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Supporting Pride
Each year in June, LGBTQ+ communities around the world come together to mark the Stonewall uprising in 1969 and celebrate diversity and difference. Pride Month is a time to honour, recognise, and listen to the voices of our colleagues, friends and family who identify as LGBTQ+. And at NCFE, that extends to a celebration of the diversity of our customers, learners and partners too.
NCFE was born in 1848 from the belief that no learner should be left behind – a mission rooted in inclusivity that still guides our purpose to this day.
Identifying actions and speaking up is an important place to start, and we’re always listening and learning about how we can achieve (and surpass) true equality and diversity throughout our organisation. And, whilst Pride Month is an important moment of visibility for LGBTQ+ people, it’s important to think about what we’re doing the other 11 months of the year to really embed this.
What are we doing?
Our EDI Committee’s purpose
At NCFE we’re committed to fostering an environment of equality, diversity, and inclusion. We believe that every individual, regardless of their background, identity, or circumstance, deserves respect, opportunity, and a voice. We actively promote diversity in all its forms and strive to create a culture where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered to succeed. Only when people can bring their whole selves to work and study can they reach their full potential. Driving greater equity, diversity and inclusion is critical to making this a reality and allowing everyone to flourish. But there's always more to be done.
Through our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion, we aim to cultivate a vibrant community that celebrates differences, embraces perspectives, and represents our community of learners.
The Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee has been established to promote and support a culture of equality, diversity, and inclusion within NCFE. The committee are working to identify barriers to diversity and inclusion, develop strategies to address them, and foster an environment where all individuals feel valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives.
The Chair of our EDI Committee, Allison Jones, expressed that: “Here at NCFE we’re on a journey to actively promote diversity in all its forms and strive to create a culture where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered to succeed. Through our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion, we aim to cultivate a vibrant organisation that celebrates differences, embraces perspectives, and is representative of our community of learners.”
Meet our EDI Committee
Allison Jones, Head of PMO, Chair of the EDI Committee
Creating an inclusive and equitable environment for all is not only a professional focus for me but a personal commitment to create spaces where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute. By advocating for EDI, I strive to build a more equitable society where all voices are heard, and opportunities are accessible to everyone, regardless of their background.
Joanne Thompson, Qualifications Development Manager
Why I wanted to be part of the committee: I wanted to be part of this committee as equality is at the heart of everything I do. I have an autistic daughter with a physical disability and the impact our broken education system and society has on children like her makes me want to work harder to raise awareness, in the hope that one day we will see the equity they deserve. I also have a background in deafness and working with deaf people, I’ve seen first-hand how it is society that disables them, not their deafness. The world needs to change and raising awareness is the first step.
What Pride means to me: Pride to me is about acceptance and equality. Like most people, I’ve had enough of the constant judgement from society around how people live their lives and what is deemed “normal”, why should we have to be that when we can be exactly who we are!
Jenni Chismond, Talent Resourcer
Why I wanted to be part of the committee: I was eager to be a part of the committee as I’m passionate about creating an environment where our colleagues feel heard about the issues that are important to them, removing any barriers to ensure everyone is treated fairly and feels a sense of inclusion.
What Pride means to me: As an ally, Pride to me is not only about celebrating differences but educating ourselves and allowing people to be themselves to ensure everyone feels a sense of community and acceptance.
Holly Ferdinando, People Product Manager
Why I wanted to be part of the committee: I joined the EDI committee as through my role in People Services, I lead on all things Colleague Experience. A key part of this is ensuring that all colleagues, regardless of their backgrounds, are treated with respect and feel able to bring their whole self to work.
What Pride means to me:
Pride to me means celebration of all things diversity, recognising the LGBTQ+ community and their history. It's also about active allyship, and education to break down barriers.
Elliot McGrath, PR and Communications Manager
Why I wanted to be part of the committee: I've always had an interest in ED&I and over the last few years have become more involved with it from both a personal and professional perspective. I'm passionate about using my privileged position as a heterosexual white male to advocate for others and help change society to become more equitable.
What Pride means to me: Pride for me is the epitome of inclusivity. It's a time to celebrate everyone's differences and learn more about each other. Pride is humanity at its best and an opportunity to use our collective voices to champion the colour of life and raise awareness of the challenges many still face.
Jodie Wade, Resource Manager
Why I wanted to be part of the committee: I wanted to be part of the EDI committee to help make NCFE a more diverse and inclusive environment for colleagues right across the business. I'm particularly interested in social mobility and ensuring diversity and equal opportunities across different socioeconomic backgrounds, but firmly believe that this overlaps with so many other areas of EDI, such as race, religion and gender.
