This article supports "RCN backs Stephen’s charity", published on page 2 of the 9 November issue of RCN Bulletin.

RCN President Cecilia Anim writes:

We cannot separate nursing from the society we serve. That has always been my view, and attending a recent gala fundraising dinner for the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust underlined for me the deep-rooted connection between social issues and what we, as nurses, do.

Stephen died 18 years ago aged 18, murdered in the street, and the Stephen Lawrence 18:18 Access & Opportunity Fund was launched at the gala dinner by his mother, Doreen. While the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust helps people from diverse, disadvantaged backgrounds to break through into professional careers, the 18:18 fund will support personal learning and development programmes.

The fundraising dinner was a wonderful opportunity to network and to talk to leading politicians, including the Home Secretary and the Leader of the Opposition, about nurses, nursing and the wider health agenda.

But it was also a chance to think about broader issues. Social problems like knife crime, drug and alcohol misuse, and domestic violence affect us all in different ways, and because nursing staff see the consequences, it is right that the RCN should lobby, campaign and work in partnership with people like Doreen Lawrence to minimise the dreadful effects of these social ills.

The RCN is fully committed to public health, and I firmly believe that we should work with schemes such as the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust to improve youth culture and thereby reduce the heavy toll that evils such as knife crime have on the NHS.

I hope that in due course the RCN will collaborate more with other organisations that share our aim of reducing inequalities and improving social justice.

You can read more about the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust here