It was founded by Jim Rose and Anthony Lester[1] as an independent source for generating intelligence for a multi-ethnic Britain through research, network building, leading debate and policy engagement.
[2] The Trust began operations in 1968, the year of two major events in global and British race relations: the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr and Enoch Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech.
A statement from the Department of Health said, "We know that Covid-19 has had a disproportionate effect on people from BAME backgrounds ... and the equalities minister is now taking forward vital work to tackle these disparities and protect our most vulnerable communities from the impact of the virus.
"[8] In October 2020, Runnymede published a blog with the Institute for Public Policy Research calling on the government to set out a comprehensive strategy to mitigate ethnic inequalities for the subsequent months of the pandemic.
Working with the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Runnymede organised a meeting of 14 Caribbean High Commissioners with Downing Street officials and the Prime Minister at the time, Theresa May.
Runnymede was subsequently named as the only civil society representative on the Windrush Lessons Learned Review Advisory Group and one of The Guardian's five Christmas appeal charities.
The website is designed to support teachers and students studying migration to Britain and aims to present the 'often untold stories of the generations of migrants who came to and shaped the British Isles' through interactive source material spanning four time-period categories: AD43–1500; 1500–1750; 1750–1900; 1900–2000s.
[22][23] However, in a preliminary finding on legal standing in 2021, the High Court ruled that the Runnymede Trust had cause to bring the case both in terms of its charitable objectives and the public interest.
In its verdict on the case issued in February 2022, the High Court under Lord Justice Singh ruled that Hancock had breached the Equality Act 2010 in his appointment of both Harding and Coupe.