National Inclusion Week 2024
National Inclusion Week is a week dedicated to celebrating inclusion and taking action to create inclusive workplaces.
Founded by Inclusive Employers, National Inclusion Week is now in its twelfth year.
It provides us with 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 #ImpactMatters, a call-to-action to everyone in your organisation, from leaders, to inclusion professionals through to teams and individuals. Each one of us holds the potential to make a profound and positive impact.
‘Impact Matters’ has a powerful message that centres around understanding, identifying and measuring impact on marginalised groups and taking actions that make for genuine, sustainable change that matters.
As a Council, we are proud to have staff networks that are a truly inclusive and welcoming space for so many of our colleagues. This National Inclusion Week, Network leads from our LGBTQ+ network GLAM, our race equality network Diverse, and our disability and neurodiverse network ABL shared why these networks are so important not just to the Council as a whole but to the individuals they represent.
Watch the video:
Why is it important to have staff networks that represent and champion our colleagues?
Lee Boyland, Co Chair of GLAM, said: "Being a part of GLAM, allows individuals to have a safe space, to turn to if needed and also to gain advice, and gain further knowledge of what's happening currently within the LGBTQ+ community.
"Having the network as well to help steer the Council to become more inclusive, to change attitudes and perceptions is extremely important."
Martine Booker-Southard, Co Chair of the Diverse Network, said: "As a Council, having a network like Diverse for employees from the Global Majority and allies, it means that the Council is being actively anti-racist by hearing and acting on the voices of colleagues from the network.
"Being anti-racist isn't a tokenistic thing they do, once a year, every year. It's starting to create an anti-racist culture within the organisation."
Elyn Hannah, representative for ABL, said: "It's really important to have staff networks that represent and support different protected characteristics because it really does show how inclusive an organisation is and what the organisation wants to do for its staff.
"Starting this particular network for staff with disabilities, for staff with family members or friends with disabilities, for staff who work with people with disabilities and also for their allies, it's really important because it's now representing and supporting another group of people within this organisation."
What impact do staff networks have on the wider work of the Council?
Earlier this year, we were awarded with a Silver Trailblazer Status from Race Equality Matters as part of the work we've carried out to become and actively anti-racist organisation.
Martine said: "Having the Silver Trailblazer Status is something I'm really proud of, and I'm really proud of the way Diverse worked with different teams within the Council to help gain that status.
"Again it's another way that the Council demonstrates that it is actively anti-racist. We're doing it because it's the right thing to do.
"For me, having Diverse sit at the table and have those conversations it makes me really proud."
In July, the Council was also named as one of Stonewall's Top 100 Inclusive Employers, making it one of only two Local Authorties in Wales to make the list.
Lee said: "The work that we've done over the last year or two to have that Top 100 within the Stonewall Workplace Index is massively important to the impact we have on the Council and to employees as well."
Why is allyship so important when it comes to staff networks and their impact?
Elyn said: "Allies play a really important role in boosting, amplifying and support the role of the other members of the network.
"Within ABL, our allies do what they can to use their position of privelege, if you will, to amplify our message."
Martine said: "It's great to have allies at different levels of the organisation. I'm really proud that in the Council we've got allies at the very top, from our Leader to our Chief Exec.
"Making sure those allies are there and they are visible means that people like me feel like they belong."
Get in touch with our Staff Networks
If you would like to get in touch, join, or seek support from GLAM, Diverse, or ABL, you can contact them at the following e-mails: