday. We can make no further comment whilst legal processes are ongoing.”