ARE reflects on the legacy of the Founder and First Chair of Black Training and Enterprise Group (now ARE) following his death last week.
I was saddened to hear about Bob Clarke’s passing last week. I had the pleasure of first meeting Bob in 1992 when I joined National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) as a policy officer to develop the work of the newly formed Black Training and Enterprise Group (BTEG).
“Raj Patel MBE (my line manager at the time and another founder of BTEG/ARE) explained to me how the BTEG network had emerged the previous year at an NCVO national conference about new local Training and Enterprise Councils funded by the government. The BTEG network comprised of Black and Asian leaders from community-based skills and employment providers from across the country.
“They urged NCVO to resource their new network and Bob was one of those leaders and chaired the fledgling BTEG steering group. My first trip out of London was to visit Bob – the then CEO of Community Roots Enterprise in Birmingham. Between 1992 and 1999 Bob chaired BTEG and our annual conferences often held in Birmingham. He was the first chair of the BTEG charity in 1996 where he served for five years.
“As Raj reminiscences, Bob Clarke left a legacy woven into the modern story of Britain’s anti‑racist struggle and the effort of BTEG and others to open up opportunities in business, employment and education for racialised groups. BTEG was conceived as a national race equality charity with a clear focus: economic empowerment, and as its first chair, Bob helped to give it thoughtful leadership.
“He also brought moral authority and a charm to that mission, which managed to galvanise local organisations, and provided BTEG a solid foundation and reputation as a trusted national network.
“Bob was an inspirational and charming man with a strong passion for Black entrepreneurship and economic self-reliance – he believed it was very important for Black communities generate profitable businesses and social enterprises.
“He was thoughtful, supportive, a strong communicator and fun to be around. I valued his encouragement. leadership and support and ARE owes a great deal to founders like Bob for having the vision to create the organisation 35 years ago.
“ARE sends our sincere condolences to Bobby Benaire Clarke’s family and friends in the UK, Jamaica and Ghana – may he RIP.”
– Jeremy Crook OBE, ARE Chief Executive
At a personal level, he was simply great to work with, and his calm and soft demeanour was a real leadership strength”
– Raj Patel MBE, Co-founder, Trustee, Action for Race Equality
Bob’s chairmanship helped lay strong foundations for our work against racism. He will be greatly missed
– Seema Manchanda, Chair, Action for Race Equality