What Pride means to me: To me, Pride is a celebration of how far LGBTQ+ rights have come, as well as an important reminder of the history behind this and the work still to do. At NCFE, it's a reminder and a recognition of the diversity within our own community that makes us such a richly varied and well-rounded bunch.
Katie Newton, Senior People Product Manager
Why I wanted to be part of the committee: I’m passionate about helping create a culture of inclusivity at NCFE where everyone can bring their whole, unique self to work. In my role of leading the Talent and People Product teams, I’m excited to be able to support with elevating our Employer Value Proposition (EVP) and enhancing the colleague experience in making NCFE a supportive, safe place to work where everyone has the opportunity to be heard and valued.
What Pride means to me: Pride for me is about celebrating and supporting the community, raising awareness, and showcasing acceptance and love, standing proud with them always.
Ashleigh Lamb, People Business Partner
Why I wanted to be part of the committee: To be a part of a purpose which ensures that inclusivity promotes equality, which leverages diversity to its full potential so that every colleague at NCFE has a sense of belonging.
What Pride means to me: To celebrate, reflect and show gratitude to those that have paved the way for a more equitable future.
Our other members
Sakina Khan – Innovation Project Manager
Nicky Anderson – Customer Support Team Leader
Rachel Cooke – Independent End Point Assessor
Aaron McCarthy – Contract & Supplier Relationship Manager
Ola Fadeyi – Data Engineering Manager
Jeff Davies – Customer Support Advisor
Pride Month: Key facts and resources
Pride is a celebration of people coming together in love and friendship, to show how far LGBTQ+ rights have come, and how in some places there's still work to be done.
Helpful resources
This informative article by Campaign for Learning celebrates Pride by sharing helpful tips for those working with LGBTQ+ families. You can read these top tips below – plus, be sure to check out the article for further information on meaningful activities and ideas that you can provide for LGBTQ+ families as a family practitioner.
Tips for working with LGBTQ+ families
1. Staff briefing and training. One of the most important parts of creating a safe, inclusive and comfortable space for everyone is to ensure your colleagues, staff and volunteers are all briefed and trained. Gendered Intelligence offer Trans Awareness training for all public facing organisations. Stonewall offer training opportunities for school staff and anyone working with children and young people. Curious Arts’ LGBTQIA+ Awareness Training sessions are a great place to start for team members working within arts/culture organisations or freelance roles. If budgets are tight, check out the London Museum’s free inclusion training on YouTube.
2. Prepare your setting. To make your activities truly inclusive for everyone it’s important to pay attention to the spaces you invite families to use. Part of this can be thinking about decorating with flags or Pride colours. But, the most important aspect is ensuring you have fully inclusive and accessible facilities of everyone. Margaret Middleton’s Gender Inclusive Signage article is full of advice and ideas for thinking about things like toilet facilities and venue-wide signage.
3. Use inclusive language. Always be mindful and ensure that you’re using inclusive language which is non-gendered. Brief your colleagues, staff and volunteers to do the same. Examples and ideas could include:
- “Hello folks/everyone!” instead of boys, girls, guys, etc.
- “Grown-ups” or “family” instead of mum, dad, grandma, etc.
- “Partner" instead of husband, wife, etc.
- “Siblings” instead of brother or sister
- Offering your pronouns when you introduce yourself
- Using non-gender specific pronouns for others, such as asking “What’s their name?”
- Mirroring (using the terms families use for themselves).
Pride shines a light on the unique challenges the LGBTQ+ community might face so that we can support each other better.
Further support
These resources provide support and information, not only during Pride Month, but year-round:
- Stonewall
- Northern Pride
- Arcus – counselling and social support service
- PrideEvents – provide information on LGBTQ+ events across the UK
- Rainbow Home – supports LGBT+ people in the North East who are seeking asylum
- Just Like Us – working with schools across the UK to improve the lives of LGBT+ young people
- Mermaids – supporting transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse young people, and their families
- Switchboard LBGTQ+ Helpline: offering a confidential way for an individual to talk things through
- Stonewall’s Parental Rights support – providing information on parental responsibility, adopting, fostering, co-parenting, fertility treatment and surrogacy
- Mind – helping to champion LGBTQ+ inclusivity and acceptance within mental health support
- The Proud Trust - working to support LGBTQ+ young people through youth groups, peer support, mentoring programmes and an online chat service.