The Black Promise, A Safe Space to Make Change

On Thursday, 11th December, The Black Promise hosted our first major get-together since the successful roundtable talk at the Scottish Parliament back in May. This end-of-year gathering felt like the perfect way to round off an amazing year of breaking barriers, building connections, and laying the foundations to bring our manifesto to life in 2026.

The purpose of the event wasn’t just to celebrate everything we’ve achieved this year, but also to share more about what The Black Promise is, our mission as a collective, and the lived experiences of racialised communities in Scotland. It was about centring what still needs to be done, and how we want to do that work.

The session kicked off with some engaging icebreakers that helped loosen everyone up and bring the group together. There was a lot of laughter, which mattered. The work of The Black Promise requires vulnerability if we’re going to really hit hard on the issues at hand. Creating that openness is how we make sure people know that when they come to The Black Promise, they are heard, seen, and taken seriously.

Our aim as The Black Promise isn’t to replace professionals, but to work alongside them to highlight the barriers that exist and push for meaningful change.

We were joined by the amazing Jamie Speirs and Fiona Fraser on our panel, who shared their expertise from their professional backgrounds and added real depth to the conversations that evening. People felt comfortable opening up and sharing their
experiences with Scottish social services and the barriers currently faced by Black and Brown families. From raw and real stories about the benefits of placing Black children with Black foster families, to discussions around the dangers of unconscious bias and the importance of allyship from our white peers, the conversations were invaluable and will absolutely shape our future work.

The festive energy of the evening brought a real warmth to the event. We know how busy this time of year can be, so it was important that this gathering felt like something to be excited about — something fun, uplifting, and worth making time for.

For the latter half of the evening, we shared some delicious food, which felt like another reminder of why culture matters so much. Everyone in the room came from diverse backgrounds, spanning race, age, gender, and occupation, but sharing food became a real connecting point and a way for us to bring a piece of our diverse culture into the space.
This created a place for people to get to know one another, share their thoughts on our project, and talk about their own work and ideas for the future.

Without community, our mission doesn’t work. This gathering was a reminder that so many people share our aims: promoting culturally competent practice in Scottish social care policy, advancing anti-racism within local authorities, tackling prejudice against African families in the system, keeping minority ethnic families together, and ensuring all families can trust the systems that are meant to work for them, not against them. This is about accountability and teamwork.

Our aim as The Black Promise isn’t to replace professionals, but to work alongside them to highlight the barriers that exist and push for meaningful change.

We can’t wait to keep growing in 2026 — more conversations, more events, more accountability, and more action. These aren’t baseless dreams. Our roundtable at Parliament, our toolkit and report, our focus groups, and last week’s gathering show that we
have what it takes to turn these goals into reality. With community, hard work, and fearless campaigning, The Black Promise will continue to be a collective that shifts the gears.