Freeframe March 2026

For review March 2027

Patient and carer race equality framework (PCRF) NHS England from: Making anti-racism work in all mental health providers, updated 13 May 2024.

Race, equality and inclusion are everyone’s business, and it is the responsibility of Freeframe to embed this within our practise.

As part of our strategy, we are creating an easy-to-read format that will be interactive and accessible online.

Freeframe aims to create an anti-racist, compassionate, and inclusive working culture.

Purposive statement

Improving mental health care for racialised and ethnically and culturally diverse communities has been a long-standing challenge for mental health services and people from these backgrounds are more likely to have poorer health outcomes and experiences than those from the UK majority population.

The Independent Review of the Mental Health Act (MHA). The Independent Review of the MHA describes the PCREF as ‘a new community-driven organisational competence framework tool and Freeframe will adhere to the advice given.

We are committed to providing a comprehensive service to everyone irrespective of their race. Freeframe has a duty to every individual that it serves, and we must be respectful at all times of a person’s human rights.

We are committed to providing services that pay particular attention to disadvantaged groups, as we are aware that health and life expectancy do not keep pace with the rest of the population.

Freeframe are aware that proactively addressing racial inequalities is integral when improving access and outcomes for racialized communities.

We know that anti-racism is a process with three tasks: 

Freeframe will adhere to the Anti-Racism Race Equality and Accountability Framework (PCREF). This requires a cultural shift to improve access, experience and outcomes for racialized and ethically and culturally diverse communities. This requires us to actively:

1) Name racism. 

2) Ask “How is racism operating here?” 

3) Organise and act.

Freeframe will

• Make a commitment to implementing the PCREF and other mechanisms for advancing mental health equalities.
• Will improve our governance structures to include better representation of racialised people and improve services accordingly.
• Will Improve data collection around ethnicity and other demographics.
• Examine the information to improve services to better meet your local population needs.
• Use your ethnicity data to co-produce plans to improve access to services and outcomes for racialised groups and make them publicly available. 
• Commit to improving interactions with racialised groups.  

While Freeframe is not a care service, we will support education and training that supports patients and carers to be actively involved at every level with mental health trusts and mental health providers governance structures, including in decision making and consulted about individual care and services accessed.

Tackling racism and other types of discrimination

• Acknowledge the problem and take this seriously through demonstrable action
• Improve our understanding of the depth and complexity of the issue
• Ensure that commitment is followed up with positive and targeted action
• Be prepared to be held accountable and hold others to account
• Be prepared to face the consequence of our behaviour is unacceptable and causing harm to others
• Create equality of opportunity for under-represented groups if in a position of power and privilege

Goals

Freeframe will ensure that why allies are acting responsibly whilst building trust in order to work Co productively, led by lived experience.

As part of our audit strategy, Freeframe will keep records that relate to racism bullying harassment and discrimination within our service. This will form an integral part of the complaints procedure.

Freeframe will be aware of our own ethnicity as educators, and we will undertake unconscious bias training once a year.

Freeframe will be undertaking an equality and health inequality’s impact assessment yearly. On the basis of this assessment, Freeframe will review our yearly EDI action plans.

Freeframe will be actively encouraging conversations about how we can improve our practise, whilst taking into account our own unconscious bias and the need for experts by experience to review all our training documentation, with a view to making the service racially accessible.

Resources

These autism friendly formats can help children and young people understand race and racism. Here you can download our Racism Explained easy read and our Racism Explained visual story. 

Language adopted by Freeframe

This document uses the terms ‘racialised communities’ which refers to ethnic, racial and cultural communities who are minoritised populations in England, have been racialised, and who experience marginalisation.

The term ‘ethnically and culturally diverse’ refers to people with distinct cultural or ethnic identities, which can include diverse language groups and communities upholding specific cultural customs and spiritual beliefs.

The term ‘ethnic groups’ includes white minorities, such as Gypsy, Roma, and Irish Traveller groups, whilst recognising homogenising ethnic groups ignores the diversity of experiences between groups.

Key to terms that may be used by Freeframe when discussing racism.

Activist

Being an activist involves advocating for policies practises and attitudes that actively opposed racial prejudice and promote equality for all races and ethnicities. Freeframe belief that being an activist encourages a wide range of actions, including but not limited to, political grass roots activism, promoting education initiatives, and policy advocacy.

Ally 

Freeframe defines an ally as a person from a dominant or majority group that is working towards ending oppression. We believe that as an ally, we will be actively supporting and advocating for those who are a part of a marginalised and oppressed group. We believe that being an ally is more than just joining protests and marches… it is using our institutional power to change structures and systems.

Anti-racist 

Freeframe believes that anti-racism relates to one who is supporting an anti-racist policy through their actions. This can also be applied to the expressing of anti-racist language and ideas. We believe that anti racism is a change in perspective away from one of white privilege, and the impact that this has on the way that we think act and engage with different races.

Ethnicity 

Ethnicity is defined as a social group that a person belongs to, either through identification with that group, or who is identified with by others. This can happen as a result of a mix of cultural and other factors not limited to, common language, history, culture, race, dress, beliefs or social treatment.

Person of colour

At Freeframe we will not be using the term “people of colour”, as this is outdated and can be viewed by some as offensive and inaccurate. We will be asking people what they wish to be called on an individual basis.

Racism

Freeframe define racism as showing prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized. 

Unconscious bias 

Unconscious bias is when we unknowingly make decisions or judgements on the basis of assumptions, prior experience or personal thought patterns that get in the way of impartial judgement. This is termed to be unconscious because we are not aware that it is happening, because of this it can be difficult to address. This is why it is so important that people are accountable for their thoughts feelings and actions. The NHS leadership Academy Have developed a module on unconscious bias that all members of Freeframe will be undertaking once a year.

Module – Unconscious Bias | NHS Leadership Academy  

White Privilege

We are aware of our white privilege, and we recognise the power, privilege and resources you have and think about how you can use it to support the work of those who are ‘othered’. This sometimes means talking about how we are complicit in an oppressive system. At Freeframe we don’t talk about other people’s trauma; we cannot know it… but we can talk about the effects of a system.