We’re proud to be taking part in Race Equality Week this year. It’s a UK-wide initiative launched by community interest company Race Equality Matters aiming to tackle race inequality at work. We have a jam-packed schedule planned in celebration.
Meaningful change
Andrew Haines, chief executive officer at Network Rail, describes the week as “an opportunity to reflect on our commitment to building a more open, diverse and inclusive environment, where everyone feels welcome”.
This year’s theme is #ListenActChange. The theme highlights the importance of listening to the challenges people may face, before using it to act and create meaningful change.
Celebrations and challenges
We’re holding a series of events in collaboration with industry bodies Great British Railways Transition Team and Rail Delivery Group, train operator Southeastern, Department for Transport and railway project High Speed Two through Rail Unites for Inclusion.
Navleen Kalra, director of transformation and inclusion at Network Rail, terms it as “a fantastic opportunity to shine a light on the best practice in accelerating race equality across different sectors.”
Some of these events include a talk hosted by our Black, Asian and minority ethnic employee network Cultural Fusion with the award-winning author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera. It will explore the legacy of imperialism and how it shaped modern Britain.
We’ll be putting the spotlight on micro-aggressions with a workshop that encourages colleagues to take action that challenges them.
We’re also taking part in the Race Equality Matters five-day challenge. This asks our staff to take five minutes each day to focus on how they can create a more inclusive workplace.
An all-year-round effort
We’re committed to creating a diverse and inclusive organisation that employs and serves people from all backgrounds.
As Faizza Rumani, equity and diversity specialist at Network Rail, said: “At Network Rail, we work all year-round to remove the barriers that black, Asian and minority ethnic employees and candidates face.”
In fact, in 2022 we were awarded with Bronze Trailblazer status in recognition of the progress we’ve made to become a more inclusive organisation to staff of different ethnic backgrounds.
We hope to reach silver status in the future by continuing our work and building on our success.