Our inclusive communications
Our ongoing mission is to create a world where plants play a central role in human health and wellbeing by connecting as many people as possible to the beauty and power of nature. To make our mission a reality, we need to be diverse and inclusive across the business, including all the content we share. As an anti-racist organisation, creating inclusive content has always been a priority for us because we value the importance of connecting with people of all different stories. Yet still, we know we can always do better. Therefore, we have recently reassessed all that we share to make sure we’re doing all we can to include everyone in our wonderful world of herbs.
Our goal is to make sure everyone feels represented in our content. With this in mind, we began a full reappraisal of the imagery on our website by comparing the representation of different social groups in our content, to the makeup of communities in Pukka’s hometown of Bristol. We found the representation of young women on our website far outweighed that of men and older age groups. Not only was this not reflective of our hometown population but neither was it reflective of our audience. Herbs are for everyone, so it is important for us to demonstrate this in what we say and do, which is why we have now diversified our website imagery to better represent all Pukka lovers. Although these may look like small changes, they are just another step of many we have taken towards helping ensure Pukka is for everyone.
These are some of the changes you may have seen on our website and in our content, but what you may not see, is the culture we continue to build upon, where diversity and inclusion are commonplace and in which we can all thrive. So, here are some of the actions we have taken in recent years to become an organisation free of prejudice in all forms:
In March 2021 we launched our external facing Anti-Racist statement on our website and continue to keep it updated.
In June 2021 as part of our Pride celebrations, we were joined by Will and Octavian from UNBOXD, via a video call in our Bristol office, for an introductory session on LGBTQI+ diversity for all our employees, with insight on trans inclusion. In February 2022 Will and Octavian joined us again for the first of 4 sessions this year covering 'Sexual orientation & gender identity – what’s the difference?'.
We celebrated Black History Month in October 2021 with an inspirational talk at our Bristol office by Dr Simi Pam via a video call, who shared her experience of being a star player for Bristol Bears Women’s Rugby team, an NHS doctor and holding space as a black woman. We also continued the theme of ‘Proud to be…’ by celebrating black members of the herbalism, wellness and sustainability spaces on Instagram and ‘passing the mic’.
In November 2021 Pukka became a Halo Workplace as we took on the Halo Code, a code that celebrates Black hair and hairstyles, and protect students and employees from racial discrimination as a result of wearing natural hairstyles or head scarves.
In December 2021 we marked International Day of Persons with Disabilities by continuing to raise awareness of hidden or invisible disabilities. This including an inspiring talk from Roland Chesters, a speaker from enei who shared his personal story and what we can all learn from hidden disabilities.