Stormzy to donate £10m over next decade to charities and organisations tackling racial inequality

Stormzy and his company are set to donate £10 million over the next ten years to “organisations, charities and movements” engaged in the fight for racial equality and social justice.

The rapper released a statement through his #Merky company on Thursday.

He said: "The uncomfortable truth that our country continuously fails to recognise and admit, is that black people in the UK have been at a constant disadvantage in every aspect of life – simply due to the colour of our skin.

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“I’m lucky enough to be in the position I’m in and I’ve heard people often dismiss the idea of racism existing in Britain by saying ‘If the country’s so racist how have you become a success?!’ and I reject that with this: I am not the UK’s shining example of what supposedly happens when a black person works hard.

“There are millions of us. We are not far and few. We have to fight against the odds of a racist system stacked against us and designed for us to fail from before we are even born.

“Black people have been playing on an uneven field for far too long and this pledge is a continuation in the fight to finally try and even it.”

He added further information on the pledge would be released in due course and urged others to also pledge to support similar causes.

The move comes in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in the US, with his death sparking protests across the world. The rapper attended the Black Lives Matter protest in Parliament Square, London at the weekend.

The 26-year-old launched a scholarship scheme back in 2018 to cover tuition fees for two black students to attend Cambridge University. The scholarship was later extended in 2019 to support two more students.

With additional reporting by PA.