"Black History Month is an opportunity to celebrate, share, and recognise the heritage and culture, contribution, and achievements of our Black and Black heritage students, colleagues, alumni, and our wider USW community.

"It is also an opportunity to discuss the ways that we can all gain a greater knowledge and understanding in order to foster at USW an inclusive and anti-racist environment.”

_{Vida Greaux, Chair of the BME Staff Network, William Callaway, Chair of the Equality and Diversity Steering Group, and Richie Turner, Chair of the Race, Religion and Belief Equality Subgroup}

Celebrating Progress and Partnerships

Over the past year (2024–2025) we have made meaningful progress in advancing race equity, inclusion, and community partnerships.

Race Equality Charter – Bronze Award

In July 2025, we were awarded the Race Equality Charter Bronze Award—recognising our commitment to advancing race equity across the university. This achievement was made possible by the dedication of our Race Equality Charter Self-Assessment Team, including staff, students, and external Critical Friends.

Community Engagement & Sponsorships

• We continued to proudly sponsor and support initiatives that celebrate and uplift
• Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority communities, including:
• Urban Circle’s Brave Spaces resources for schools
• Reggae and Riddim Festival in Newport
• Ethnic Minority Welsh Women’s Achievement Awards
• LezDiff Film Festival
• The World Sings in Many Colours storytelling workshops with VEMS
• Nation of Sanctuary Awards – Academic Achievement sponsor

University of Sanctuary

As a proud University of Sanctuary, we continue to support refugees and sanctuary seekers through scholarships, English language programmes, and academic partnerships—championing inclusion through education and advocacy.

Student-Led Celebration & Creativity

• Our second International Cultural Festival brought together students from across the globe in a celebration of identity, music, food, and creative expression.
• The iBelong Project, led by poet Dr Eric Ngalle Charles, offered storytelling workshops that empowered students to explore belonging, culture, and personal voice.

Arts & Representation

Diverse exhibitions at Oriel y Bont showcased powerful works by artists such as Aisha Ajnabi and Rupali Leela Naik—highlighting diasporic stories and creative expressions rooted in heritage, healing, and liberation.

As we celebrate Black History Month, we reflect with pride on the impact of these collaborations, and remain committed to creating an inclusive, equitable, and supportive environment for all.

ENTREPRENEURS

Richie Turner, Incubator Manager, said: “As USW’s Incubator Manager of the Startup Stiwdios, and also one of the Race Equality Charter Champions, I am delighted that we are able to feature four of our Black graduate entrepreneurs for Black History Month.

"They are all great role models and they are all running highly innovative new startup companies across South Wales. I hope you are inspired by their stories.”

The University also runs a series of business support events for external partners and businesses and provides access to University skills, talent and expertise. This includes support for women entrepreneurs.

Women have fundamentally different experiences to men in business. Research shows that women who start and grow a business face more barriers around access to finance, disproportionate caring responsibilities, and different levels of access to networks.

As part of our Inspiring Women Wales YouTube podcast, we spoke to accountant Valerie Creusailor. Valerie loved hosting barbecues for family and friends. They would compliment her and her husband Stan on the sauces they made, which were inspired by their African heritage. Their guests suggested they should sell them - and there the idea of Goch & Co was born.

In Episode 2, Valerie tells Gemma about finding the confidence to invest in the new business, managing cashflow, and lessons that can be carried over from a corporate career - and even personal life - to a family business.