National Inclusion Week 2022
This year National Inclusion Week is taking place from today, Monday, September 26, until Sunday, October 2.
Those seven days are dedicated to celebrating inclusion and taking action to create inclusive workplaces. Founded by Inclusive Employers, National Inclusion Week is now in its tenth year.
Friday 30th - The power of Allyship
It provides a great opportunity to think about, learn and identify what we can do to be better human beings to each other.
This year’s theme is ‘Time to Act: The Power is Now’.
The aim for the Council is to inspire a focus on actions and help make this an inclusive place to work. We want to work together to seize #ThePowerOfNow to overcome challenges and build a more inclusive culture in the workplace and beyond.
Over the next week, a different article relating to National Inclusion Week will be shared on Staffnet each day. These will correspond to inclusive actions being undertaken within the organisation. Each article will start with an explanation of the National Inclusion Week daily action.
The first of these focuses on the Power of Identity.
Everyone can show solidarity and support for those around them, particularly those from marginalised groups, by sharing aspects of our own identity. Small acts, such as sharing your pronouns, can make others’ lives easier and help them to feel included. If seeing one person do this can mean so much, imagine the power of a whole workplace? Today, you could consider taking small steps in sharing your own identity which could provide long-term impact for others, and ultimately the inclusive culture of an organisation.
We recognise that everybody has their own identity and their own way of defining themselves. This could be in terms of gender such as male, female, non-binary or trans, or sexual preference such as being gay, hetero, bi, pan, aro or ace. We want all our staff to be proud of themselves and be able to express their identity in an inclusive and supportive workplace.
GLAM
GLAM is the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s LGBTQ+ staff network for LGBTQ+ colleagues and allies.
GLAM works to have a positive impact for LGBTQ+ colleagues in the workplace, raise awareness and visibility of its work and members and provide a social and supportive environment.
The Council works extremely hard to ensure that we offer a safe and enjoyable place for LGBTQ+ people to work and that, as an area, the Vale of Glamorgan is a positive and nurturing environment. If you would like to get involved, or have any suggestions for how to make things better, please get in touch.
There are also some useful and interesting courses available on iDev.
If you are concerned about discrimination or harassment, or want more information on how to report it, please refer to the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s grievance policy.
The Council is also hosting the 2022 Stonewall Staff Feedback Questionnaire.
This makes up part of our Workplace Equality Index submission. Stonewall will anonymously capture the experiences, attitudes and skills of our LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ staff.
The survey is open until November 25 and can be completed in English or Welsh.
Pride
On Saturday (October 2), Council staff and Councillors will join the annual Barry Pride march.
Assembling at Parade Gardens and setting off at 11am, participants will head towards Barry Island in a show of solidarity for the work being done to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues and the work that still needs to be done.
It is a festival which brings together people of all kinds to fight against the prejudice and celebrate diversity.
Anyone wishing to attend is very welcome to join colleagues on the day.
That follows the Pride Cymru parade on August 27 when over 20 Vale staff and councillors joined festivities in Cardiff wearing Glam t-shirts.
Several engagement events were held before that celebration to make placards, banners and bunting for the event. The Council’s four values were emblazoned across placards to demonstrate its status as an inclusive and welcoming employer.
This year’s parade kicked off on Queen Street, as marchers made their way through the city centre, before finishing on North Road near Cardiff Museum. The march was cheered by onlookers, all donned in their best rainbow gear.
Many attended the Pride event itself, which was held on the City Lawns. Performers like Mel C, Ru Paul’s Drag Race finalist, Bimini Bon Boulash and local talent, Polyamorous were among those on stage.
We were pleased to see such a diverse range of people - including drag queens, LGBT+ activists, religious groups and others representing the community.
Pronouns
Sharing your pronouns and using other people’s preferred pronouns promotes inclusivity and shows support for people who are trans, gender fluid, or non-binary - whether that be staff or service users.
Adding your pronouns to your email signature has the practical benefit of making clear how you would like to be referred to and signals to the recipient that you respect their gender identity and choice of pronouns.
It is simple way to show you care about and respect people who are questioned about their gender identity. Sharing your pronouns is an effective way of normalising discussions about gender and helping to create an inclusive work environment for trans, gender fluid, and non-binary people. It also helps to show people on the outside of the Council that we are an inclusive organisation that treats people with respect.
For more information on how to add pronouns to your email signature, please look at this article we shared last year about pronouns.
What can you do?
You could join GLAM, the Council’s network for LGBTQ+ staff and allies.
You could join the Ally programme (details to follow this week!)
You could share your pronouns.
You can do what you can to encourage others to seize the power of identity, to help create a more inclusive workplace and society.