Disability Confident Employers recognised at House of Commons event
Cafcass invited to House of Commons event celebrating employers’ commitment to disability inclusion in the workplace.
Having been awarded the status of Disability Confident Leader in May this year, Cafcass was invited to attend an event at the House of Commons held by the Minister of State for Disabled People, Sarah Newton MP. The event was held on 4th December during UK Disability History Month, a national celebration of the lives and achievements of disabled people.
The Disability Confident event offered an excellent opportunity to reflect on the work done by the 10,000 organisations who have joined the Disability Confident Scheme. As a Disability Confident Leader, Cafcass is among only 164 organisations who have achieved the highest level of the scheme.
Our achievement of this status was partly due to the excellent support provided by our Diversity Champions and Diversity Networks. Attending the event were Grace Egbewole-Adereti, Diversity Champion and chair of Kaleidoscope, and Ioana Oprea, member of the Mental Health Network.
Grace said that ‘it was reassuring to see that other organisations were implementing similar approaches – using networks, support groups and social media to continually improve inclusivity and diversity in the workplace.’
Both Ioana and Grace are proud of the exponential growth of our networks within the last year, which include networks for disability, carers and mental health. Ioana added that ‘the networks have promoted staff engagement at all levels, and have become a feature of the culture here at Cafcass. I am a member of the Mental Health network, which is there so we can help to support each other as well as wider learning. Each of us gets a voice and we can discuss issues confidentially with colleagues.’
Kathryn Grant, HR Projects Officer and Diversity Champions/Networks Coordinator said: ‘It was fantastic for Cafcass to be invited to the Disability Confident event, where we were able to network with other organisations to see how we can strengthen our support to disabled people. Being awarded Disability Confident Leader and being in the top 1.5% of organisations is a great achievement, but our commitment does not stop there. We will continually work to enhance how we can recruit, retain and develop people with disabilities.’
For more information about UK Disability History Month, please visit here. The theme this year is Disability and Music, which explores how people with impairments express themselves creatively through music.
UK Disability History Month, a national celebration of the lives and achievements of disabled people, runs from 22 November to 22 December each year.
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