Lives of Colour
2158. Florence Nyasamo-Thomas
Florence Nyasamo-Thomas, from Cheltenham, has provided events, training and workshops on cultural diversity through her charity ‘Lives of Colour.’
Launched in 2018, Florence founded the organisation to provide an inclusive space to foster diversity and community cohesion in Gloucestershire. Through the events and inclusion training that ‘Lives of Colour’ provide, both locally and nationally, they work with local businesses and organisations to advise on the infrastructure needed to embrace diversity and also with schools to help address bias and drive inclusion. Florence also has a regular blog where she shares articles, video stories and podcasts, providing a set of resources for reference.
Florence has collaborated with Cheltenham-based fashion brand ’SuperDry’ to create ‘Fabrics of Colour’, supporting Black women to learn new skills through textiles. Florence has also been aided by ‘Spirax Sarco’ and ‘GE Aviation’, which are STEM focused engineering companies, to bring ‘Culture Fest’ to local communities, while her ‘Authors of Colour’ project has promoted Black literature in local schools.
This award for Florence coincides with Black History Month.
In a personal letter to Florence, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
“From your Young Leading and Black project, to your innovative collaboration with fashion brand SuperDry, Lives of Colour has done so much to change attitudes, improve lives, and create a welcoming space for people of all backgrounds.
“So I am very pleased to be able to recognise your service in this way. I wish you and your team every success as Lives of Colour continues to develop and reach many more people within Gloucestershire and beyond.”
Florence said:
“We feel very honoured to receive this recognition from the Prime Minister. This is a special moment for our team and the communities we serve, as Lives of Colour continues to develop and reach many more people within Gloucestershire and beyond.”
See more about “Lives of Colour”